Arbiter copies made by Kasuga in Japan?

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Author Message   Mickf Username: Mickf Registered: 9-2005 Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 3:52 pm:    I have just read the thread about Kasuga copies and finally found some postings on copies with the Arbiter-logo on the headstock. I've been asking, mailing and posting around for ages, but nobody seemed to know anything about Arbiter copies. Is this the answer: Kasuga made the Arbiter guitars? Below you can hopefully find a picture of the headstock of my SG copy. If you have any info about this model or Arbiter guitars in general (when made, quality, ...) please post! [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/mickf2903/A rbiter%20SG/Arbiterheadstock-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/mickf2903/A rbiter%20SG/bodyrouting.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/mickf2903/A rbiter%20SG/Arbiterbodyback.jpg[/IMG]   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 3-2002 Posted on Monday, July 23, 2007 - 2:13 am:    Mick I only know that ARBITER in the UK was imported by the distributor for Fender back in the 70's and 80's. There was a lot of brand naming going on then but a lot of the guitars coming out of Japan were only made in a couple of factories. Judging by your guitar, it was probably a higer end model as it has a fixed neck (although it seems to have been repaired). six   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Monday, July 23, 2007 - 1:19 pm:    Six, Arbiter WAS the distributor of Fender in the UK and Holland (Apeldoorn). Now everything goes through Fender Europe in Germany, at least on the continent, but perhaps they use the tunnel. Because Arbiter was, and is, in fact a trading company, their guitars could have been made everywhere, including Kasuga. http://www.arbiter.co.uk/ And I see no Fender stuff anymore. So Fender uses the tunnel indeed. Ginger   Mickf Username: Mickf Registered: 9-2005 Posted on Monday, July 23, 2007 - 6:39 pm:    First of all, thanks for the info. So it is possible that Arbiter ordered their LP copy with the vine-inlays from Kasuga (see other thread) and their SG-copy from another factory? I found some infos on the net saying that Arbiter was the main importer to England of Teisco guitars in the late 60ies, although the Teiscos have a Fenderish headstock and mine has an open-book lawsuit style headstock. Six, I think you are referring to the two screws that are visible in the neck-pickup cavity when you say the neck seems to have been repaired. I'm not sure about that, there are no cracks or signs of repair in the finish around the neck-heel, probably they originally enforced the neck-joint from the very beginning. The construction of my Arbiter SG is a sandwich of front, middle and back veneer with pieces of solid wood (mahogany?) inbetween. (reminds me of my Artist model 2613 from 1973) The neck consists of two pieces of maple? and a thin layer of veneer in the middle (my Artist has a 3-piece maple neck). THe fretboard is very dark, probably ebony, the position markers are mother of toilet seat, but look decent. Hardware looks too "new" to be original and I had to change the tuners, the original ones were plastic and broken. Some fool had drilled really big holes for the pickups screws into the scratchplate, so I had to change that as well (the shape is still like the original Arbiter, a little different from an original GIbson) Volume and Tone controls were creme, but only two knobs were there, so I put SG-type knobs on. The guitar is a bit neck-heavy, but the sound is really good, with a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge position and a a PAF-style neck pickup of unknown make. The only thing I am not too happy about is the fretwire, it is almost like the old Gibson "fretless wonders", I will probably change that to Jumbos. If anybody recognises the type of guitar and has an idea where it might have been produced, please post! Mick   Mickf Username: Mickf Registered: 9-2005 Posted on Monday, July 23, 2007 - 6:46 pm:    Some more pictures: [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/mickf2903/A rbiter%20SG/ArbiterSGcopy.jpg[/IMG] IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/mickf2903/A rbiter%20SG/Arbiterneckjoint.jpg[/IMG] IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/mickf2903/A rbiter%20SG/Arbiterbody.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/mickf2903/A rbiter%20SG/nutfretboard.jpg[/IMG]   Harry Username: Harry Registered: 3-2001 Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - 5:26 am:    Hi all My pal Hasy has an Arbiter Strat and it´s dead-on Ibanez! The only difference is: the "Made in Japan" stamp is not in the lower part of the back plate, but in the upper part. The guitar even has the same chrome truss rod cover we know from the early 70s Ibanez Strats. So I´d say that Arbiter did some shopping at the Fuji Gen Gakki plant too.... Harry   Bassassin Username: Bassassin Registered: 1-2006 Posted on Friday, July 27, 2007 - 11:48 am:    My pet 70s Japanese obsession is Rickenbacker 4001 copies. A guy on another forum I use has an Arbiter 4001 copy, and I'm pretty sure it's Matsumoku - it's very similar to the Aria Diamond & Aria Pro II Rick copies in its detailing - bolt neck with "steel adjustable" plate, toaster pickup & wavy Grover copy tuners. These are all details which appear together on Mat copies, but are seldom seen at all on others. I'd suggest that Arbiter sourced from whoever was offering the best deal at the time, rather than contracting with a specific factory. Incidentally, Arbiter are still going (www.arbiter.co.uk) - however as far as I know they didn't respond to the 4001 copy owner's enquiries about its origin. Jon.

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