JapCrap expert needed.

[john_the_bass]

About guitars really but I suppose the same can be applied to basses.
I am looking at an Antoria guitar at the moment, specifically a Les Paul and I wondered if any of the JapCrap experts could give me some tips?

I know that Antoria was a brand that was owned by JT Coppocks (Leeds) Ltd and was used for guitars imported into the UK from Japan and presumably these were made in the Fuji Gen-Gakki factory (ie them what made Ibanez, Greco, etc). Now I suppose what I want to know is, is there any reason why an Antoria product may be inferior to a Greco branded product of the same period or should they, in theory, be pretty much exactly the same?

Is there a comprehensive (or potted) history of JapCrap anywhere online I can have a look at?

Ta

Edited July 4, 2008 by john_the_bass

[Happy Jack]

John, best send a PM to Bassassin. If he doesn't know the answer (unlikely) then he'll know someone who does.

[kingofthestuntmen]

Antorias Rule..! I've never played a bad one.

Try here - [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/other-replicas/"]http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/other-replicas/[/url] - or here for more info - [url="http://groups.msn.com/antoria"]http://groups.msn.com/antoria[/url] - I joined these when I acquired my most recent one, a 'Hummingbird'




I was able to compare it to the real thing that a friend of mine had bought new, and it more than held it's own.

I've also owned a 'Strat' that I intended to use as the basis for a project, and a friend of mine had a J copy that was fantastic.

What's the history of the one you're looking at..?

KotS

[john_the_bass]

Cheers Happy Jack, yes I may do just that
KoTs - no idea mate to tell you the truth, don't know if it's got a serial either, but it looks nice!

[nick]

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='232837' date='Jul 4 2008, 05:15 PM']About guitars really but I suppose the same can be applied to basses.
I am looking at an Antoria guitar at the moment, specifically a Les Paul and I wondered if any of the JapCrap experts could give me some tips?

I know that Antoria was a brand that was owned by JT Coppocks (Leeds) Ltd and was used for guitars imported into the UK from Japan and presumably these were made in the Fuji Gen-Gakki factory (ie them what made Ibanez, Greco, etc). Now I suppose what I want to know is, is there any reason why an Antoria product may be inferior to a Greco branded product of the same period or should they, in theory, be pretty much exactly the same?

Is there a comprehensive (or potted) history of JapCrap anywhere online I can have a look at?

Ta[/quote]

I have a lovely old sunburst (70's) Antoria 335 copy. Bought it for £30, was in a bad way cosmetically (stickers,beer,gunk) & pickups, wiring & most of controls were shot, but neck & constructionwise OK.

Rewired with some GFS P90s, set-up, fretdressed & cleaned it up. Now it's a lovely guitar, even had a few a compliments from some seasoned Gibson afficianados.
Buy it if it's a good price & set neck

Cheers

[Bassassin]

Hi John - you're dead on the money about Antorias. For a bit of general reading about the brand (and a lot of wild speculation!) do a search for the brand at [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum"]http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum[/url] - there is a lot of interest in the brand there, because basically the Antoria range - right down to catalogue numbers - was identical to its Ibanez equivalent, at least at the point when the brand was owned by JT Coppock.

It seems that Hoshino Gakki, the distributor which owns the Ibanez brand, also sold rebranded Fujigen guitars to other distributors, including Coppocks. The Antoria range isn't identical to Ibanez - there are no Rickenfakers, for example, but there are equivalents to some of the more esoteric Ibby designs, like the Custom Agent LPs and the Black Eagle bass. There are also some strange hybrid Antorias - including Ibanez Artist types, but with Custom Agent headstocks, which have no Ibanez equivalent.

The Antoria brand outlived JT Coppock - when that company closed the brand changed hands, and these later Antorias were Korean-built. Decent quality, easily recognisable by garish paint jobs & plain, triangular headstocks on the Gibson copies. These aren't collectable in the same way as the Fujigen Antorias are.

Anyway, dunno if you wanted a history lesson! Do you have any pics of the Antoria you're interested in? If so, IDing it should be pretty straightforward, also how much are you thinking of paying? Antoria LPs are fairly common and there are usually a couple on Ebay at any one time.

And yes - they'll be identical again to their equivalent Greco (this is complicated a bit by the fact Greco sourced through Aria and Fujigen simultaneously) and the exhaustive & occasionally accurate potted history of JapCrap is in development - like so much else in my life!

Jon.

[Mickeyboro]

Roye Albrighton of the prog band Nektar (big in Germany) played an Antoria 335 knockoff throughout his career even when he could afford the 'real thing'.