Quest Atak 2 something or other, mystery model.

I'm very eager to recieve my new guitar, some pea green Quest Atak 2 of an unknown sort from Ebay.

For some reason, I've never been as excited about a guitar as this one. Just because I've never seen another one, so very unique. Reminds me of a Dean Bel Aire shape, but it's different enough that it has a design of it's own. This guitar has more personality than most.

Here's the pics from the listing:






Hopefully I can get it to sound as good as it looks. The colors remind me of those 1970's plastic food containers that my Mom had around the house when I was a kid. Same exact colors.

I know it's an Atak 2, but it's not any of the ones in the Quest catalog on the Mat site. I don't know if it's an Uncle Mat or not, haven't seen any hard evidence. Has anyone ever seen one of these Atak 2's with binding and a black neck like this one has?! Real curious to find its story, any info appreciated. I'll post good pics once it arrives. Can't wait.

Hello Chad,

I might be able to help you identify the model of your new guitar. I owned a Quest Atak bass a while ago and managed to purchase a full brochure! It's still lurking about somewhere so I'll see if I can find it. The same brochure is featured on the Mat forums, I know this because I couldn't find out much info when I bought the bass! I recall having to plough through loads of different topics on the Mat site before I came up with anything though. I think there might be a few photos of my bass in here somewhere, if not, there are definitely some in the Mat forums.
I'll let you know if I manage to come up with any more info.

Polly :queen: :flower:

Thanks Polly! I've seen the Quest catalog that's on the Mat site, although some closer/clearer images of the Atak 2's would be great to see!

I really like the guitar. It's got active pickups, which I've never used before, so quite a different sound. It sounds really good though once you adjust the amount of active gain, play with the tone knob, and select the right pickup combination. I can get some really nice clean sounds from it too, surprisingly. And the neck has a really, really good feel.

And you're right, not a lot of info out there on these things!!! They seem pretty rare, I'd love to find the real background story on these things.

Hey Chad!

Love the guitar... If you ever want to get rid of it, let me know. I'll buy it off you...

P.

I luuurrrrvveee this guitar. It looks to be in fantastic condition. Everyone knows the green ones are better! Just ask a Kawasaki owner

I remember seeing that on evilbay u.s. and was drawn towards it.
Unlike any other Quest that shape, it has binding and a rosewood board.
That is a nice score, probably top of the range with actives.
Like the shape. Very nice indeedy.

Thanks for the comments, the green with yellow binding, black neck, and crazy shape made fall it love with her immediately! It is a wild guitar, bursting with personality.

And yes, it does remind you of Kawasaki green!!!

Just last night I took the pickups out to photo them, so that was a good time to align bridge saddles (they were crooked), and wow, the sustain is seriously improved. It resonates very well now, and sounds amazing! I'll post pics on here, some good closeups. It's in really good condition, a few marks on the back but that's about it. No case though, and finding a Quest Atak case isn't exaclty easy.

From what we can tell, it is 100% stock!!! Behind the trem block was slightly routed out for more room, but the bridge matches the other Atak2's on the internet and in the catalog. Here's a bunch of closeups for you all, and for history's sake. I like a lot of photos, so get ready...






This next pic is where the saddles were crooked, all straightened out now however.












Here's where it was routed out a little. I'm thinking it was for more trem movement room, for dive bombs and such.





A pic "under the hood" as we say here in the States...





This next photo with the gray wire is the knob that connects only to the active circuit.










Head, pickups, binding.










So there it is, has a fantastic neck and I'm really liking it. I thank God for this rare find, never seen another like it. The third knob seems to activate or deactivate the active cicuit. Doesn't work without the battery, however. Is this how the Thunder Active's are? I know very little of active pickups. Any info is welcome!

Polly!!

You're back :queen: :queen: :queen:

Where've you been, the lads have been getting mischievous :joker:

Whoops, forgot where I was! On the Atak, odd shape, funny colour (Kermit --- we bought you a geeetar!) but I like it

Man Chad.... the shape multiplied by the color scheme get me thinking about the B-52's, Thomas Dolby, Devo and the Fine Young Cannibals all pureed up and poured into some kind of Jello mold from 1971.

Not literally of course, but still......


Zowie!!!

That's a sweet find Chad, nice one!

I've got the remains a Quest Atak 5 which still () needs rebuilding, I posted ages ago over on the Mats forum, HERE.

The pickups on my Quest are open coils but the back plates are identical to yours. The pickup circuit on your guitar looks similar to the Westone setup - passive pickups with an active gain/EQ boost circuit.

Just my thoughts but it looks like the sort of factory custom they would make for trade shows, either that or it's a revised model, even a prototype maybe? Whatever it is, don't let go of it mate, looks like a keeper to me!

P.S. Nearly every Quest Atak guitar I've ever saw seems to have the same D4xxxxx (April '84) pre-fix to the serial number, strange?

DAN.

Ice, you're right on with your analysis! I thought the same thing, pretty much.

DuoFuzz, great insight into this thing, thanks. Your Atak 5 looks like it would be killer! And quite a lot of work, which is great bonding time. I had been wondering if it was similar to the Thunder actives, so apparently it is. I took detailed pics of the circuit, I'll upload them later. That April '84 thing is very strange. How does the D4 indicate April?

Well I gigged my green monster just this past Saturday, and she did very well. She's got her new NEON PINK DR strings on her and all. Yep, not kidding. The other band said it was my watermelon guitar. By the way, the colored strings don't sound as good as uncoated. We had a great time. Pic below. She sounded amazing even with the coated strings!

The Chad wrote:...How does the D4 indicate April?...

Scroll down the Home page to the "How old is my guitar?" section

Hi Chad,

The pink strings are just awesome, now you've got to get a matching guitar strap for it!

The main difference between your guitar and Westone's active setup is that yours doesn't have the on/off switch to bypass the circuit. I'm guessing you have to turn the active control to zero to bypass it, or pull the battery if you want to completely cut out the circuit!

I did a Google image search for "Quest Atak guitar" this morning and got an interesting result. It's a poor picture of a black Atak 5 with red custom binding - link. It looks like Quest might have started making custom bound versions of their models at some point, your guitar could be from that same range?

Sadly, other than the catalog scan over on matsumoku.org, there seems to be little or no info on Quest guitars or their history.

DAN.

I seem to recall some early Washburns had a B&R (Black and Red) series like that. If memory serves there's a post or two at the Mats Forum.

That is a gorgeous guitar. Thumbs up to the body shape and colors! Glad she sounds as good as she looks.