Took me a while to learn how to sharpen mine, but now I never have a blunt woodworking blade. I watched a guy showing his sharpening set up, he opined that there are two ways to sharpen woodworking tools: a lot of work when you finally decide they're too blunt to use, or 2 minutes to keep them honed.
My Big Brother has had a 'Diamond' JazzBass copy forever which had the exact same neck plate; I eventually found out that it was actually a rebranded, Matsumoku-made Aria! 😀👍
It is. That one is probably from the early -mid 70s judging by the hardware used. Ive worked on quite a few guitars that came out that factory over the years. I always figured they had a big wall plastered in company names n would throw a dart to see what name was going on that guitar that day.
Judging by the Maxon brand pickups (which are probably very good) I think you’re right with matsumoko. They made a small amount of Ibanez in the 80’s, and Ibanez and maxon are synonymous I think.
Don't know if you migth see this, but I'm really curious, 2 years later do you still like it? And have you encountered other guitars from this company?
The best part of your videos is your treatment of all guitars as if they were your own, and that you don’t insult and demean your customers’ inexpensive guitars like other individuals on TH-cam. I would have no reservations about bringing any and all of my guitars to you but I would never subject my guitars to the disrespect that I’ve seen from others. You see the potential in every instrument and work to maximize the playability. It is the mark of a true craftsman to treat a bargain instrument with the same dignity as a $6000 Martin.
Marius Moller: People are not their worst comment. People are not their worst day. It’s the negative pattern that some guitar repairmen exhibit. This guy has a predominantly positive pattern. Agree?
Same here. I have a couple of nice ones and I recently bought an old Harmony Marquis acoustic. This past week I attempted resetting the neck ( truly a hack job) but it turned decent enough for now. But still needs a lot of touch up to look nice again. Without a doubt it now plays extremely well and sounds fantastic.
About 25 years ago I took an Epiphone Les Paul Custom I got for very little money, and turned it into the greatest little "shred machine" it cold be. I replaced everything except tor the tuners. I spent the money on Gibson "PAF" humbucking pick ups and all the rest of it. With cream colord plasticware this thing looks beautiful and sounds amazing. I did this ONE time, never again. The other time is when I bought parts from the store and assembled a "real" Fender Stratocaster from almost scratch. Wish I had THAT ONE back.
My Big Brother has had a 'Diamond' JazzBass copy forever which had the exact same neck plate; I eventually found out that it was actually a rebranded, Matsumoku-made Aria! 😀👍
I may be mistaken, but I believe that bridge set up is missing a cap that covers both the bridge, saddles, and possibly the bridge pickup. That's why there are those four raised ridges around the base of the bridge plate. I had an old Japanese electric guitar that was set up the same way :)
That guitar has got Matsumoku written all over it. Most of what came out of that factory in the late 70’s and early 80’s was pretty good! Looks a lot like a Custom. Yamaha, Ibanez, Westone were a few of the more known brands to have their guitars made in that factory. In europe you can find them named Maya, Morris, Pearl, Bird and a lot of other exotic names. Nice save!
I think it is, I see them in a lot of Grecos and stuff from the era. They're actually a selling point where I live, the 80s humbuckers are decent PAF types apparently
Nisshin Onpa (Maxon) started mid-1960s as a producer of components and OEM products for guitar companies. First building guitar pickups for the Greco-brand electric guitars produced by Kanda Shokai, Nisshin Onpa in 1969 also became an effects pedal manufacturer. They created a fuzz-wah pedal that was very popular, and marketed under multiple trade names including Ibanez.
Yours has to be one of, if not the, best lutherie channels extant. Bright students need to pay attention here: Good straightforward teaching, no snide remark about other luthiers, just solid, solid information. I may not always come to the same conclusions as you, but I always enjoy your teaching. Thank you.
A $3,000.00 Martin or $5,000.00 Gibson do nothing for me at all. Meh. But I have an affinity for these older, uncommon, cheap instruments. A lot of young people learned to play on these things, because they couldn't afford anything better at the time. I have a small business setting up and upgrading inexpensive guitars to play, sound, and look a lot better, for a reasonable price. I like to see beginners get a decent instrument to learn on, so they will continue to practice and play, and perhaps one day buy an expensive custom instrument, if they desire. As for me, I play 'open box' and 'overstocked' stuff that I have bought at a discount, and then repaired, even though I do have 7 Gibsons and 5 Fenders. Some dog guitars can become Kennel Club winners.
80s Copy: cheap parts, poorly designed, even more poorly executed. 80s Japanese Clone: well made, sounds great, plays better, gives the real deal a run for its money, probably horribly mistreated for the last 40 years.
Aria, Electra and even Ibanez made a lot of these in Matsumoku, Japan in the early 70s. I think '75 was the final year. As someone else said, the pickups might be worth more than the guitar itself (to some people). You'll find that the neck is slightly narrower than a real Fender but some had better bridges and pickups than those on on this guitar. And most were very decent substitutes for the real deal at about half the price. Nice work by the way. Keep up the cool videos.
Cool sounding cheap guitar. Nice work! I'm no repair guy, but I would have slammed a new zero fret in there then wondered why it always sounded like a sitar! You made the right choice.
Granada guitars were sold through the old Ontario Conservatory of Music years ago. I had an electric with Granada inlaid into the headstock. The acoustics had a stick laid over other brands. Since those days I’ve come across many used ones and have work on several all needing various work. Nice work on this Tele copy.
