help me out identifying my grandpa's gear

[sundin4prez]

so my grandfather recently passed away , and i guess i "inherited" some of his stuff that the rest of the family dident want... can you help e identify this stuff ie. what it is and how old you think it may be....

thanks in advance    :headbang:

 

[RLW]

Go here...

http://www.univox.org/amps/uniamp.html

to ID the amp. I'm guessing '75 to '76 from the logo.

 

[GoDrex]

That Ventura Gold Top is pretty sweet.

 

[dbw]

I've heard of the Maestro Phaser, supposed to be great.  I think it was made by Moog.  I found a site with some info http://www.wingspreadrecords.com/maestro_ps1_page.html

 

[willyk]

I used to have a maestro phaser, they date from the mid 70s. Can't remember what happened to it :icon_scratch:
I think Ventura was one of the many brand names that came out of the Matsumoko company of Japan. Good quality law suit era, 70s again.

 

[neilium]

The Maestro Phaser is really good. A keeper, if you can stand the kludgy housing and big wheel knobs.

 

[sundin4prez]

i plugged the amp in and in has this sweeeeet crsip clean tone , it's not like anything i've played before.... and by the way if your wondering what the other pedal is on the amp in the last pic it;s a pax wah pedal...........

 

[Alfang]

I think it's cool you got grandpas stuff, he was obviously cool.

I'd cherrish that gear bigtime,  You should take your time to clean it all up nice, put screws back in the truss rod cover etc...Play it from time to time and pass it to your grandson someday.

Write a page long story of your grandpa and the history of the guitar, including as much info about the equipment, Fold that up and stick it in the guitar casr or in the back of the amp.

Or.. rip the amp apart and reverse engineer it, and let us have the schematic

 

[nathan a]

That is a treasure trove you've got there. Crank that up for your grandfather to hear.

 

[willyk]

That is a treasure trove you've got there. Crank that up for your grandfather to hear.

+1 that  :guitaristgif:

 

[stubhead]

http://www.angelfire.com/blues/rockinjohn/ventura/ventura_bruno.html

I surmise that most, if not all, Ventura models were manufactured by the Aria / Matsumoku factories, who were also responsible for making other imported  guitars such as: Aria, Aria Pro II, Diamond, Maxitone, Univox, Lyle, Conrad, Electra, Epiphone-Japan, Westone, Westbury, and many others.

http://www.matsumoku.org/guitars.html

To a certain extent, I think this documentation stuff has gotten overboard - people are trying to justify collecting just by creating a "history" for a board with some wires on it - but some of the odd ones play and sound great, so just play it.

 

[Mapleg4]

Looks like he took some knobs from the guitar and put them on the amp.
Aren't those Maestro phasers really valuable?

 

[neilium]

The three-button Maestro phaser is valuable, mainly because it was used by Led Zep: think "No Quarter". It's a tabletop model that was meant for keyboards. The stompbox phaser and stage phaser (like the one pictured, only bigger and with a third control) have their admirers and are worth some change, but not as much as the John Paul Jones-approved model.

 

[Mapleg4]

So is that the keyboard model? Aren't there some kind of modern phasers that are based on the Maestros?
Are you considering getting the guitar fixed up with new knobs and a new switch as well? Maybe new pickups?

 

[neilium]

I'm sorry, my phrasing (and phasing) was ambiguous. The one pictured is a stompbox model that came out in the 70's. The JPJ-approved one is:

The stompbox one sounds really good to my ears, though. I don't know what to compare it to as far as current pedals. The tabletop phase shifter is very watery: Think rhodes piano on "No Quarter". The stompbox that sundin4prez inherited is gutsier sounding. More of a woof than the Phase 90 or Small Stone. Definitely a lead sound.

I had 4 of those ginormous Maestro pedals. In a fit, trying to get the landlord off my back, I sold all but one of them (parametric boost) to my continuing regret.

 

[DiMitriR33]

i plugged the amp in and in has this sweeeeet crsip clean tone , it's not like anything i've played before.... and by the way if your wondering what the other pedal is on the amp in the last pic it;s a pax wah pedal...........

i have one of those but not as old and a 2-10 configuration. it needs alittle repair but when it worked it definately had a good clean sound. only problem is it only has a clean sound. the trem and reverb are great.

 

[DiMitriR33]

I surmise that most, if not all, Ventura models were manufactured by the Aria / Matsumoku factories, who were also responsible for making other imported  guitars such as: Aria, Aria Pro II, Diamond, Maxitone, Univox, Lyle, Conrad, Electra, Epiphone-Japan, Westone, Westbury, and many others.

not that it really has anything to do with this post but i thought Westbury guitars were made in Westbury new york on long island. my aunt gave my brother one that she said was made by an old boyfriend of hers, he aparently worked for the company. the tag inside said hand made in the USA.

 

[Crappy]

not that it really has anything to do with this post but i thought Westbury guitars were made in Westbury new york on long island. my aunt gave my brother one that she said was made by an old boyfriend of hers, he aparently worked for the company. the tag inside said hand made in the USA.

There were some made here in the USA others were made someplace else. I just sold my westbury, didn't get much for it.

 

[Mapleg4]

This thread is getting interesting! Does anyone know how much that Maestro Phaser could actually be worth?

 

[jackthehack]

There's a couple on this page you could track:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=32&catref=C6&from=R2&satitle=maestro+&sacat=41410%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=66219&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=32%26fsoo%3D2