eldegas.com

Looks great Pappa...almost identical to mine in another thread. Mine is bolt-on and has the top hat knobs, PAF/SuperDistortion pups...very heavy as well...I just had mine set-up and now it plays like a dream...

Hmmmm.....

After the years, some of this stuff gets a little fuzzy for me but I definitely would expect to see a standard rounded-rectangle neckplate with a "Made in Japan" stamp on it, as you mentioned. However, the 3-screw TRC is typical of the MIJ bolt-ons (I just checked some old photos of ...

Hey everyone. Been a while since I've posted but have been lurking!!! Someone fairly local is selling a nice LP bolt-on...I am being told that everything appears to be original, although I am not convinced based on the pics. I expected to see Made in Japan and serial numbers on the neck plate but ...

Hey all. Don't know anything about this bass but it looks in very good shape.

Geoff

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/mss/msg/3920156664.html

Yeah Barry -if I didn't already have a great white El Degas LP, this one would be mine!!!

How the instrument plays is always the best yard-stick to judge it by - best of luck!

Changed my mind and did not play the Raven. I decided I don't need "just" another guitar - I'm going to save up and buy one more really nice MIJ LP...this seller does have a nice looking solid maple body and ...

I felt that it might be late 60's (though it could also be very early 70s) because of the rounded end of the fingerboard (where the fingerboard meets the guitar body), which was often a sign of the very early MIJ copies.

Not sure who's manufactured it.

Not sure we'd ever know!!! :D I guess the ...

Yeah, that's definitely "multi" ply alright! I haven't seen that on a vintage ED MIJ guitar either.
I would think that would also definitely rule out Matsumoku as well.

That said, there is nothing inherently bad about a laminate neck construction. Hell, even Martin is selling their latest entry ...

...the three piece maple neck.

Look at the photo of the close-up back of the headstock:

That's a heck of a lot more than 3 pieces of maple.

So is this a case of "the more the merrier"??? The guy selling did say it was "multi-ply" but didn't specify... I have zero experience with multi-ply ...

...The guy selling it says it's a maple neck and he says it's the original neck...it's multi-ply maple... One of the clues to identifying a Matsumoku guitar, especially those of the late 70's and into the 80's, is the three piece maple neck. Exceptionally strong and stable. I would not be concerned ...

Looking closer at the photos of the Raven from your link, I think it's a late 60's model. The rounded end of the fingerboard is usually seen on the very early MIJ copies. From the back of the headstock, the neck looks like it might be a multy-ply laminate, like you would often find on guitars like ...

Hmmm...I was just doing a little back checking over at the Matsumoku Forum. Not 100% certain but the concensus both there and at the Washburn Forum is that Raven was made by Matsumoku! No definitive time frame however.

Thanks Barry. Yeah from I can tell, they were made by Matsumoku in one form or ...

Barry wrote:Don't know the name and the one fuzzy picture ain't much help.
Likely just one of many "white label" brands of the day. Could've been made by any one of a dozen different Asian suppliers.

Yeah I asked the seller for some more pics and some more info...

Barry wrote:I see the ad's gone. Too late or did you get it already?

It's still for sale...

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell ... Z476398517

Anyone know anything about Magnum LP copies???

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell ... Z477003968