That looks a lot like an Electra Telecaster that I have. I have one with the same bridge. My tuners are identical as well. These are Electra before they went to that weird Peace sign logo and started putting effects in the guitar. Mine weighs as much as two regular telecasters. Many also has the two piece sandwich body.
I have two of these semi-hollowbody Teles (neither labeled "Granada") in a sunburst finish and a near-mint solid body Telecaster clone called a "Lero" in butterscotch, all with the same funky bridge and Maxon pickups. I love 'em! I believe at least some of these were sold through Sears and/or Montgomery Wards, so if yours bears the name of a regional department store, I'm not surprised. I believe there's an "Ibanez" version too. Nice to see these relics being cared for and played!
yeah, especially since he'd already cut the nut. he was halfway done. is cutting a new nut less work than "dialing in" a zero fret? maybe, i don't know how he would have gone about that, but i can imagine cutting nuts is second nature at that point. i too would have just stuck a jumbo fret in there and hoped for the best edit: he did explain in a comment that yes, he would have spent time filing that fret, but he would've also made a new nut either way.
@@udhi_gn3893 That's his opinion only, there is no rule book written in stone about what kind of nut can or cannot be used on a fender style headstock. In my experience zero frets work wonderfully in a fender style headstock. In fact, I have 2 Stratocasters with them and they improve intonation as well as eliminate nut "grab" causing the string not to return to pitch after using the tremolo. YMMV.
Pretty cool! I grew up on the border of Canada in the USA and one of my first pawn shop cheapos was a Granada Les Paul copy. No zero-fret but that same neck plate!
That’s actually an early 70’s Japanese copy. The pickup date code is 6/23/1972. The person you repaired it for may have picked it up for $50, but these typically sell between $250-$500 depending on the brand name on the headstock. They’re very nice guitars.
Excellent info, RolandG303! I bought an old Greco P-520 Recording Guitar, Made in Japan, and the Pickups also said Maxon, followed by a date code. It's great!
@@robertmahaney6831 What makes you say that? If Granada had the practice of re-branding old stock, is it not conceivable that the guitar is some years older than the sales date? Or is there a sylistic/visual marker you noticed? I just ask because I am interested in early Japanese clones.
Robert Mahaney, it absolutely is an early 70’s copy. I’m an avid vintage Japanese guitar collector and I also run a small repair shop fixing guitars, amps, etc in PA. The Japanese have been exporting since the 60’s via Teisco, Zenon, Ibanez and other brand names. This is an early Matsumoku build by the plate and if you’ve worked on enough of these there are some simple ways to decipher when they were built (the date code on the pickups being one of those ways). I strongly urge you to join the Ibanezcollectorsworld and you’ll learn a great deal on these gems imho.
Look up the vintage Ibanez catalogs. These are listed as early as ‘71 and if you notice, the catalog pics have them without a logo on the headstock for the purpose that the catalog images could be used for more than just Ibanez guitars at the time.
A great video, which showed your usual care and attention, even on a budget instrument. Very professional. I also liked your comment about the zero fret, which has been mistakenly reviled over the years. What we are seeing here is part of the reason. When used as a cost cutter, the installation of a zero fret is usually done badly. As much care should go into cutting the guide nut as if one was cutting an actual functioning nut. Roger Bucknall of Fylde guitars (high end UK maker) has written at length about this on his site and elsewhere. His basic thesis is that the string should go over the zero fret in exactly the same way as if it was being fretted at any other fret. It IS possible to do this on a Fender style head, but needs a lot of care. My oldest zero fret guitar was handmade for me and is 41 years old. There is no fret wear at all at the zero fret, which is exactly what you would expect from a properly fitted zero fret, since the string is in contact with the fret the whole time and is barely moving, if at all.
Robert thanks for Fylde info but after reading his writeup at his site I'm very confused. I understand and like the purpose of zero frets but not understanding the "cutting the guide nut as if one was cutting an actual functioning nut" or "string should go over the zero fret in exactly the same way as if it was being fretted at any other fret". Maybe some pics would help.
@@gibfen1235 Gosh, this is a rave from the grave. Thanks so much for responding - I'd forgotten I even posted this! I wrote it without looking at Roger B's site, but I just now revisited. I had him pretty much word for word, but greatly abbreviated. You can read what he wrote in its entirety at: www.fyldeguitars.com/zero-frets.html I don't think a photo would help much, but what he says in full may do, plus the following. I used to use one of those spring capos for singing but was never satisfied with the sound (not just the tendency to pull out of tune, but also the tone quality). This is because spring capos cram the strings down and that's not how you play with your fingers, so it sounds different. I changed to a Paige screw capo and the difference was immediate and positive because with a Paige you can adjust the pressure very finely, so it just holds the strings down without buzzing (obviously, it's good to do this with your fingers, too). This is how a good zero fret works. The string guide is not there just to keep the strings in position relative to each other, but also to keep them the optimum amount above the fingerboard, the optimum distance behind the fret - just like good playing technique. One thing I'm not sure I agree with is what Roger B says about the zero fret being the 'correct height for proper string clearance'. Of course, this is true, but he seems to be implying the zero fret should be higher than the others to accomplish this. This can't be right, otherwise the 1st fret would need to be higher than the 2nd, which would need to be higher than the 3rd, etc. Cheers.
Super cool to see this! My dad brought home my first electric back in '68, second hand, made by this same manufacturer. Branded "Excentro Concorde VI" it was a Tele style semi-hollow, sans f-hole, Bigsby copy trem, zero nut (with the same tickyticky string squeak), those same sheet metal string trees and tuning keys and a pleasant creamy yellow finish. "Tiescogengakki" and "Stell [sic] Adjustable Neck" were stamped on the neck plate. Thirty or so guitars and many more years later I kinda wish it was still around, nice memories. Thanks for showing us this one!
