The Electra Forums

HELLO
LOOKING FOR INFO / CONFIRMATION ON THIS ELECTRA...X420 VS
PICTURE LINK

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse. ... id=1994846

I believe this is an 1982 , august month build, 9596 unit built that year?
it is a VS ? vintage sunburst....
it has coil tap tone pots...
volume pots are in cans....the wiring looks original but the pickups are questionable to me...they are humbuckers with adjustable pole pieces..
an allen tool can be used to raise or lower each pole...ARE THESE CORRECT FOR GUITAR...??
ALSO , the headstock without the peace sign..or pheonix..hadn't seen any like this anywhere before..
is this a japan built??
and by who?? .....I think it is japan by matsumoku....but??

this guitar is like new except for hardware aging..no dings...low action ,plays and sounds great...probably a keeper...
let me know your thoughts
and thanks for a good forum...
JW

That is how I would read that serial number, 2089596, August 1982 first digit=year, 2nd 3rd digit=month, last four digits=yearly production which may 'roll over' as I don't recall seeing an eight digit serial number. Scott Lewis' X935cs on this page:

http://www.rivercityamps.com/electrapag ... 922-003933

is 2122685... December 1982, but we know that more than 2000 guitars would have been made by then.

As far as your pickups go, many Electras have MMK45 or MMK53 stamped on the bottom, MMK is pressed into the metal number is stamped in ink, here is one of mine:





I've never seen that logo without the peace-sign, what does it look like up close? Is there anything in that space? Maybe a transitional piece, or something made on Friday Afternoon... late...? (hee hee)

I think X189 says anything with a Wave Headstock was made at Matsumoko.

Is the guitar yours? Is it on the market? I bet some of the people here would make an offer!

Yes, that's Matsumoku. How strange to have that logo without the usual round logo. But... that's also about the time the logo was transitioning to teh Phoenix logo on a lot of guitars.

It's always possible that serial is from earlier and that there is no date implied... but I doubt it. There were a lot of Electras coming out jsut then and I believe production could have neared 10,000 units that month. (yes, month, not year, that's a lot!)

The pickups look original but you could be sure by looking at the back. If you loosen and remove the strings then you can remove a pickup jsut y removing the four corner screws, and the whole unit lifts out- no readjustment of height neccesary. It's very non-instrusive.

I didn't know that about the serial numbers possibly resetting each month, and I'd be the first one to admit I haven't seen a ton of Serial Numbers to compare.... But, to play devils advocate, wouldn't we see lots more lower numbers in the last four digits if they were starting at 0000 each month? It may be complete coincidence, but at least for 1983 it seems that the last four digits continue to climb as the months go by... a serial number registry would help to gather that info (wink wink...) and substantiate these theories. Not that you don't have enough on your plate already!

I also noticed that the X420vs pictured has the BIG fret dots... maybe it is a transitional or (gasp...) prototype? Cheers.

thanks for your input ....and photo links...I always enjoy seeing unique guitars....
a close friend of mine worked at SLM from 78 to 81 and he was abit baffled by this guitar's headstock....he posed some possiblities....1 ..it was transitional and they didn't want to stop production when changing from peace sign to bird....or 2 ..a salesman ordered the guitar this way...or 3...he said once or twice ayear the salesmen and techs at SLM would be called into a room full of guitars to test ,discuss, and design the next production models from protos sent over...many of these guitar would be without logos or modified logos and then the guitars would be offered to the employees to purchase at minimal $$. he even purchased a few..
guy's ..I could talk guitar for hours...but I'll end for now....I'll pull the pickups and check and post some more pics to link real soon
again thanks for the forum..
"TALKATYALATER"
Jerry

NEW PICS ADDED...of the p-u stamps
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse. ... id=1994846

my pickups are mmk 53

thanks

Jerry those are nice closeups of the guitar routes and pickups. I can't tell what the number is supposed to be in the pickup route (in marker), and there are some other symbols up by the neck in pencil or something that I can also not decipher. As you can see above, X935cs's have a '60' in the Bridge pickup route, and here is my X935 Blackburst which has a '48' in the route:




If I had to take a guess, I would say yours looks like a '39', and who knows what the pencil marks are, maybe 457 - 111 In any event, it looks like you've got a unique piece made during a period popular for it's high quality. How'd you score it? We need details! Enjoy, Mike.

HEY MIKE...
THANKS ..I'm not sure of the first digit in pencil ?57-111 and I was thinking the marker was 38..but hard to tell for sure ...

I got this one at my local Guitar Center..(God BLess 'em)...in fact I buy alot of used guitars from them....since they now buy and take trade ins...I check them out on a regular basis.....and being a loyal customer with one of the salesmen (Brian)...I've bought LOTS of guitars and amps from him there...and often get a discounted price....
this was a trade in about an hour or so before I walked in...at first I thought it was alittle high $ at $299.00 for a japan guitar and went home...but alittle ebay price search and a quick call back to Brian...and my good buyer discount...I went right back and shelled out $250.00 with a smile...put it in the case and brought the new baby home......
I buy ,sell, and collect guitars ...always looking in pawn shops and music stores for good deals for resale or add to collection...
this one will be a keeper ..and I'll be inclined to look for more
"TALKATYALATER"
Jerry