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Two major issues defined the progress of electric guitars for most of the seventies.
1) Companies outside North America vastly improved the quality of their guitar manufacturing and
2) Companies inside North America - namely Fender and Gibson - took their eye off the ball and did exactly the opposite.
By this time, many guitar manufacturers from the Far East had 10+ years experience under their belts, and the improvement
in quality began to shine through. Univox, Kawai, Silvertone and Domino were starting to deliver guitars that - from a
price / quality point of view - were beginning to eat into the markets that Fender and Gibson dominated. Not only was
the manufacturing quality improving, but the quality of the REPLICATION was reaching new highs. The lawyers at Gibson
started to get restless, and young guitar players like myself were also getting restless... I could not wait to go out
and buy a UNIVOX Les Paul for 1/5th the price of the real thing! Damn, it was so inexpensive that I could almost afford to
smash it on stage! Cool! But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
Towards the end of the 1970's, Fender and Gibson were loosing market share. That is why we hear so much about
the "Lawsuit ERA" guitars. Late in the seventies, Gibson Guitars won a legal battle for patent infringements,
which over time, shut down all but a few "copy" guitar manufacturers worldwide. This allowed some elbowroom
for Gibson and Fender to rethink and retool their operations to fortify their position in the market. To avoid the same
problem happening again, Gibson bought Epiphone and started building some very nice Imported Copy Guitars! Fender opened
facilities outside North America under different brand names like Squier. |
| Lotus LP |
Hondo II LP |
Kay SG |
Gibson Les Paul 55 |
Silvertone Tele |
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ABOVE: Here is a typical selection of 1970's Fender and Gibson copies. These were all imported from Japan under
different brand names. Also a sweet '74 Gibson Les Paul 55.
BELOW: Here is a selection of Mosrite copies from the seventies, along with one original Mosrite (far right).
The GM Custom is actually all original Mosrite parts built by a former employee, Gene Moles, after the Bakersfield
Mosrite factory closed. The Univox guitars are popular today because Kurt Cobain of Nirvana used one. I also have
some additional Mosrite copies farther down this page, some listed under the 1960's guitars and the best one on the 1980's... |
| Silvertone Mosrite |
Univox Hi-Flyer |
Univox Hi-Flyer |
GM Custom Mosrite |
Mosrite 350 Stereo |
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ABOVE: The Ventures were very popular in Japan and that is why so many Mosrite copies were made during the
1960's and the 1970's. Few of them, however, compare to the real thing as shown on the 1980's guitar page.
BELOW: KAWAI was one of the better quality manufacturers to come out of Japan in the seventies. Here is a nice selection
of their guitars. My favorite is second from right. This guitar is absolutely MINT. It belongs in a museum. Hmmmmm.
I guess it is! |
| Kawai ES175 |
4 P/U Kawai |
4 P/U Kawai |
3 P/U Kawai |
Kawai Mosrite |
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| Hondo Les Paul Set Neck |
Sekova Les Paul |
Hyundai Les Paul |
Univox Les Paul |
Tokai Les Paul Set Neck |
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ABOVE: Here are some additional examples of Les Paul reproductions from the 1970's. On the left is a
very nice Hondo Deluxe 748 Mark II. Flame top, set neck, humbuckers... all that you would expect from the real thing
at 1/8 the price. Next to that a blonde Sekova, a sunburst Hyundai, a Tobacco Sunburst from Univox. Lastly is a fantastic
Tokai Set Neck with the historic Sunburst Finish. This is an incredibly nice guitar. The 70's Tokai's go for nearly the
same price as a real Gibson these days. Once you play one you'll know why.
BELOW: Here is a grab-bag of assorted 1970's guitars, mostly from Japan. |
| Tele Star |
Sivertone Tele |
Tempo |
Tempo Bass |
Yamaha Burns Copy |
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| 1972 Mosrite |
Univox Hi-Flyer |
Hagstrom Bass |
Silvertone Slider |
Custom Mosriteko |
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ABOVE: A few years back I wrote up a piece about my
pursuit for the perfect Mosrite copy. Scattered across the 1960's through the 2002's guitar pages you will find almost
two dozen different attempts. Here are some of the 1970's aquisitions. On the left, a nearly perfect 1972 Mosrite Ventures Model.
Mint. Next to that are a pair of Univox Hi-Flyers and a Silvertone Slider. This guitar is pretty cool because a) it has
a wicked flame fiish and b) it has an individual slider volume for each pickup. This allows for a wide variety of tone
setups because you can dial in as much or as little of each pickup you want. Cool.Somewhere along the way I decided to
build my own Custom Mosrite Copy. I wanted to put together a guitar that had the Mosrite look but was built for
repeated abuse as a stage guitar. It started with as Silvertone shell, just the body and neck. I put Gibson Tuners
on it for stability. Next I selected some wild vintage EKO screamer pickups that were extracted from a deceased EKO
700 4V. Then I had a custom pickguard made at WD Products in Florida. New pots, switches, bridge, etc and a few days
locked in a room. Voila! A one of a kind Mosriteko.
BELOW: An early 1970's Conrad Strat and a Lotus Les Paul. The Conrad and the Aria are extremely well build guitars
while the Lotus is most certainly not. However, I have a Lotus on my 1980's page that is fantastic! Next to that is
an Inter-Mark frmo Japan. Well built guitar, MUCH better than most semi-hollows from this era. You can't tell from
the picture but this thing is HUGE! 18" across the body where an LP is about 12". next to that is an old Lyle SG. |
| Conrad |
Aria Burns Copy |
Lotus LP |
Inter-Mark |
Lyle SG |
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| Fender Lead II |
Univox Bass |
Microfret Calibra II |
'74 Guyatone Ricky |
Norma Barney Kessel |
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1973 Hayman
Made in England |
1970's JG
Made in Italy |
1970 HOHN |
'75 D'Agostino
Benchmark II |
'70 Epiphone Crestwood |
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