Navarra L5S copy

[Fordy]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and this is my first posting. I have owned quite a few Ibanez guitars over the years, both copies and original models ( Artist, Musician, Rocket Roll ) I have regrettably sold those and a lot of other good ones, LP's,a Korina Explorer and had my favourite LP stolen some years ago. So now all I have left is a black '76 L6S copy and a '77 burgundy LP standard (set neck). I have another Japanese made guitar, and I'm wondering if anyone else has come across one of these.. a cherry sunburst Navarra L5S copy which has obviously been made in one of the same factories as my Ibanez guitars. It has the same star tuners and 3 piece maple set neck. It is a very accurate copy of the real thing. Mother of pearl block inlays, oval pickups, amazing neck binding and even the cup inlay on the headstock (open book style). The cover for the control cavity is even made of the same wood and finished the same as the rest of the guitar, just like the real deal. The Navarra logo is a screw on metal type which was not on the guitar but I found it in the case storage compartment so at first I thought It was an Ibanez with no logo. Does anyone have any info on this brand?
Cheers,
Fordy. 

[gemberbier]

  Before your message was transferred to the Other Replicas department, I saved this for you in Notepad, when I lost contact with the ICW server:

Hi Fordy, welcome on ICW!

Well, the L-5S is one of my favourites since I saw an original one (Gibson) in a local shop. It was quite expensive, the most expensive guitar in the shop and, from what I heard from the personnel, the best.

After a while, Dutch singer-songwriter Roland Verstappen, with whom I corresponded mainly about Japanese Bozo guitars (by Yairi), had a copy from Ibanez for sale.
The problem with these axes is: those pickups are low impedance pickups, and hard to find. So if the pickup configuration is not entirely original, one has great difficulty in finding the parts and restoring the guitar.
I must say that I have no experience with these pickups myself, but I believe that it was in Roland's axe that I saw them replaced and the pickup hole partly covered by some material... really problematic stuff.
First you have to start finding the specs. I guess Dave_G could produce them for you. I vaguely remember an L-5S on one of his harem pics. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Dave).
Then you start measuring your pickups with the multimeter and look for abnormal deviations. (Not standard deviations, you always find those, that 's normal).
If the coils are broken, call assistance of the all-knowing, w.o.w.: start praying.

Probably the easiest way to save them in such a case, is to have them rewound, by Lindy Fralin for instance.

O.K. so much for those "difficult" pickups, now that brand of yours.

I just googled one from March 1976 in Oz, it was already sold, but it was still in the Google cache:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:9j8EnbQ4cSkJ:www.pksmusic.com.au/showProduct/NLP+Navarra+guitar+Japan&hl=nl&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=nl&client=firefox-a

Now, what do we see? A lawsuit headstock and a serial number format that shouts Fuji Gen Gakki: C764192. That's always nice to see.

So, now we know that it was available in Oz and that Fuji Gen Gakki manufactured it, the next question is: how far was Hoshino involved and who distributed Navarra in Oz?

I think that the right man for answering that question is our own wizard of Oz, CaptainIbanez.

"Take this hammer, good buddy, take it to the Captain..."

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/EUmm10afE2A&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/EUmm10afE2A&rel=1</a>


Ginger

[mrblanche]

So...can anyone identify the guitar Mark was playing in that video?

[gemberbier]

Isn't that the Pensa-Suhr?

I bought my Cort S2900 CRS because it looks a bit like the Pensa-Suhr.
And a lot cheaper.


Ginger

[Bing Cadaver]

So, now we know that it was available in Oz and that Fuji Gen Gakki manufactured it, the next question is: how far was Hoshino involved and who distributed Navarra in Oz?

I bought a Navarra SG Custom copy new in 1974 from 'Fender Soundhouse' in Oxford Street Sydney (AU$185). The store was owned by CBS Musical Instruments and distributed Fender guitars, Rogers drums and other instruments. Any reference to Navarra guitars I've come across on the web are all from Australia so I have a theory that these guitars were imported by CBS for the Australian market only.