Antoria Les Paul Custom

Made not later than 1972, which was the year I bought this guitar. It has 22 frets and typical Les Paul controls (2 vols, 2 tones, 3-way pup selector). Pups were presumably made by 'Antoria' and appear to be PAF humbucker types with high output. Passive electronics. Finished in high gloss black with body and neck binding, mother-of-pearl inlays on headstock and the thin neck, gold hardware, tune-o-matic bridge. No coil tapping or anything like that, hence I'm giving only a 9 rating here. Having said that, I don't even know if coil taps existed in 1972. This guitar hasn't really been played very much over the years, and it still has the original protective sticky paper on the control cavity cover plate.

I (try to) play many different styles of music with a preference towards rock & blues. Over the years I've played this Les Paul through a Scala practise amp, Vox AC30 TB, Sunn Concert Bass 200 (yes, that's right), Marshall Valvestate 8020 and a Peavey Delta Blues 15. There is no noise from the electronics. The pups deliver a full range of sound for humbuckers, ranging from a deep mellow from the neck to a sharp, growling attack at the bridge. I haven't noticed any of the muddiness sometimes in evidence from
humbucker-style pups. If you're into the Les Paul kind of sound, this guitar has it all.

Well, I got this guitar in 1972, so I don't actually remember what the out-of-the-shop setup was like, but, if it was anything less than very good I wouldn't have bought the guitar in the first place. In the last couple of years the pup heights and action have been finely tuned just for fun, and the results have been spectacular. The action is lower and smoother than any other guitar I've played, and the frets are as smooth as a baby's ***. I don't recall there being any flaws when I bought the guitar, but, with it being about 35 years old now there are a few minor dings and scratches (not as many as you'd expect, though).

No problem with gigging this guitar. The original hardware is showing signs of minor oxidisation, but this doesn't present a problem and is hardly noticeable. Don't know if this is to be expected or not, as I don't have another guitar more than three years old. If anything, it gives the axe some additional street cred. Finish is showing no signs of wear and straps buttons are rock-solid. It's an absolutely dependable guitar, but the only time I wouldn't take a backup instrument with me would be if I didn't have one.

I've never needed any kind of support for this guitar. If I did, I'd be out of luck, as Antoria as it was back in the early 70s doesn't exist any more. It seems that Antorias guitars came out of the same factory as Ibanez. In effect, they were the same guitars with different names on them.

I started playing in the early 70s but stopped in about 1975 until two or three years ago. There's nothing I could have asked about this guitar that would have made me change my mind about buying it. I have several other guitars now, so if this one were to be stolen I probably wouldn't replace it (don't ever know if I'd be able to, as the old Antoria guitar company hasn't existed for over 20 years and the guitars are becoming collectors' items worth way more than the original cost). However, I'd miss it terribly.