What is this.

[straycat]

Got this off CL just not sure what it is.
70's MIJ something 3 piece maple neck not super heavy weight wise.DiMarzio pick ups. hard tail bridge. coil taps for each pick up and an in/out phase switch.Decent wiring job
Home brew swirl paint job but not bad.
Plays great whatever it is.

[tonemonster]

that paint job is pretty damn cool for a home paint job. seriously, how the hell do you do that? its impressive to me to get those results at home.

[Rich#6]

looks like a matsumoku made guitar maybe a skylark
inlays are not the same but
http://www.therathole.org/guitar/gon...lark/pics.html

[Rich#6]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Skyl...item2ebef5fe37
this ones closer

[RobRR]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Skyl...item2ebef5fe37
this ones closer

Dayum, if it had some wood like the ones in the link, it would be hard not to strip off the swirl paint! I think if that were mine, curiosity would get the best of me.

[Codex]

that paint job is pretty damn cool for a home paint job. seriously, how the hell do you do that? its impressive to me to get those results at home.

Do a YouTube search for swirl guitar paint and you'll see a bunch of peeps doing it. It's not that difficult of a process.

[coloradoman25]

Vantage?

[straycat]

Nope identical to the red Skylark the serial number font is the same mine is 106229
Switch and knobs are the same layout even the control cavity is the same.
Truss rod cover is the same as well.
I dig the swirl really more than the original finish.
Thanks for the ID help.
The guy told me when he got it it had been sanded down to the wood so he sealed it and re cleared the back of the neck then dipped it.
Need to find some black Grovers and black string saddles.

[xenophobe]

Yeah, the top of the headstock is a match on that one auction.

Looks like he masked the neck off pretty well on that one. Hows it play?

[straycat]

Plays great electronics work well too.
Frets are fine,neck is straight as an arrow.
Whatever clear he used did ok I may wet sand it a bit more because he missed a few high spots.
He did a real good job on the swirl I'll give him that.

[straycat]

Update info:
Made by Matsumoku in 1980 and only 1 run was made.Seems they had a deal with Guitar Emporium that fell thru and JC Penny bought the one and only lot.
They showed up in the 81 JC Penny catalog.
They made a bolt on(2612), a set neck(2596) and a neck thru (2588)
The 2596 model I have was priced at $259.00 in the catalog.Red only for the 2596.

[zeegler]

Well, I was gonna tell you what it is, but it looks like I missed the boat. Matsumoku made some fantastic guitars. It's too bad that one's been messed around with, but I bet it still plays great.

[MetalHeadMat]

that paint job is pretty damn cool for a home paint job. seriously, how the hell do you do that? its impressive to me to get those results at home.

http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/133...obs?highlight=

[Newc]

The Matsumoku stuff is pretty much the best 70s/80s Japan-made stuff you can get. Aria, Vantage, Westone/Electra, and a few other brands were made with him at the helm. I really wish I hadn't Krylonned my Mats-Era Vantage FV575. Once I sanded the original paint off the body and neck, the wood was beautiful. Not figured or anything, but evenly grained and multi-piece construction. I think the neck had walnut stringers in it.

I only took before and after pics - no in-process shots