Raven short scale violin shaped bass made in Japan with scroll headstock.

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This is a tough one for me.
I really want this bass, and the seller is quite literally only a few streets away from where I am as I type this. But I currently own 3 basses ( a Westone Thunder, an Ibanez Roadster, and a Vantage V900B - 2 of which i should be selling ) and I really do not play bass. I can play but I only play for demo purposes and I never gig as a bassist ( all drummers heave a collective sigh of relief ).

This Matsumoku made Raven violin bass is, according to the seller, in near mint condition. The pictures seem support his claim, and everything about this bass says "buy me".

My resolve is weak, but my wallet is empty.

R.W. Haller


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Univox M340 guitar organ

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Before the guitar synth there was the guitar organ. We looked at the Vox V251 guitar organ before (and there's a fantastic picture of one in the 2012 Guitarz Calendar - there are still a few left so buy your copy now before it's too late to post in time for Christmas).

Most guitar organs had the guts of an electric organ shoe-horned into a guitar body while individual frets for each string across all the fret positions were wired up so as to trigger the notes. This Japanes-made Univox M340 guitar orgran is thought to date from the early 70s (I guess it could be later 60s) and is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $2,000. An organ expression pedal is included, and apparently the guitar organ is in working order althugh a couple of the fret triggers are not working. I wouldn't fancy being the one who had to fix those.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Matsumoku-made Univox semi-hollowbody in dazzling white finish

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I may well have said elsewhere that I find myself increasingly drawn towards semi-hollowbody or thinline designs these days. Earlier this year I bought myself a Korean-built Aria TA-40 with the Welsh flag on it (see this post), a rather modest example of this type of guitar, and my reaction was, "Wow! Why have I been playing solidbodies all these years?"

So, I'm always on the lookout for other semis; at the back of my mind I'm thinking that I could replace one of my other guitars with such an instrument. This Univox Custom semi-hollowbody definitely appeals to me; if I didn't have to pay the shipping from the USA plus the inevitable customs charges that would be incurred, then I could well see myself bidding on this.

The white finish brings to mind Gretsch's White Falcon, whilst the asymmetrical 3-on-a-side headstock design is bold and attractive. I like how the headstock facing, pickguard, truss rod cover, switch plate and pickup surrounds are all made from the same patterned material (what would you call that design? It's not quite tortoiseshell, is it?).

The vibrato arm is supplied, but needs re-assembly which hopefully shouldn't be too difficult. Pickups would appear to be a pair of singlecoils which I admit wouldn't be my first choice of pickup on a guitar like this, but of course the proof would be in the tones available when one actually gets to play the guitar.

This guitar is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $390. There are no bids at the time of writing, and the auction finishes in less than 12 hours. Someone could get themselves a very nice Matsumoku-made Japanese guitar at a very nice price here!

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Univox violin guitar (not bass) project with that Hofner/Beatles vibe going on

guitarz.blogspot.com:

OK, so this Univox Beatles-style violin guitar needs some work doing to it, but with a Buy It Now price of $249 it presents good value for someone wanting a project to work on. There are various violin-style six-strings available, but the Univox does have that Hofner vibe to it, even if it is not a wholly accurate copy (for instance, the Hofner wouldn't have had the f-holes).

EDIT: And yes, I am aware that The Beatles never used a violin-style six string guitar. I did say "vibe"!

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Univox Hi-Flier from 1976 - Japanese-made Mosrite copy

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Guitarz reader Colin Brown brought this guitar to my attention via our Facebook page, commenting:

I thought this was kind of neat, with a maple fingerboard, wraparound bridge, and humbuckers... I've only seen the ones with the jazzy trem, rosewood fingerboard, and single coils.

The guitar in question is a Univox Hi-Flier, which is essentially a 1970s Japanese-made copy of the Mosrite Ventures model. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain helped popularise these old Univox Mosrite copies, injecting them with the cool factor.

This example is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a starting bid of $300.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Univox Ripper, 1970s Matsumoko-made Japanese Strat-a-like

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's a 1970s Univox Ripper, made at the now legendary Matsumoko factory in Japan. It's obviously a Stratocaster-derived guitar, and whilst I've seen other similar Univox Strat-type guitars - complete with triple humbuckers, one angled at the bridge - the others I have seen have always had Strat-type necks too. The neck on this example looks like it belongs to another guitar, a bolt-on neck Les Paul copy maybe. Not only are there block inlays and binding on the 22-fret fingerboard, but the headstock is a LP-ish 3+3 affair. Looking at the picture, I can't help wondering if the scale length is LP-like too?

As to those pickups, the seller claims that:

These are hi-output pickups that produce their own, unique sound. The humbuckers sound more like the P90s in a Jag than a Strat or Tele. Some positions sound single coil-ish, others are fatter with more growl. I'd certainly take this over ANY Strat, it's way more versatile.

It's certainly an interesting variation on the Strat design, that's for sure, but it does have that Frankenstein mix'n'match look to it.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Univox Lectra Violin Bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The seller of this 1960s Univox Lectra Violin Bass currently listed on eBay tells us that it is a:

"COPY OF THE HOFFNER THAT PAUL McCARTNEY PLAYED IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE BEATLES" (sic)

Looking at this solidbody violin bass, I'd say it was more likely a copy of the Gibson violin bass, and a more accurate copy than Hofner's version. I'm not normally a fan of violin basses and guitars but think this one is quite cool.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Univox Eagle Strat

guitarz.blogspot.com:

In February 2009 we looked at a Univox Eagle P-Bass, and here we see its 6-string counterpart, the Univox Eagle Strat which is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a starting price of $499. A product of Japan's now legendary Matusmoko factory this late 1970s walnut-bodied beauty is a close relation of the Aria Pro II Dragon Strat which we have also looked before.

