Does anyone know what it is?
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Unknown LP Copy w/strange Headstock Inlay
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Someone has emailed me pictures of what appears to be a 70's Japanese LP copy they acquired at a yard sale. I'm not sure what it is and I don't have time to research it right now so I'm posting the pictures here in hopes one of you recognize it. It's most distinguishing feature is a huge headstock inlay that I don't recognize.
Does anyone know what it is?
Does anyone know what it is?
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VintAxe - Site Admin
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I have seen that inlay style before - but I can't remember for the life of me what the brand was. However, I'm confident it was an importer re-brand, rather than anything I'd connect with a specific factory. Otherwise this looks like a very generic mid-70s Japanese LP copy. I'd categorically state it was not made by any of the "big name" factories of the era - Fujigen, Matsumoku, Kasuga, Tokai etc.
If it had a small split-diamond inlay it would be identical to the Maya LS-26 model, this same guitar also appears with any number of importer rebrands. In the UK these are Columbus, Avon, Saxon, CMI, Grant & various others. It's not entirely clear who made these - if indeed they all came from the same factory. Maya was owned by a trading company called Rokkomann and it's often suggested that they had their own manufacturing facility, but this is not confirmed. However, the high-end & original Maya designs are very unique and can't be attributed to any other known factory, so I would consider it a strong possibility.
Anyway, I've owned a few of these LP copies with several different brands - they tend to have ply-bodies, hollow arch-tops, single-coil pickups (in humbucker cases), fretboard inlays are silver rather than pearl. I'm pretty confident this guitar will match the above description, but despite the budget spec they have good necks & can be set up to play nicely.
This is all entirely speculative though. Plainly the guitar in question is unbranded, there's no evidence it's ever had a headstock logo. This was very common in the 70s and I'd assume this guitar was sold simply as a no-name Les Paul copy.
Jon.
If it had a small split-diamond inlay it would be identical to the Maya LS-26 model, this same guitar also appears with any number of importer rebrands. In the UK these are Columbus, Avon, Saxon, CMI, Grant & various others. It's not entirely clear who made these - if indeed they all came from the same factory. Maya was owned by a trading company called Rokkomann and it's often suggested that they had their own manufacturing facility, but this is not confirmed. However, the high-end & original Maya designs are very unique and can't be attributed to any other known factory, so I would consider it a strong possibility.
Anyway, I've owned a few of these LP copies with several different brands - they tend to have ply-bodies, hollow arch-tops, single-coil pickups (in humbucker cases), fretboard inlays are silver rather than pearl. I'm pretty confident this guitar will match the above description, but despite the budget spec they have good necks & can be set up to play nicely.
This is all entirely speculative though. Plainly the guitar in question is unbranded, there's no evidence it's ever had a headstock logo. This was very common in the 70s and I'd assume this guitar was sold simply as a no-name Les Paul copy.
Jon.
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I see everything before me at last...
I see everything before me at last...
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Bassassin - Posts: 198
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