The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Q&A, discussion, and information for the labels covered by The Guitar Gallery (Specifically and exclusively guitars made by Matsumoku up to 1987)
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PostPosted: Thu 16 May 2019 01:17 PM 
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Power Chorder

Joined: Tue 25 Sep 2018 07:13 PM
Posts: 13
For sale is a vintage 1972 Aria Stratocaster. I have a 1972 Aria catalogue showing this guitar that was given to me on the Aria Face Book group , the serial points to 71 however I have been told the pot codes are 74, the guitar is certainly and without a doubt pre 75. It has an Ash body and one piece Maple neck, 7.25 radius with vintage frets and what I believe to be a rounded C profile. Truss rod adjust at the heel and Gotoh tuners on the large 70's headstock. The neck is quite reminiscent of my Fender Baja 50's neck, perhaps not as chunky but its by no means slim. I find it very comfortable and effortless to play. The action is set quite low and without fret buzz, the neck relief is minimum. It has a very nice skunk stripe to the rear and a four bolt neck plate with the engraving '' Steel Adjustable Neck, Made In Japan'' and the serial number is 1069130', it has had a bone nut fitted.

Electrics are a 5 position switch however it originally had a 3 way as with early 70's Fenders, I sourced an original Aria 5 way that fitted correctly, original switch is included, volume and two tones, one for the neck and one for the middle, the bridge has no tone control. 500K full sized pots for the tone and a full sized 1M pot for the volume.

Overall condition is very good, one small chip in the finish near the top horn, its historic and adds to the guitars vintage appeal however it can be easily repaired. A slight repair behind the nut but not noticeable and does not effect the guitar in any way.

The finish has matured to a lovely honey colour, there is a slight sticker shadow just behind the bridge , there are no major scratches or scuffs, there is a tiny ding on the back of the neck but again this is historic and does not effect the functionality or playability of the guitar in any way.

The plastics have aged nicely, the scratch plate has aged to a lovely light Beige almost Mint Green colour, its hard to pick this up on camera as it is quite subtle. The pickup covers have yellowed evenly and sit well with the rest of the plastics and body/neck finish, the pot switches have taken on a nice honey hue but again very subtly. The chrome parts on the guitar are bright and clean. Over all the past 40 odd years have been very kind to this guitar and it has aged quite handsomely during this time.

Tone wise I believe the pick ups to be Maxon as Matsumoku used Maxon for most if not all of their guitar pick ups. Clean they sound crisp and clear but not weak in anyway, roll off the tone and they get quite warm without losing clarity. Over driven they sound really quite lovely, again the clarity shines through and they go from barking down to quite rich and warm, I have to admit I am quite impressed with the sounds this guitar makes.

All in all this is quite a lovely thing, its in its mid 40's so please don't expect a new guitar, it has a lovely vintage look and feel, it sounds the way it looks and is built to quite a high standard.

I shall make an Imgur gallery showing more detailed photos including under the pic guard and close ups of any blemishes in the finish , plastics and hardware and add it to this description over the next few days. I also have an old digital copy of the Aria catalogue that this guitar is listed in.

Please feel free to ask questions, you are welcome to come and view the guitar and have a play, I have a Vox Cambridge 30 and a Peavey Deuce that you can use, please get in touch early to arrange a viewing, I am based in the Suffolk countryside close to Eye.

Please note, I may be able to post this item, I really don't like to but if you require postage please get in touch to discuss options.
Although the photos show the guitar with only 5 strings a fresh set will be on the guitar for any viewings. I have also noticed the scratch plate is missing some screws, I took them out to photograph the guitars pickups and electrics and didn't put them all back in, the screws will be put back in before the auction ends, The Fender case is an optional extra and can be purchased through negotiation.


This is an Imgur gallery of any damage that I could find on the guitar.

https://imgur.com/a/ZA12n0V




And this is the guitar in more detail including the electrics.

https://imgur.com/a/PFt9Bjm


Reason for sale, I am after a Les Paul shaped guitar with P90's to use as a dedicated slide guitar and I have to adhere to a strict one in , one out policy. I have dropped the price to sell as I may have found a replacement, open to offers.


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