A Univox, or so I've been told

[newey]

Hi Folks-

New here and I thought I'd share my one vintage guitar. I have owned it since it was purchased new in 1971, probably a 1970 date of manufacture but I'm not sure about that- I'm not sure of much of anything about this guitar so any info would be appreciated.

My parents got it for me for my junior high school graduation present, so I couldn't ever part with it, but an idea of the value (if any) would be appreciated for curiosity's sake. Original price was $99.95 (which is about $400 in 2008 dollars)

I've been told by a couple of sources that it's a Univox copy of a Mosrite so I suspect that's right. But the guitar came new without a headstock logo (or any other logo) on it. There was an adhesive foil sticker that said "made in Japan" on the neck plate, along with a serial No: 0082124

It has two sort-of Gretsch sounding double coil pickups, with a three-way switch on the lower bout, and a pair of 2-way switches on the upper bout, reputed to be "Bass/treble switches" for each pickup. Don't know if those are actually splitting the coils of the pickups, or maybe just bleeding some of the signal through a cap- as it's a hollow body, not so easy to take it apart and see! Has V & T pots with another toggle nearby that is On/Standby.

All original except the wooden bridge support was replaced and the tuners have been upgraded, the original ones had an oval-style knob on them.

But it has a very clean jazz-type sound, can be a bit bluesy as well. Plays real nice, has one of the thinnest sectioned necks I've seen on guitars of that era.

The fact that there was no logo on it was not a mistake on this particular guitar- the store where I got had several of these and none bore a logo. I always assumed, in the absence of any real info, that the logo was left off when these were imported from some fear of legal issues from copying a design.




Help, anyone?

[VintAxe]

[newey]

Thanks, Vint-

Yes, I read in the History portion of this site that Aria was making guitars for Univox- I hadn't known that before. But I didn't know the tailpiece was a giveaway on the Aria connection.

Actually, I always just took the tailpiece to be a cheap Japanese copy of a Bigsby and sort of assumed that might be connected to the lack of a label on the guitar- i.e., fear of a lawsuit by Bigsby.

And you are correct, I didn't mean to imply it was an exact copy of a Mosrite- but has some of the distinctive details like the angled neck pickup and the angled end of the fretboard to match.

If your valuation is roughly correct, then it has basically just maintained its value, in terms of constant dollars, rather than having appreciated any in value. Doesn't matter- I'm keeping it anyway!

Thanks again- and I love the forum

[danduffy]

I worked for Univox from 1972 - 1978. I never seen this model there.
Dan Duffy

[newey]

Dan-

That's interesting, I thought I had this mystery pretty much solved!

Although this would have been from a few years before you were there. It was purchsed new in June, 1971. It had probably been in the shop for a year or so- they had 2, a red one and this one, both on sale.

[daan]

I had a guitar JUST like that, I foolishly sold it years ago.

I got mine at a pawn shop in 1990 for $100, I thought it was a fake Gretsch Country Gentleman. I never saw another one like it, either. Mine had really weak pickups (obviously not slanted ones though) and the tuners broke, and the bridge had really deep slots in it from the strings wearing thru, but I loved it anyway. Then kids came along and it got sold along with lots of other stuff. I've never seen another one, if I had, I'd have snapped it up. I did run across it a couple years later, someone had put Gretsch stickers and a fake bigsby on it, and was trying to sell it for $500, I wonder who got it?
Thanks for posting this, it was cool seeing another one.

[newey]

[daan]

here's a better pic of my fake Gretsch, after someone else cleaned it up:

They put the glitter F-hole stickers on it and the "G" on the headstock. Oh yeah, it also had a new tailpiece and matching knobs, too. the bridge was the same damaged one as when I had it, and all the scratches and marks were the same, too. I should have bought it back, but I couldn't afford it.

[Spud1950]

This appears to be basically the same guitar.Seller claims it may be an Aria or Ventura, made at the Matsumoku factory.

[daan]

That's funny. The seller is local to me, too. I may have to go bid on it. Of course this one has a different headstock, "real" (as opposed to painted-on) F-holes and the slanted pickup. Of course it's in waay better shape than mine was... Thank you for posting the link!

[Spud1950]

I meant to say it's basically the same as the guitar in Newey's post, not your "fake Gretsch". It is a nice looking guitar. Appears to be in great condition.

[daan]

from here http://www.catoosatrading.com/ventura_guitar.html a guy started this webpage because he had (has?) a few guitars like ours, interesting links below



http://www.catoosatrading.com/images/ca ... age_07.jpg
http://www.catoosatrading.com/ventura_catalog1_1.html
http://www.catoosatrading.com/images/ven_grestch_1.jpg
http://www.catoosatrading.com/ventura_s ... _1500.html
apparently it's a "Ventura V-1500", but I'm sure they made a dozen minor differences over the production run depending on who ordered the guitars, who they were buying parts from that week, etc etc. Pretty cool, though.

[newey]

[daan]

[daan]

aaaand some more info, apparently these were also available as "Silvertone" (Sears catalog) guitars:
http://www.silvertoneworld.net/electric/1475/1475.html
Go figure.