If you're on the lookout for a Strat but at the same time want something a little bit different from the norm, you could do a lot worse than to buy one of these, but be aware that they don't come up for auction too often. Having had played a friend's Dragon Strat years ago I can personally atest to the fact that they feel and sound great.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Univox archtop - those of a nervous disposition may want to look away

guitarz.blogspot.com

BEFORE:
Here we have a nice example of a 1970s Univox archtop guitar...

AFTER:
...which was sadly reduced to this pile of rubble. What happened? Did someone trash it on stage in a Townshend-esque moment of passion?

No. It was allegedly destroyed by airline baggage handlers during transit, apparently despite being double-boxed. They couldn't have made a better demolition job if they had tried.

The moral is, I suppose, make sure you package your guitars ultra-securely if they ever have to by shipped airfreight. And seriously consider insurance.

Via db Twang.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Aria Pro II PE-160 "Dragon Strat"

Remember the Univox Eagle Bass that we looked at last month? Well, here is its six-string counterpart also from the Matsumoko factory in Japan, the Aria Pro II PE-160 "Dragon Strat". This example is owned by Guitarz reader Justyn, who tells us that:

"I bought this guitar about 17 or 18 years ago when I saw an advert in a local paper for £80 and it has been my only electric guitar. The guitar itself is a real workhorse, extremely rugged and produces quite a wide range of sounds for a very basic 3 position switch system. It performs well with effects pedals and like you said, you can get a good approximation of Hendrixy tones especially from the neck pickup which is very good for chordal style rhythm playing like Little Wing, Castles Made Of Sand, etc.

"In all the time I have had this guitar I must admit that I have treated it very roughly, I have only bothered with a guitar stand for it recently and it was often left leaned up against whatever I was closest to when I put it down and as you can see from the pics it has a multitude of scrapes, dents, scratches and bumps, the poor thing has been dropped and knocked over many times but has never been affected by the harsh treatment I lavished upon it. The neck still plays well and because of its ruggedness you can play it as viciously or as tenderly as you like.

"When I first bought it I didn't know what I had got hold of but as I have mellowed with age I began to care more about it and got curious one night and tried to find out a bit about it. You know how it is when you have too much coffee and it's past 2 in the morning, sometimes you think of things you usually wouldn't. Anyway after a bit of digging around I found out that these guitars were only produced in a short run and are quite rare even if they are not that expensive compared to other vintage guitars, they are well worth buying if you get the chance. I really would hate to loose mine as it has bags of character and always seemed to forgive me for the abuse I put it through. I will be replacing the bridge soon though as it is starting to corrode a bit.

"This guitar was made in 1977 and they were made with three designs (two Dragons and an Eagle) from solid Walnut. You can find the original catalogue picture here: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/pe/nptype/nptypes.html and you can also find pics of the other Dragon design here: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/pe/nptype/pe160/pics.html, and the Eagle here: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/pe/nptype/eagle/pics.html.

"I'm pretty sure the Univox Eagle Bass Guitar was made in the same factory. There were also Ibanez carved strats. The Cornucopia (http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/replicas-and40ibanez-brand-only!and41/got-a-carved-strat!!!!/), Dragon and Eagle designs (sorry no links for these two).

"These were made in the Matsumoku factory and if you are interested you can find out more about the guitars they made by looking here: http://www.matsumoku.org/guitars.html. They produced Univox, Aria, Aria Pro 2, Washburn and many other brands. The site has got an amazing amount of information and the forum is full of very knowledgeable people who like you and I love the weird and wonderful guitars that are often overlooked."

Thanks for that, Justyn! This is the exact same guitar that my mate Phil had many years ago (I hope that he still has it), although his had a single coil-sized stacked humbucker in the middle pickup position (not a pickup combination you usually come across) and that gave it some fantastic sounds.

One thing that always struck me about Phil's guitar was that the dragon was effectively upside-down. I wondered if this was so as to give the guitar a Hendrix vibe as the dragon would have been the right-way up if played upside down, a la Jimi.

Univox Eagle Bass

Here's a Univox Eagle Bass which is basically a Japanese-built P-bass lookalike featuring an carved eagle in the top of the instrument.

I had a friend a few years back who had a Strat-type guitar featuring a dragon carving (it was a lovely playing guitar, by the way). It was of a very similar finish to this bass but bore the Aria brand name rather than Univox. I'm wondering if perhaps these could have came from the same factory?

Super Rare Univox Solid Body 12-String Guitar

Yes, I'm back and what a rotten two weeks of the year to take off as holiday. The weather was appalling. Anyway, before I forget, I'd like to say a big thank you to Gary for doing such a great job of keeping the blog alive and interesting whilst I was away. He likes his metal-bodied guitars, doesn't he?

Back to the main reason you all come here, that is, to look at weird and wonderful guitars, today I've got a cheesy but strangely appealing looking 12-string electric for you. It is apparently a very rare example of a Stratocaster XII instead.