Rammsteinbrit Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 (edited) Hey Guys + Gals... Just bought a "early 70s Antoria Les Paul Custom Bass made by Fugi Gen Gakki in Japan" ( [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260198569119"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260198569119[/url] ) off of Ebay... Just wondered if anyone knows anything about this Model, or just general Infomation about Antoria please... Thanks alot!! Darby! Edited January 6, 2008 by Rammsteinbrit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Antoria guitars were imported into the UK from Japan by John Hornby Skewes in the mid 70s. Model numbers were the same as the equivalent Ibanez, what you've got there looks like a 2350B, somewhere around 1973. Quality of vintage Ibanez was more variable than the "lawsuit" hype would lead you to expect, but the Jazz copy I had for a while was nice. Some links [url="http://www.ibanezregister.com/cpg148/displayimage.php?album=1816&pos=0"]http://www.ibanezregister.com/cpg148/displ...=1816&pos=0[/url] [url="http://www.break-even.org/ibzscans/1973EZ/73-2-15.jpg"]http://www.break-even.org/ibzscans/1973EZ/73-2-15.jpg[/url] [url="http://www.break-even.org/ibz70/1970/bass.htm"]http://www.break-even.org/ibz70/1970/bass.htm[/url] (scroll to bottom) [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/discus/messages/13/9654.html?1196123127"]http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/discus/mes...html?1196123127[/url] [url="https://store.bluebookinc.com/Downloads/Category.aspx?product=4&id=35"]https://store.bluebookinc.com/Downloads/Cat...uct=4&id=35[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rammsteinbrit Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 Thanks for the Info Norman! Looking at those pics, they all have the old Ibanez writing on the stock, mine says Antoria, so is my one a bit...rare'er? ....or is it just a pile-o-sh*te? Payed £206 for it....Ripped off or Fair? Thanks in advance... Darby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 [quote name='Rammsteinbrit' post='115178' date='Jan 7 2008, 01:51 AM']Thanks for the Info Norman! Looking at those pics, they all have the old Ibanez writing on the stock, mine says Antoria, so is my one a bit...rare'er? ....or is it just a pile-o-sh*te? Payed £206 for it....Ripped off or Fair? Thanks in advance... Darby[/quote] With all due respect, why are you asking these questions [i]after[/i] you've bought it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rammsteinbrit Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 Erm, i guess i was just curious to get your opinion on the Deal. You see, im not as knowledgable as most of you guys, so maybe what i think is a good deal, maybe sh*te to you... Doesnt REALLY matter now anyway, due to the fact that ive paid for it now. PERSONALLY i think ive got a good deal, and im very much looking forward to getting the bass tomorrow, but this thread was really to see if i could find out some more info about the bass and the make. Cheers, Darbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkfinger Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Without going to much into the "market value Vs. subjective value" debate (PLEASE let's not start that), 200 odd quid doesn't sound like much to pay for a good looking/playing/sounding bass. It looks well nice, I'd have been tempted myself, if I'd seen it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 [quote name='Rammsteinbrit' post='115262' date='Jan 7 2008, 10:14 AM']Erm, i guess i was just curious to get your opinion on the Deal. You see, im not as knowledgable as most of you guys, so maybe what i think is a good deal, maybe sh*te to you... Doesnt REALLY matter now anyway, due to the fact that ive paid for it now. PERSONALLY i think ive got a good deal, and im very much looking forward to getting the bass tomorrow, but this thread was really to see if i could find out some more info about the bass and the make. Cheers, Darbs.[/quote] If you're happy with the deal, that's the main thing. Value is as much a personal thing as it is a monetary thing. Enjoy your new acquisition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 [quote name='Rammsteinbrit' post='115178' date='Jan 7 2008, 01:51 AM']Thanks for the Info Norman! Looking at those pics, they all have the old Ibanez writing on the stock, mine says Antoria, so is my one a bit...rare'er? ....or is it just a pile-o-sh*te? Payed £206 for it....Ripped off or Fair? Thanks in advance... Darby[/quote] Rare is the most overused word on eBay, after lawsuit. I'm not an expert on this, I just got interested in these Far East brands for the same reason I guess you might be, cos I owned a few. As far as I can tell, Antoria basses from the 1970s were the same as Ibanez, just imported into the UK by a different distributor. The thing that affects the price with these is recognition and sellers are increasingly associating Antoria with Ibanez, which ups the recognition factor, and hence the price. If you search the completed listings for "Les Paul Bass" you'll see a Shaftesbury of the same vintage went for £220 today, so I think you did ok. I hope you like it, let us know how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerdragon Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 (edited) Perhaps you should keep an eye on the Japcrap thread in the ebay links. there was a bit about your bass there. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7473&pid=115010&st=120&#entry115010"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry115010[/url] Edited January 7, 2008 by beerdragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Late to the Geek Party! Spinynorman's right about this one - bottom line really is it's a collector's bass now - whether or not it plays well, it won't depreciate in value - all the time you don't mod it, mess with it or do anything that you can't chage back if/when you sell it on. Good value? Well, like I said, it probably won't lose you money, & if you hang on to it for a couple of years, it'll likely make a few quid. Even better if it turns out it plays & sounds good & you like it. History stuff: these basses were made in the 70s by a factory called Fujigen Gakki. They are best-known for building Ibanez "lawsuit" guitars & basses, but like all the Jap factories back then, built to order for anyone, and also to budget - they weren't all great instruments, and some were better than others. It seems that the Antoria & Ibanez ranges were largely identical, seemingly because the instruments were stock factory designs. There were differences in the ranges - I don't think Antoria sold any Rick bass copies, for example. Antoria copies are much more common than Ibanez in the UK - two reasons - mainly because they were much cheaper, but also because of the proliferation of importers' own brands here. Even Ibanez's UK importer, Charles Summerfield Ltd, had their own CSL copy brand - also sourced from Fujigen. It wasn't until the advent of good quality & affordable original designs, in the late 70s & early 80s, that the "name" Japanese brands like Aria, Yamaha & Ibanez really started to break into the UK market. The Antoria brand itself dates back to the 60s and has had various owners - I don't know if JHS ever owned it, but at the time of the "Copy Wars" it was owned by J.T. Coppock Ltd, of Leeds. In the early 80s the brand passed to a company called JL Music, and they sourced Korean-made guitars, rather than Japanese - by this point, the likes of Fujigen were turning out high-quality original designs & building MIJ Fenders. Korean Antorias turn up occasionally on Ebay, mostly generic-looking Gibson & Fender copies, identifiable by lurid sunburst paintjobs & triangular-looking headstocks. Seems they're not bad quality, but not "proper" JapCrap. The Antoria brand has recently been revived yet again, and funnily enough - appears on a Korean-made range of Gibson & Fender Looky-likeys: [url="http://www.adamhall.com/uk/AH_K--Antoria__l--en__p--project_2__k--245__f--1"]http://www.adamhall.com/uk/AH_K--Antoria__...2__k--245__f--1[/url] And they even do a Jazz copy. Lucky us. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I was watching it cause I like the style, if its going, let me know, but also say why its going so soon. Thats a pretty good indicator that a chunk of your money is safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOD2 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 And, of course, "Antoria" made those lovely Strat-style double neck copies as 6/12 or 6/4 string models. [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/index.php?topic=9478.0"]ibanezcollectors.com[/url] ....sigh...takes me back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumblebass Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Antoria guitars hold a special place in my heart, since it was 'playing' one that got me into bass. Here's the story, in the early 70's my local youth club had a live band on every Friday night. One such Friday I was watching the band, and their bass player had a Cherry Antoria EB3 copy. I was (& am) a big Jim Lea fan (Slade). At this time (14 y.o.) I didn't own a bass, but wanted to learn. At the end of the night I was talking to the bass player & he let me have a plonk on his Antoria, through his Marshall amp & 4 x 12 cab. I did my bestest Radar Love lick on it, & thought I was in heaven! It may have been the biggest pile of crap ever, but to me it made my life! Straight out the next day & bought my 1st bass ( a Kay EB0 copy in sunburst ) £14.00 new! I still have it to this day. I was able to return the favour, 30 odd years later when my Band played their 20th Anniversary gig locally, I invited that bass player to the Show to see how far that spotty kid from the Youth Club had progressed, and let him have a bash on my GB Rumour through my mountainous EBS rig. Hopefully I made his day the way he made mine. Long live Antoria! Thanks for bearing with me while I rambled! Cheers R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD1 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Hey Rumble I had an Antoria EB3 copy around 1980 and I was / am a big fan of Jim Lea. Great bass and the quality was spot on, but I couldn't get away with the scale length - and I certainly couldn't play or sound like Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumblebass Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 [quote name='JD1' post='116614' date='Jan 8 2008, 10:00 PM']Hey Rumble I had an Antoria EB3 copy around 1980 and I was / am a big fan of Jim Lea. Great bass and the quality was spot on, but I couldn't get away with the scale length - and I certainly couldn't play or sound like Jim.[/quote] Nice one JD1, Jim was much under-rated in his day, and doesn't get mentioned much when lists of the best bass players are compiled, but some of his lines are just awesome. Saw Slade live a couple of times & couldn't take my eyes off him. Also have owned a Gibson EB3 but I had to part company with it. Didn't like it at all, too heavy at the headstock. Bass used to drop like a stone when you let go of it! Even more reason to admire those EB0/EB3 players! Cheers R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rammsteinbrit Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Thanks for the Info guys, this thread has been incredibly enlightning! Got the Bass yesterday, and had a practise with it last night....SOOO Happy with it. Ive 5 other bass's, including a Warwick, a Westone ThunderJet and a Tanglewood, and have played on loads more, and i have to say, this bass is amazing, the tone/sound is better than all of my other bass's combined! As for the look, it just looks so.......Rock n Roll!!! So yeah Incredibly Happy, dont care about the value anymore because this one is a keeper, ill take some photos in a minute and post them for those who are interested... Cheers again all! Darby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rammsteinbrit Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 (edited) Photo Time... Sorry for Gayness and Crappy Camera, Off of the ol' Phone im afraid! ...and One Happy Idiot! Thumbs Up for Antoria! Darby Edited January 9, 2008 by Rammsteinbrit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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