Aquired a non Westone Matsumoku guitar the other day.

Hi Folks,
Picked this up locally the other day & being a Matsumoku product I thought some of you folks maybe interested.
It is a 1984 Vantage invader2.
Quite rough condition generally, but a good straight neck, everything works & it is complete.
It has a very nice sound also, the pickups are still the original MMK 45's.
Seems to be quite a rare bird, with little information available on the net.
It is your typical Matsumoku product though, very well built & solid.
So, I pulled it to bits.
I'll let the pics tell the rest of the story
Cheers,
Trevor.

Hi Trevor,

WOW! I like it! That is soooo cool! Well done mate!

Pauline :flower: :queen:

I saw that and went back to have a crack at it and it was gone!! You beauty; good to see it's been kept in the family, too!! I know of one other that a friend of mine has in Roma, Queensland - he has quite a comprehensive Vantage collection!!
With those 45's, it'll be a screamer but it doesn't look to be in too bad a nick; and as you say is complete down to the brass knobs; a very good catch indeed!

Yep, unbutchered ,unmolested completeness is a wonderful thing.
Its been someones player in the past i would say, as the frets are quite worn and she has suffered quite a few chips and scratches on her exquisite body.
The pics make it look a lot neater than it really is though, as you folks who have bought guitars over the net would know.
The seller of her lived locally to me so I was at least able to see her in the flesh before buying.
Don't get me wrong though, I am very, very happy with the purchase.
Very little remains of the gold plating on all of the hardware, most notably the pickup covers & she needs a new jack.
It seems one of its owners didn't own any proper screw drivers either, as every screw on her is badly burred over.

So far I have stripped her completly to check her right over & I haved buffed her naked body with compound to try to remove a myriad of scratches.
At first I was worried about buffing through some of the edges as is the way with a buffing machine.
But it quickly became apparent that the finish is really hard & I mean really really hard.
I have a 1964 malibu surfboard that I've also been working on & I can tell you, that the 45 year old fibreglass finish is easier to buff than this guitar.
So anyway, 4 or 5 runs with the buff later & its not too bad & ready to touch up the chips.
I have new screws on the way, new jack & new wang bar.
I have polished the Knobs, dressed the frets and am now trying to find out about getting the rest of the hardware re-plated.
I'll make sure I keep you all informed of my progress.
Cheers,
Trevor.

Coming along nicely.

Looking good mate

Are you going to refret the neck?

Yow!!

That's.... a thing of beauty.

Good work!! I like those MMK 45's....they'll be pretty hot.

Oh hey, make sure you slop on some good ol' lemon oil on that fretboard.

Schlop on a coat. Let dry. Schlop on another, etc. until happy.