I'd rather route a pristine face of a new Tele than this. There's a million new Teles, and only one of these. Also, with so few zeroth-fret guitars out there today, it's a shame we lost another one...but I see why you did it.
@buck ewer I'm curious. How do you convert a guitar to a zero-fret guitar? I'd imagine you'd have to extend the fretboard. I prefer zero frets too, both of my main guitars (acoustic and electric) are zero-fret instruments.
ah, the tooth pick trick. I learned that repairing piano leg lug holes but with larger pieces of wood and sawdust obviously. I still use the tooth pick trick all of the time for many home repairs.
I had a Granada set neck 335 copy that was a decent guitar. Made by Matsumoku in Japan. I understnd that they were student guitars supplied by Ontario Conservatory of Music.
Thanks for another good video. I used to work for a high end bass luthier who used zero frets. He simply used a higher piece of fret wire, and avoided it in dressing. Also, fwiw, Maxon are still around. They designed the original tube screamer, and several other classic pedals sold by ibanez. I've worked on a lot of old Japanese guitars. Here in Australia, they are getting up in value. They often don't have hum-cancelling pairs of pickups, or a reverse polarity for the middle in strat copies. A good tweak is to flip the magnet or remagnetize one of the pickups. Cheers!
good 'un could be. I have the single coils in a Greco Stratocaster and humbuckers in various Greco Les Pauls. I think Greco only started manufacturing their own pickups in 1981. The Maxon’s are really nice.
There's not a guitar on the planet this guy couldn't improve. F me i wish someone like you lived near me. Some nice jack johnson style playing there man. Much respect!
We owe guitars so much. Even the humble ones. They've given us so much pleasure over the years of our lives. It's only fair. It was a mistake to eliminate the zero fret.
A great video thank you. I completely agree with replacing the nut with a non-zero fret system. I love the semi hollow body Tele style guitars. I have one like this with a rosewood neck that I converted for nylon strings using an active piezo pick up system.
Nice. I love those low budget clones. I found a Granada amplifier that I love. I found it at a thrift store and paid $0 for it. They just wanted it out of the store to make space. I was sorely disappointed when I realized the logo said "GRANADA" and not "GRANDMA" as I had initially misread :) It sounds great though. Reverb and a wonky tremolo. I believe it has to el34s in it. Hard to find info on the one I have. I just know I like it.
Very cool. With two EL34s that would put it in the p-p 30 to 60ish watt range. With a possible rectifier tube, what have you got in there, 7-8 tubes? Love to see inside there..... Well off to image search...
Great job as always. Happy to whiteness you working on electric guitars as well. I’m a huge fan of the MIJ instruments. The craftmanship put into the woodwork and also the wood quality is pretty stunning for the most of them. Hope to see some basses there in your workshop soon as well. Keep it up. From Yokohama
Excellent video - thanks for uploading! 😊 I had an old Teisco Spectrum 4 guitar in, a while back, also with a zero nut, and the old zero fret had huge divots just like this one... Knowing that it's possible to take the zero fret out, cut the slot to depth and then chisel the wood away, allowing for a standard nut, is excellent! That might be a future repair for the customer, given that those zero frets will wear down quite fast... Cheers!
i had that bridge on a raven tele the control plate had 4 holes for a 3 way toggle a volume tone and the output jack it was plywood pieces glued together with a top and back laminated and in butterscotch paint job
I grew up in Toronto, and rented a granada goldtop les paul from the music school I took lessons from in the early 90s. HEAVY, would probably buy it if I ever found it again.
I remember these...ppl collect these. I happen to love the old Japanese copies, Orville's, Burny's, Greco's, Tokai, and I just found a never played ever, not even handled 1997 Japanese Fender ST72
Pickup is 1972. June 28th to be precise. The guitar looks early 70s. It would be like 600 on Reverb now. There are plenty of cheap Squiers out there to work on too.
I love taking cheap guitars and making them play great! It is a good way to learn guitar repair. Btw...I like how you used a pencil sharpener to adjust the diameter of the dowels. I'll have to remember that one!👍😎🎸🎶
Love these vids. At first I was like "hmm are these gonna be all stodgy slow delicate acoustic repairs" but I am proven wrong. You do both acoustic and electric repairs and manage to keep both very interesting. Subscribed.
Beautiful Granada! 😊 I've had two nylon string Granada guitars years ago that were both really nice playing guitars! I didn't think they made that many solid body guitars or Tele copies, but maybe they were only sold in Canada, idk. I believe Granada guitars were also made at the Matsumoku factory but I don't know for absolute certain! Great find, I would buy that sucker at the drop of a hat if the price was right! 😊
On guitars with a Zero Fret, the "nut" is not a typical nut. It is, simply, a string guide used to control lateral string position. The strings should not touch the bottom of slots of the string guide. The upper scale string height is controlled by the Zero Fret. Because of the string-to-string height uniformity, I much prefer a Zero Fret on non-vibrato guitars, because it just feels better to me...
I love your work. I just about learn something everytime. At least I can relate to most your content. Owning seven guitars, I'm always working on one. Or three.
This is an early 70's guitar, made by Matsumoku, not 80's. I had a guitar very similar to this branded "raven". It definitely still had some of the weirdness and cheapness that 60's Japanese guitars have. By the late 70's, Japanese copies were pretty much exact copies that rivaled, if not exceeded the US brands in quality.
