Antoria Twincaster Bass - Model No.498 - Can anyone give me more background on these hollow body guitars?

[Mark Elliott]

Hi everyone!

I have recently acquired Antoria hollow body bass which is a bit of a mystery to me. I'm used to seeing the model 1917's from the early seventies, but I cannot find a picture or any information on this particular model anywhere on the web. I think the 1917's were Matsumoko made, but this one seems unlike those. It has Van Ghent tuners for a start, which I have never come across on a Japanese guitar before? I have seen some articles which say Guyatone used to make Antorias before Fujigen/Matsumoku, and also that some were made in Europe as well, but nothing substantive. My feeling date-wise is that it is maybe late sixties, but it's just a hunch.

Can any of you give me any more information on it? - it's a sweet old thing and I'm quite fond of it. I believe the colour is genuine.

Thanks!

[TheGreek]

Love the colour...would make beautiful wall art if you don't want to play it.

[Mark Elliott]

Ha! true. The colour has oddly grown on me...

[BigRedX]

Paging @Bassassin

[Grahambythesea]

It has more than a slight nod towards Gretsch. The colour reminds of their Smoke Green finish although they had a darker green on the sides.

[Bassassin]

On 07/03/2023 at 14:34, BigRedX said:

Paging @Bassassin

 

Ta! Late to this party but I'm not much cop on 60s MIJ so can't really add much off the top of my head - however, I can do research while I pretend to be working!

 

A quick flick through Frank Meyers' History Of Japanese Electric Guitars (AKA the 60s MIJ Bible) shows a sunburst version of this bass branded Ibanez, in a US importer's catalogue from 1966.

 

A bit of scratting through my links turns up the same catalogue scan. Not a great pic but clearly identifiable:

 

 

According the the learned Mr Meyers these were some of the last guitars to have been made by Ibanez brand owner Hoshino Gakki before they partnered with Fujigen for guitar manufacture. Hoshino owned (and still does AFAIK) the Tama factory which at the time produced guitars as well as drums. So it's a 1966-ish Tama-built Hoshino, if Frank Meyers' book's accurate.

 

Aside from the finish there are a couple of differences - obviously the tuners (which may not be the originals on @Mark Elliott's bass) but more interestingly the control layout - just 3 knobs (at a guess v/v/t) on the Ibanez.

 

Ibanez & Antoria are often conflated & many identical & near-identical instruments were sold under both brands. It's known that 60s/70s Antoria brand owner J.T. Coppock Ltd imported from Hoshino, which owns the Ibanez brand, so it's interesting to see one going back to the mid 60s & digging up a bit of history. Ibanez variants are usually more common than Antoria, because those sold to a global market rather than just UK, but I can't find another example of this model 498 other than the catalogue scan. So it looks like it's probably a very, very rare bass.

[TheGreek]

Is the neck plate the wrong way round?

[BreadBin]

7 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Is the neck plate the wrong way round?

Certainly looks like it - you can see an imprint in the finish. 

[Mark Elliott]

Thanks again for the comments everyone, and thanks to Bassassin for all the information! It ties in with some other information I received about the Hoshino/Tama connection, so it has filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge. 

[TheGreek]

Did I see this on ebay earlier?

[Mark Elliott]

On 19/03/2023 at 21:57, TheGreek said:

Did I see this on ebay earlier?

Hi - yes, I did buy it off ebay a few months back. Sadly the original owner had passed, and his son put it up for sale.

[Mark Elliott]

In response to The Greek and Breadbin - yes, the neck plate was upside down! - the Luthier has swapped it round. we are just revealing all the issues it has prior to hopefully fixing them..