Antoria 2617 with a Custom Agent Scroll Headstock?

[ChuckE99]

You can search on the UK eBay and will see them come up from time to time. But it's frustrating because mostly folks in the UK won't ship to the US. So it's all "look but don't touch".

The Antoria CA I went to see was owned by a guy who currently lives in Bellevue WA (near where I work). He bought it from a guy a decade ago when they were both working in the Middle East. The other fellow was from England, if I remember correctly. When I saw it, the guitar was really in bad shape, and the seller got cold feet on top of it (he sensed he had a rare collectors item, which it would have been had it been in good condition). He even offered to let me take it home for a few weeks to play it, but he wasn't going to sell it. Again, if it had been in playable condition, I just might have taken him up on the offer. I knew if I took it home, I'd do some restoration on it to get it to playable condition, just so I could play it.

[BCy2k]

Yea - I see. Thanks!

I turned up a handful of hits at ebay.co.uk - more than I've ever seen anywhere else. That's for sure.

These Antoria's are like the long lost Ibby relatives nobody wants to talk about or something. That CA/Memphis one is wild. I had NO IDEA these were as extensive as they are in terms of product line. I'm still kind of geeking out over it TBH. 

I'm thinking about contacting these guys over at Vintage Guitar Price Guide. They give Burny guitars 1 sentence. Fine. But they don't even mention the Antoria line??? It's almost a crime. I'm already miffed at them because they have the gall to show a picture of a vined Scruggs, but totally forget to mention them or list ANY values!! And on top of that, no mention of the 2670 either?

We don't get any respect I'm tellin' ya!! 

[bassassin]

There are usually a few Antorias on UK Ebay, usually LP & SG copies, and the occasional Jazz bass. I have never, ever seen an Artist/CA hybrid like Paul's - in fact I don't think I've seen any Antoria "originals".

You also tend to see quite a few post - Fujigen Antorias, often 335 & Tele copies, these are quite easy to spot, with garish finishes & unfamiliar-looking headstocks. Apparently they're decent enough instruments, Korean-made early 80s. I think these date from the point when the Antoria brand changed hands.

Antoria probably doesn't make it into the VGG because it's a small UK brand, never officially sold in the US. As I've mentioned before, 70s Antorias are far more common than Ibanez in the UK - mostly because they were the same guitars for a lot less money!

Jon.

[ChuckE99]

Here are some pics of Paul's Antoria 2617s:

And, I'm noting selfishly, that's an ST Bridge, just like the one I need for my Professional. I wonder if this baby ever came in a dark stain version? Be still my heart!

[Roland_G303]

That's a sweet looking guitar!

Patrick

[BCy2k]

That's a sweet looking guitar!

Patrick

+1

Wow - it's such a mind bender to see it with that CA headstock. 

[dave_g]

must   have ........

[ChuckE99]

I was thinking the same thing about you, Dave. That this is going to become a must have for you. You're going to have to start watching eBay.co.uk and bribing sellers to ship to the states. Or maybe a trip to England and a tour of guitar stores?

[bassassin]

I was thinking the same thing about you, Dave. That this is going to become a must have for you. You're going to have to start watching eBay.co.uk and bribing sellers to ship to the states. Or maybe a trip to England and a tour of guitar stores?

Sadly guitar shops over here are a waste of time these days for vintage & obscure Japanese stuff - Ebay's pretty much monopolised that market.

I do scour Ebay every day, I'm happy to report anything of interest that I see, and also would be happy to help out with shipping overseas if sellers are reticent.

J.

[dave_g]

BEEN TROLLING FOR ONE OF THOSE FOR YEARS , NOW THAT I GOT THE 2675 , MY HOLY GRAIL LIST GOT SHORTER

[paul_a]

It is interesting to note that in 1977, the Antoria 2617S cost £205 (around £880 in today’s money). By contrast the Ibanez 2617 cost £260 (around £1116 in today’s money). The £55 price difference between the two guitars (around £236 in today’s money) reflects the respective pricing policies of Coppock and Summerfield (the UK importers of Antoria and Ibanez) rather than any qualitative difference between the two brands.

As a point of reference, a gold-topped Gibson Les Paul Deluxe was priced at £448 (around £1923 in today’s money).

[tbplayer]

WOW!!!! just WOW

[michaelkaufman]

Here's the Antoria add that shows the 2617 w/ other models...

mk

[dave_g]

Mike.....I just noticed something that has been annoying me for days.  Look at the cat you posted and notice the picture of the Antoria version of the 2675.......the stop is a standard LP type stop....All of the Ibanez versions that we have seen pictures of have the cloud tailpeice COVERING UP SOME OF THE INLAY...I have alway thought that odd and have commented on it on an old thread in this forum.

I recently aquired one of these (great guitar-pictures soon) and my 2675 the standard type stop, just like the antoria..

The other puzzling thing is that the guitar is a 1977, but it has the old style LP bridge with the simple thinthreaded bar right into the wood, like Gibson.....

I'm trying to figure out what this guitar had originally...

[ChuckE99]

Just found this picture of an Antoria "Apollo", which seems to be an Artist body shape! Another missing link?

http://groups.msn.com/antoria/apollo.msnw

Also, this is an entire site dedicated to Antoria. I'm going to try to make contact with the owner, and show him that Antoria catalog sheet we have.

http://groups.msn.com/antoria/