To fill screw holes 😁 I’ve chucked up some like wood in a drill motor & with the drill running over some 100 grit paper - get a perfect match to the hole.⚓️
Great video! I myself have a JBX, old Japanese Strat copy, that actually is one of my main guitars. Sounds great, and even had a luthier do the Uli Roth trick on it so it has 23 frets 👍🏻🎸
Maxon pickups are really good. Like you said fix it up properly = Ace guitar for buttons spent. I would have replaced the zero fret, but what you did certainly worked out well!
Twoodfrd oh nice I like the up grade repair very nice sounds good looks good nice work . Thanks for the nice video be blessed with loving care and grace.
That's a cool guitar. I have a similar one, obviously made by the same people. Mine never had a zero fret but has the same pickups and bridge. The pickups rule, bridge not so much.
Judging by the slightly scrappy construction with the zero fret, the neck plate and the bridge pickup I’d say early 70s...I’ve seen those used on short scale basses of the era
That LP jack plate would be great, and even plated metal can be bent. I would have found a way to put a gentle bend to that LP plate instead of going to the football plate.
Like others have said, neck plate indicates Matsumoku factory built, I didn't know about the Granada Discount chain, but Granada-branded guitars were also made by Matsumoku as student models sold through The United Conservatory of Music in Calgary, Alberta. I had a "Barney Kessel" style hollow body that was actually pretty nice for a bolt neck guitar.
To tell if a nut is plastic or bone, heat a straight pin with a lighter and poke the bottom side where it won’t be seen and plastic will melt small hole bone won’t do anything
Why would people wanna buy all fenders gibson epiphones and jacksons and stuff when theres bad ass guitars like this out there man love seeing new guitars
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The one thing that never fails to amaze me is how frickin sharp your chisels are kept
You should be able to shave with chisels.
The only thing a dull blade cuts is you.
I know just looking at that thumbnail you can see the precision edge on it.
Took me a while to learn how to sharpen mine, but now I never have a blunt woodworking blade.
I watched a guy showing his sharpening set up, he opined that there are two ways to sharpen woodworking tools: a lot of work when you finally decide they're too blunt to use, or 2 minutes to keep them honed.
You can judge a man by his chisels.
The neck plate screams Matsumoku. They made a ton of decent guitars, usually with efficient inexpensive build processes.
My Big Brother has had a 'Diamond' JazzBass copy forever which had the exact same neck plate; I eventually found out that it was actually a rebranded, Matsumoku-made Aria! 😀👍
It is. That one is probably from the early -mid 70s judging by the hardware used. Ive worked on quite a few guitars that came out that factory over the years. I always figured they had a big wall plastered in company names n would throw a dart to see what name was going on that guitar that day.
Judging by the Maxon brand pickups (which are probably very good) I think you’re right with matsumoko. They made a small amount of Ibanez in the 80’s, and Ibanez and maxon are synonymous I think.
Thanks again for all the hard work you put in! It plays like a dream. I haven't put it down since I got back. Phenomenal job. Cheers! 👌
-Grant
Ain't it funny how you don't gotta mortgage your home to get a real player?
Don't know if you migth see this, but I'm really curious, 2 years later do you still like it? And have you encountered other guitars from this company?
Always had a soft spot for Thinline Teles, no matter the headstock logo.
Yours looks mighty great.
$75 today............After Twoodfrd gets done with it....................................$750.00............................... :)
Really cool guitar man unique
The best part of your videos is your treatment of all guitars as if they were your own, and that you don’t insult and demean your customers’ inexpensive guitars like other individuals on TH-cam. I would have no reservations about bringing any and all of my guitars to you but I would never subject my guitars to the disrespect that I’ve seen from others. You see the potential in every instrument and work to maximize the playability. It is the mark of a true craftsman to treat a bargain instrument with the same dignity as a $6000 Martin.
Beautiful point, There's still a few of us out here. I got that one from my parents, just so I can completely sound like an old fuddy-duddy.
I totally agree. Well stated.
Marius Moller: People are not their worst comment. People are not their worst day.
It’s the negative pattern that some guitar repairmen exhibit. This guy has a predominantly positive pattern. Agree?
Marius Moller: You might enjoy the Glu Boost guy more. I’ll stick with this guy and his great skills. Cheers, my friend.
He insults them, off camera! Just kidding.
I'm kind of a fan of the cheap guitar genre.
Me too.
Same here. I have a couple of nice ones and I recently bought an old Harmony Marquis acoustic. This past week I attempted resetting the neck ( truly a hack job) but it turned decent enough for now. But still needs a lot of touch up to look nice again. Without a doubt it now plays extremely well and sounds fantastic.
i have two teisco
Yeah. For expensive gear there's always Darrell Braun.
About 25 years ago I took an Epiphone Les Paul Custom I got for very little money, and turned it into the greatest little "shred machine" it cold be. I replaced everything except tor the tuners. I spent the money on Gibson "PAF" humbucking pick ups and all the rest of it. With cream colord plasticware this thing looks beautiful and sounds amazing. I did this ONE time, never again. The other time is when I bought parts from the store and assembled a "real" Fender Stratocaster from almost scratch. Wish I had THAT ONE back.
This guitar was probably made by the Matsumoku factory, which also built Univox, Aria and Epiphone guitars in the 70s.
