Voice Frontier Custom 1000 (Chet Atkins) ??

[NZ944]

Hello, first post here, hopefully this is in the right place.

I got given an electric guitar which isn't in the best condition, I was wondering whether its worth fixing it up or just trashing it.

It says Voice Frontier "Custom" 1000 on the head. Also on the head is "No. xxxxx" (where x's represent numbers) and "Chet Atkins" in black. "Chet Atkins" also appears on the plastic pick guard.

I have no idea of its origins or exclusivity. All i could find on Google were two Japanese auction sites. So my suspicion is its Japanese.

Any information on this guitar would be appreciated.

[jedistar]

? This one?

[NZ944]

Thanks Jedistar,
Those were off a japanese auction right? And yea it does look similar, except on the head it has "No. xxxxx" under the words Voice Frontier and also Chet Atkins on the roundy bit near the tip of the head.
I also forgot it says "LE1RASET" (or something similar) under the name too.

Im just afraid of chucking it out and then find its rare and/or valuable.

Do you know much about this Voice brand?

[VintAxe]

The Voice Frontier Custom 1000 was made in Japan around 1966.

I think I just exhausted all my knowledge. sb

[NZ944]

Thank you VintAxe,

Wow I didnt realize it's so old! I guess it's gonna be hard to find much about this specific guitar anywhere.. Maybe a japanese guitar forum lol

[VintAxe]

Hey NZ944,

I've done a bit more poking around and discovered that Voice is covered in the book "Bizarre Guitars of the 60's". There is one page devoted to the company but of course the text is in Japanese so not much help.

There is a picture of a catalog page from 1966:


One price I can read is 30,000 Yen which is about $300 USD at today's conversion rates. This tells me that the Voice was not a cheap guitar in 1966 since this is about what a Fender Strat sold for in 66.

Of course, today, that 1966 Strat is valued between $15,000-$20,000 USD. The Voice hasn't enjoyed that type of appreciation but I don't think I'd use it for firewood unless it is completely ruined.

[NZ944]

My dad can read Japanese, do you have a higher resolution version of that page? I appreciate your help VintAxe!

So, it might be worth 'something' at least. I haven't the faintest clue as to how to rebuilt guitars so I'll take it to the local guitarshop sometime and get a ballpark figure on how much it might cost to get it running, if at all possible. And i'll try get my dad to post on a japanese forum too (know any good ones?)

Cheers


edit: for anyone interested. Just did a bit of searching, and found the lead guitar in a 1968 japanese band called Purpleshadows (Papurushadouzu) was one of these Voice Frontier guitars. The band was quite popular at the time, my japanese mum could even hum their top singles song "small snack" (translated).
Also found out these were handmade, although im not sure if all guitars were made that way at the time.. (vintage n00b)

Just found a slightly larger version of the catalogue . Haven't found anything relating to Chet Atkins yet

[VintAxe]

I'll send you a scan of the entire page from Bizarre Guitars. It will have a company history of Voice. I'd appreciate it if you would share back with me any translations your dad does of the page.

Let me know what email address you want the scan sent to. The scan will probably be around a meg. You can pm me or send a reply to steve@vintaxe.com.

[jedistar]

http://www.j-guitar.com/sp/lis/sho/soon.cgi?sid=1240

this page suggests one sold for 262,500 Yen = which is around $2,500 USD

[NZ944]

[sneakypete]

Lazerus thread.....