Uncle Hu I remember the Aria Pro 2's from the mid to late 80's had some pretty bad ass models
Probably Hoshino factory since it’s Ibanez/Maxon built, Matsumoku did build a lot of great stuff though
My Big Brother has had a 'Diamond' JazzBass copy forever which had the exact same neck plate; I eventually found out that it was actually a rebranded, Matsumoku-made Aria! 😀👍
@@mightyV444 Yes Diamond was also one of the many brands found on Matsumoku made guitars and basses!
I may be mistaken, but I believe that bridge set up is missing a cap that covers both the bridge, saddles, and possibly the bridge pickup. That's why there are those four raised ridges around the base of the bridge plate. I had an old Japanese electric guitar that was set up the same way :)
yep - ashtray bridge -hope he tries a Fender part for fit
That guitar has got Matsumoku written all over it. Most of what came out of that factory in the late 70’s and early 80’s was pretty good! Looks a lot like a Custom. Yamaha, Ibanez, Westone were a few of the more known brands to have their guitars made in that factory. In europe you can find them named Maya, Morris, Pearl, Bird and a lot of other exotic names. Nice save!
I really admire the fact that your enthusiasm is the same, regardless of how expensive or cheap the instrument is you’re working on.
Interesting that those pickups are “maxon”. I wonder if that’s the same Japanese maxon who made the original tube screamers
at least the pu brand maxon was used by a bunch of Japanese guitar makers, Ibanez, Greco, Westone I think
Yea
it has to be
I think it is, I see them in a lot of Grecos and stuff from the era. They're actually a selling point where I live, the 80s humbuckers are decent PAF types apparently
Nisshin Onpa (Maxon) started mid-1960s as a producer of components and OEM products for guitar companies. First building guitar pickups for the Greco-brand electric guitars produced by Kanda Shokai, Nisshin Onpa in 1969 also became an effects pedal manufacturer. They created a fuzz-wah pedal that was very popular, and marketed under multiple trade names including Ibanez.
Yours has to be one of, if not the, best lutherie channels extant. Bright students need to pay attention here: Good straightforward teaching, no snide remark about other luthiers, just solid, solid information. I may not always come to the same conclusions as you, but I always enjoy your teaching. Thank you.
A $3,000.00 Martin or $5,000.00 Gibson do nothing for me at all. Meh.
But I have an affinity for these older, uncommon, cheap instruments. A lot of young people learned to play on these things, because they couldn't afford anything better at the time.
I have a small business setting up and upgrading inexpensive guitars to play, sound, and look a lot better, for a reasonable price. I like to see beginners get a decent instrument to learn on, so they will continue to practice and play, and perhaps one day buy an expensive custom instrument, if they desire.
As for me, I play 'open box' and 'overstocked' stuff that I have bought at a discount, and then repaired, even though I do have 7 Gibsons and 5 Fenders. Some dog guitars can become Kennel Club winners.
80s Copy: cheap parts, poorly designed, even more poorly executed.
80s Japanese Clone: well made, sounds great, plays better, gives the real deal a run for its money, probably horribly mistreated for the last 40 years.
Every guitar is good, only there are better ones😉
Just wanted to say, the most satisfying part of your videos are when you chisel away at the wood.. keep up the great work!
#ASMR
Yess!! Came here to say that!
Peak of the action, for sure!
I have a Granada hollow body ES 335 copy that I’d love to have you work on one day. This answered a long standing question for me, thank you!!
That after sound just screamed surf guitar to me. Nice work, as always, sir!
I really love your channel. I love how you include some interesting dialog about the instrument you're working on, as well as the impeccable work.
I used to peg the stage holes in the theatre I like how you chisel cleaned and touched it up. We just black sharpied.
Aria, Electra and even Ibanez made a lot of these in Matsumoku, Japan in the early 70s. I think '75 was the final year. As someone else said, the pickups might be worth more than the guitar itself (to some people). You'll find that the neck is slightly narrower than a real Fender but some had better bridges and pickups than those on on this guitar. And most were very decent substitutes for the real deal at about half the price. Nice work by the way. Keep up the cool videos.
I had an early '80s Aria, and I wished I'd never gotten rid of it! It was a double humbucker super Strat . That thing sounded, and played so good!
Cool sounding cheap guitar. Nice work! I'm no repair guy, but I would have slammed a new zero fret in there then wondered why it always sounded like a sitar! You made the right choice.
Killer cheeep Thinline Tele, thing looks awesome, had a Tiesco in lake placid blue like this once, great thing, wish I kept it
Just adding a quick positive note mate. The videos you create are wonderful and informative. And well received. Please keep producing them!
Granada guitars were sold through the old Ontario Conservatory of Music years ago. I had an electric with Granada inlaid into the headstock. The acoustics had a stick laid over other brands. Since those days I’ve come across many used ones and have work on several all needing various work. Nice work on this Tele copy.
Granada's are still common here in India. They are cheap and very good for beginners.
I love quirky guitars like this! Great job of fixing it up!
That looks a lot like an Electra Telecaster that I have. I have one with the same bridge. My tuners are identical as well. These are Electra before they went to that weird Peace sign logo and started putting effects in the guitar. Mine weighs as much as two regular telecasters. Many also has the two piece sandwich body.
My have been mentioned, but I’d vote early to mid 70s Matsumoku related.
I have two of these semi-hollowbody Teles (neither labeled "Granada") in a sunburst finish and a near-mint solid body Telecaster clone called a "Lero" in butterscotch, all with the same funky bridge and Maxon pickups. I love 'em! I believe at least some of these were sold through Sears and/or Montgomery Wards, so if yours bears the name of a regional department store, I'm not surprised. I believe there's an "Ibanez" version too. Nice to see these relics being cared for and played!
This showed up on my front page tonight. It really makes me want to go find a Japanese copy and send it to this guy to work on.
Hmmm, to me it would seem easier to just put in a new zero fret and re-glue the nut guide. To each his own. Great work, love the videos.
Totally agree. Big mistake.
yeah, especially since he'd already cut the nut. he was halfway done.
is cutting a new nut less work than "dialing in" a zero fret? maybe, i don't know how he would have gone about that, but i can imagine cutting nuts is second nature at that point.
i too would have just stuck a jumbo fret in there and hoped for the best
edit: he did explain in a comment that yes, he would have spent time filing that fret, but he would've also made a new nut either way.
He removed the zero fret because zero frets are not supposed to be featured in fender-style headstocks. He explained that at 11:53
@@udhi_gn3893 That's his opinion only, there is no rule book written in stone about what kind of nut can or cannot be used on a fender style headstock. In my experience zero frets work wonderfully in a fender style headstock. In fact, I have 2 Stratocasters with them and they improve intonation as well as eliminate nut "grab" causing the string not to return to pitch after using the tremolo. YMMV.
Alex T ToTaLlY aGrEe. BiG mIsTaKe.
Pretty cool! I grew up on the border of Canada in the USA and one of my first pawn shop cheapos was a Granada Les Paul copy. No zero-fret but that same neck plate!
That’s actually an early 70’s Japanese copy. The pickup date code is 6/23/1972.
The person you repaired it for may have picked it up for $50, but these typically sell between $250-$500 depending on the brand name on the headstock. They’re very nice guitars.
Excellent info, RolandG303! I bought an old Greco P-520 Recording Guitar, Made in Japan, and the Pickups also said Maxon, followed by a date code. It's great!
the first part of this post is not true .. the second part is.
@@robertmahaney6831 What makes you say that? If Granada had the practice of re-branding old stock, is it not conceivable that the guitar is some years older than the sales date? Or is there a sylistic/visual marker you noticed? I just ask because I am interested in early Japanese clones.
Robert Mahaney, it absolutely is an early 70’s copy. I’m an avid vintage Japanese guitar collector and I also run a small repair shop fixing guitars, amps, etc in PA. The Japanese have been exporting since the 60’s via Teisco, Zenon, Ibanez and other brand names.
This is an early Matsumoku build by the plate and if you’ve worked on enough of these there are some simple ways to decipher when they were built (the date code on the pickups being one of those ways). I strongly urge you to join the Ibanezcollectorsworld and you’ll learn a great deal on these gems imho.
Look up the vintage Ibanez catalogs. These are listed as early as ‘71 and if you notice, the catalog pics have them without a logo on the headstock for the purpose that the catalog images could be used for more than just Ibanez guitars at the time.
A great video, which showed your usual care and attention, even on a budget instrument. Very professional. I also liked your comment about the zero fret, which has been mistakenly reviled over the years. What we are seeing here is part of the reason. When used as a cost cutter, the installation of a zero fret is usually done badly. As much care should go into cutting the guide nut as if one was cutting an actual functioning nut. Roger Bucknall of Fylde guitars (high end UK maker) has written at length about this on his site and elsewhere. His basic thesis is that the string should go over the zero fret in exactly the same way as if it was being fretted at any other fret. It IS possible to do this on a Fender style head, but needs a lot of care. My oldest zero fret guitar was handmade for me and is 41 years old. There is no fret wear at all at the zero fret, which is exactly what you would expect from a properly fitted zero fret, since the string is in contact with the fret the whole time and is barely moving, if at all.
Robert thanks for Fylde info but after reading his writeup at his site I'm very confused. I understand and like the purpose of zero frets but not understanding the "cutting the guide nut as if one was cutting an actual functioning nut" or "string should go over the zero fret in exactly the same way as if it was being fretted at any other fret". Maybe some pics would help.
@@gibfen1235 Gosh, this is a rave from the grave. Thanks so much for responding - I'd forgotten I even posted this! I wrote it without looking at Roger B's site, but I just now revisited. I had him pretty much word for word, but greatly abbreviated. You can read what he wrote in its entirety at: www.fyldeguitars.com/zero-frets.html I don't think a photo would help much, but what he says in full may do, plus the following. I used to use one of those spring capos for singing but was never satisfied with the sound (not just the tendency to pull out of tune, but also the tone quality). This is because spring capos cram the strings down and that's not how you play with your fingers, so it sounds different. I changed to a Paige screw capo and the difference was immediate and positive because with a Paige you can adjust the pressure very finely, so it just holds the strings down without buzzing (obviously, it's good to do this with your fingers, too). This is how a good zero fret works. The string guide is not there just to keep the strings in position relative to each other, but also to keep them the optimum amount above the fingerboard, the optimum distance behind the fret - just like good playing technique. One thing I'm not sure I agree with is what Roger B says about the zero fret being the 'correct height for proper string clearance'. Of course, this is true, but he seems to be implying the zero fret should be higher than the others to accomplish this. This can't be right, otherwise the 1st fret would need to be higher than the 2nd, which would need to be higher than the 3rd, etc. Cheers.
Super cool to see this!
My dad brought home my first electric back in '68, second hand, made by this same manufacturer.
Branded "Excentro Concorde VI" it was a Tele style semi-hollow, sans f-hole, Bigsby copy trem, zero nut (with the same tickyticky string squeak), those same sheet metal string trees and tuning keys and a pleasant creamy yellow finish.
"Tiescogengakki" and "Stell [sic] Adjustable Neck" were stamped on the neck plate.
Thirty or so guitars and many more years later I kinda wish it was still around, nice memories.
Thanks for showing us this one!
Riverdeepnwide, your guitar was a Teisco!
twoford, now I know what a zero fret is, thank you / your work is true craftsmanship
Hello Muddah, hello Faddah. Here I am at, Camp Granada.
I'd rather route a pristine face of a new Tele than this. There's a million new Teles, and only one of these.
Also, with so few zeroth-fret guitars out there today, it's a shame we lost another one...but I see why you did it.
@buck ewer I'm curious. How do you convert a guitar to a zero-fret guitar? I'd imagine you'd have to extend the fretboard.
I prefer zero frets too, both of my main guitars (acoustic and electric) are zero-fret instruments.
@buck ewer Very elegant solution. Thanks for the info!
@@IrisGalaxis Lookup Zero Glide. They offer a drop in nut that is machined to accept a zero fret. Very simple solution..
@@gibfen1235 Very interesting. Thanks broth!
ah, the tooth pick trick. I learned that repairing piano leg lug holes but with larger pieces of wood and sawdust obviously. I still use the tooth pick trick all of the time for many home repairs.
Interesting sound. Kind of a '50's Surfer vibe.
Wow, it's got that 1969 telecaster thinline vibe. I would use those pick ups the way they are, very applicable to a lot of country "chickin pickin'".
Paul V. Gentile that or some slide guitar
I like this guy. He's not above filming a 50 dollar special..
I had a Granada set neck 335 copy that was a decent guitar. Made by Matsumoku in Japan. I understnd that they were student guitars supplied by Ontario Conservatory of Music.
Thanks for another good video. I used to work for a high end bass luthier who used zero frets. He simply used a higher piece of fret wire, and avoided it in dressing. Also, fwiw, Maxon are still around. They designed the original tube screamer, and several other classic pedals sold by ibanez. I've worked on a lot of old Japanese guitars. Here in Australia, they are getting up in value. They often don't have hum-cancelling pairs of pickups, or a reverse polarity for the middle in strat copies. A good tweak is to flip the magnet or remagnetize one of the pickups. Cheers!
I had one of these in the 80's. It was branded Raven. Had a twisted neck. Had the original ashtray cover as well.
I’m no luthier but I love watching your channel! I have a couple of those Maxons in some old Japanese guitars - great sounding pickups.
I believe Maxon pickups were used in Ibanez guitars; or made by a subsidiary of Ibanez perhaps.
good 'un could be. I have the single coils in a Greco Stratocaster and humbuckers in various Greco Les Pauls. I think Greco only started manufacturing their own pickups in 1981. The Maxon’s are really nice.
There's not a guitar on the planet this guy couldn't improve. F me i wish someone like you lived near me. Some nice jack johnson style playing there man. Much respect!
I don't know if it was by design or a happy accident, but the neck & bridge pu's are nicely balanced with each other. Another save!! Thank you, Sir!!
The Japanese micro chisels and the Veritas carvers tool came in the mail today. Very nice!
We owe guitars so much. Even the humble ones. They've given us so much pleasure over the years of our lives. It's only fair. It was a mistake to eliminate the zero fret.
Yep.
A great video thank you. I completely agree with replacing the nut with a non-zero fret system. I love the semi hollow body Tele style guitars. I have one like this with a rosewood neck that I converted for nylon strings using an active piezo pick up system.
Nice. I love those low budget clones.
I found a Granada amplifier that I love. I found it at a thrift store and paid $0 for it. They just wanted it out of the store to make space. I was sorely disappointed when I realized the logo said "GRANADA" and not "GRANDMA" as I had initially misread :) It sounds great though. Reverb and a wonky tremolo. I believe it has to el34s in it. Hard to find info on the one I have. I just know I like it.
Very cool. With two EL34s that would put it in the p-p 30 to 60ish watt range. With a possible rectifier tube, what have you got in there, 7-8 tubes? Love to see inside there..... Well off to image search...
damn that guitar actually sounds pretty good, and looks great
"It's mahogany or mahogany-like wood" 😂
With that kind of slots it's a genuine cowbell caster :P
Great job as always. Happy to whiteness you working on electric guitars as well. I’m a huge fan of the MIJ instruments. The craftmanship put into the woodwork and also the wood quality is pretty stunning for the most of them. Hope to see some basses there in your workshop soon as well. Keep it up. From Yokohama
Watching you carve is a lot of fun.
Excellent video - thanks for uploading! 😊
I had an old Teisco Spectrum 4 guitar in, a while back, also with a zero nut, and the old zero fret had huge divots just like this one...
Knowing that it's possible to take the zero fret out, cut the slot to depth and then chisel the wood away, allowing for a standard nut, is excellent!
That might be a future repair for the customer, given that those zero frets will wear down quite fast...
Cheers!
That's what I did on an old Tieisco I had, along with bigger frets. big improvement.
;
@@billmiller7138 - Excellent, Bill! I'm pleased to hear that - it's probably also a better solution, down the line.
Thanks for sharing! 😊
NEVER throw out a Maxon product. They were the ones that made ALL the pedals, and even the "Super" line of pickups, for Ibanez back in the 70s.
Yeah. I Have a Maxon analog delay pedal from the early 90s. Their stuff is excellent and made in Japan.
i had that bridge on a raven tele the control plate had 4 holes for a 3 way toggle a volume tone and the output jack it was plywood pieces glued together with a top and back laminated and in butterscotch paint job
I grew up in Toronto, and rented a granada goldtop les paul from the music school I took lessons from in the early 90s. HEAVY, would probably buy it if I ever found it again.
I remember these...ppl collect these. I happen to love the old Japanese copies, Orville's, Burny's, Greco's, Tokai, and I just found a never played ever, not even handled 1997 Japanese Fender ST72
Pickup is 1972. June 28th to be precise. The guitar looks early 70s. It would be like 600 on Reverb now. There are plenty of cheap Squiers out there to work on too.
I love taking cheap guitars and making them play great! It is a good way to learn guitar repair. Btw...I like how you used a pencil sharpener to adjust the diameter of the dowels. I'll have to remember that one!👍😎🎸🎶
Love these vids. At first I was like "hmm are these gonna be all stodgy slow delicate acoustic repairs" but I am proven wrong. You do both acoustic and electric repairs and manage to keep both very interesting. Subscribed.
Sounds good and brittle at the bridge, ideal for country picking. Excellent job.
Just amazing....the mastery of the art,the science...exquisite
Great looking maple on that neck and fingerboard.
Beautiful Granada! 😊 I've had two nylon string Granada guitars years ago that were both really nice playing guitars! I didn't think they made that many solid body guitars or Tele copies, but maybe they were only sold in Canada, idk. I believe Granada guitars were also made at the Matsumoku factory but I don't know for absolute certain! Great find, I would buy that sucker at the drop of a hat if the price was right! 😊
I enjoy that, no matter what the cost of a guitar, you always honor the instrument
On guitars with a Zero Fret, the "nut" is not a typical nut. It is, simply, a string guide used to control lateral string position. The strings should not touch the bottom of slots of the string guide. The upper scale string height is controlled by the Zero Fret. Because of the string-to-string height uniformity, I much prefer a Zero Fret on non-vibrato guitars, because it just feels better to me...
I love your work. I just about learn something everytime. At least I can relate to most your content. Owning seven guitars, I'm always working on one. Or three.
I really dig that. A lot. None to be found online. I love weird old knockoffs.
Nicely done sir, in the UK we had a tv channel called granada 😃
And TV rental shop?
This is an early 70's guitar, made by Matsumoku, not 80's. I had a guitar very similar to this branded "raven". It definitely still had some of the weirdness and cheapness that 60's Japanese guitars have. By the late 70's, Japanese copies were pretty much exact copies that rivaled, if not exceeded the US brands in quality.
I have a late 60s Sekova " Bison " guitar that has a stupid zero fret. Looks like removing it isn't super complicated.. Thanks for posting this! ❤
I'm so dumb, how am I just learning about the pencil sharpener trick for dowels?! Jeeze haha, thanks for the great information as always!
His chisels are sharper then the razer I shave with !
To fill screw holes 😁 I’ve chucked up some like wood in a drill motor & with the drill running over some 100 grit paper - get a perfect match to the hole.⚓️
Great video! I myself have a JBX, old Japanese Strat copy, that actually is one of my main guitars. Sounds great, and even had a luthier do the Uli Roth trick on it so it has 23 frets 👍🏻🎸
Great Videos! Thanks so much for posting!
Love the sound of this one!
Tokai? I'm loving your careful work
A guitar identical to this passed in my workshop some time ago.
The brand name of it was Kasuga..
Very interesting video. Thank you Tony Guitarist uk.
Maxon pickups are really good. Like you said fix it up properly = Ace guitar for buttons spent. I would have replaced the zero fret, but what you did certainly worked out well!
Twoodfrd oh nice I like the up grade repair very nice sounds good looks good nice work . Thanks for the nice video be blessed with loving care and grace.
That's a cool guitar. I have a similar one, obviously made by the same people. Mine never had a zero fret but has the same pickups and bridge. The pickups rule, bridge not so much.
What a fine piece of shit this is. Knowing how skilled you are, you're a very humble guy for working on something like this.
Love the channel. ...look forward to catching up on your content
A guitar made specifically to play "house of the rizin sun"
I bought a cheapo tele last week and I am now trying to lower the action and level the frets. Definitely a good way to practice guitar repairs.
Thanks for the tip on using toothpix for filling screw holes !
tooth picks are too small. those are 1/8" (3mm) dowels.
Thanks for the clarification...I was thinking "dowel" but somehow toothpicks came out on the keyboard...plus I was only on my 2nd cup of coffee :-))
@@twoodfrd also, skewers you get from the grocery store for shish kabobs
Judging by the slightly scrappy construction with the zero fret, the neck plate and the bridge pickup I’d say early 70s...I’ve seen those used on short scale basses of the era
That LP jack plate would be great, and even plated metal can be bent. I would have found a way to put a gentle bend to that LP plate instead of going to the football plate.
Like others have said, neck plate indicates Matsumoku factory built, I didn't know about the Granada Discount chain, but Granada-branded guitars were also made by Matsumoku as student models sold through The United Conservatory of Music in Calgary, Alberta. I had a "Barney Kessel" style hollow body that was actually pretty nice for a bolt neck guitar.
Nice bit of bird's eye on the fretboard.
Another nice job, done expertly. Pity about the loud hum when it was being tested at the end of the video.
Beautiful pickup routes!
To tell if a nut is plastic or bone, heat a straight pin with a lighter and poke the bottom side where it won’t be seen and plastic will melt small hole bone won’t do anything
Why would people wanna buy all fenders gibson epiphones and jacksons and stuff when theres bad ass guitars like this out there man love seeing new guitars
Great work