The ARIA 1802t/1803t - EPIPHONE ET 270 DATABASE

[FMD]

Does anybody here have one of these 2nd generation pickguard for sale, or the corresponding template ?
Otherwise I'll do the template myself but well, we never know, I'm just asking.

There's a guy on the 'bay that sells both templates and completed guards for ET270s. I've had him make a few blank/custom guards with deleted routs for me (so I could put in my own routs for HBs, to eliminate the bass cut switch, change the control mounting slightly, etc.

I just looked, and it seems he hasn't sold one on eBay for a few months. His name is Rich Olsen, and he can be reached at ROLSEN002 at hvc.rr.com.

Words of warning: The guards he makes have the neck pocket is routed for an ET270 neck, which I believe is a bit more square (or rounded - can't remember) than the 1802 necks I have. I just remember having to trim a little bit in that area. Also, If you have Rich drill the holes for the pickguard mounting screws, they won't necessarily be a perfect fit for YOUR guitar. I don't think there's any way around that. What Rich puts out is a good quality repro, and you can (and would suggest that you do) specify what material you want exactly (i.e. B/W/B, B/W/Brown Tort, W/B/Mint, etc).

FTR: I'm just a satisfied customer.

[TchikiSteph]

Thanks a lot !
Indeed I have seen these ebay offers in the past. But as they no longer show up, I couldn't contact the guy anymore.
Thank you for the e-mail adress !
You seem to have a long history with these guitars. How many of them have you got ?

[TchikiSteph]

TEST (just trying to change the title to lower case, hope it works)

[TchikiSteph]

Nope, it doesn't change the case in the main title.
Bah, forget about this, let's talk about guitars !

[FMD]

Thanks a lot !
Indeed I have seen these ebay offers in the past. But as they no longer show up, I couldn't contact the guy anymore.
Thank you for the e-mail adress !

No worries, glad to help!

You seem to have a long history with these guitars. How many of them have you got ?

I currently have three 1802Ts: A Conrad, a Toledo, and one that was unbranded (the latter two from a couple of pages back). I lucked into them last September while trying to find the last few spare parts I needed to complete a resto-mod on the Conrad (which has been a basket case for a while now).

I *do* have a long history with the guitars, though. I bought the Conrad in about 1988, sold it 1989, and bought it back in 1990.

Plans are for the Conrad to be dressed in black/tort with Mean90's, the Toledo burst/black with jag p'ups (if I don't part it out first), and the unbranded burst/black with the stock singles. I *think* that should have my 1802 bases covered for a while.

I have to say, as much research on these that I've done, I'm still learning. UC3 graciously lent me his Howard pickup so I could CAD out the bobbin (now available at the shapeways link), and we've been exchanged a few IMs back and forth. He added a few more brands to the list of possible copies & donors that I had no Idea about:

Dorado (Gretsch value line with a 3+3 headstock like the ET270)
Howard (1803T and UC2 copies)
Blackstone (they at the least made a baritone model with "our" bridge - seems identical to the Conrad baritones I've seen)
Crown Professional (a UC2 copy with "our" bridge)
CustomKraft & Supro (already been mentioned on the last page)

[FMD]

So here's the updated list:

• Brand....................Model Number/Name..........................................Extra Info
  
  Aria.......................1802T, 1803T (three single coils) 1832T (two p-90s)......Earlier examples marked "Aria Diamond" and "Aria Diamonds"
  Conrad...................(two single coils)................................................US market imported by David Wexler, Chicago
  Domino...................202 &/203 (three single coils) “Olympic”: .................US market imported by Maurice Lipsky Music Co., New York
  Dorado....................5985 (two p-90s)...............................................Imported by Gretsch as their value line, 3+3 headstock
  Electra....................2263WC “Sustainer” (two PAF humbuckers)...............US market imported by St. Louis Music, St, Louis (circa 1972-76)
  Epiphone..................ET270...........................................................Unique neck dimensions & 3+3 headstock
  Eros.......................(two single coils)...............................................UK market imported by Rosetti House of Music, London
  Granada..................(two single coils)...............................................Canadian market sold through the United Conservatory of Music, Calgary
  Howard...................1803T (three single coils).....................................US market, distributed by Harris-Fandel in 1967-1968?
  Lyle.......................1802T, 1803T (three single coils)............................US market imported by L.D. Heater Music Co., Beaverton, OR
  Tempo....................(two single coils)...............................................US market imported by Merson Musical Products, NY
  Toledo....................(two single coils)...............................................Canadian market sold through the Canadian Conservatory of Music, Toronto

The list is an edit from the previous version. The strat-style single coils date a guitar to later in the 70's, the trapezoid face singles are mid 60's to early 70's. The latter should have a resistance of ~9k Ohms at the neck, and 9.5k Ohms at the bridge *note this is evidently not necessarily true of all pickups*. Serial numbers (or lack thereof) on the "Steel Reinforced Neck" neck plate really aren't helpful for dating on these, as production likely ceased by the time that Matsumoku actually utilized date-coded serials.

For those searching for parts: The Univox, Princeton, Fandel, Howard, Crown Professional, and Toledo UC-2/UC3 guitars, the Aria 1532T and Domino Spartan, as well as Blackstone/Bruno Maxitone/Conqueror/Commodore/CustomKraft/Greco and Supro nameplates, are either Mastumoku made hardware, or have multiple similarities in necks, electronics, and other hardware (like the all-important bridge) to the above.

[Sound for Sandwiches]

I just finished bringing this rawk machine back to life this weekend:





When I got it a couple months ago the electronics were a mess, the original pickguard was present but badly hacked to accommodate some weird pickups, one tuner was broken and missing parts, no knobs, and the truss rod cover was missing. Now it sports GFS P90s, all new wiring, the slider switch has been made a series/parallel control, new BWB 3 ply pickguard and truss cover, and repaired the bad tuner with some parts from my junk pile. Strung up with 10s, the action is great and the neck feels really nice. I was expecting the tuners to suck but after a little cleaning and lube they actually work pretty well. The knobs came off a junk piece of PA equipment and they look right at home.





It's a no name- so what's the consensus? Tempo?

[FMD]

That looks beautiful, and I love the P90s!

Where did you get the pickguard and truss rod cover?

On brand, it could be any on the list. I think some brand logos were a nameplate that were tacked on with small brads or double-sided tape, and a few were decals applied under the finish. Some brands (Aria and Conrad for sure) had both depending on when they were produced.

[Sound for Sandwiches]

Thanks! I made the PG and truss rod cover from a blank I bought from StewMac. I had the old guard to trace the outside profile, and I did some mockups to determine the locations of the pickup holes. Then I made a plywood template and routed out the pickguard with it. For the truss rod cover I copied the one on my domino spartan- from pictures at least it looks like they are very close if not exactly the same. I cut it out with a coping saw and filed the bevel by hand. Then I used a heat gun to soften it and bend the curve. It worked great.

Old guard and template:

[FMD]

There's an oddball 1802t up on eBay now (not mine, no affiliation, posting because of the "that's weird" factor): LINK.

It appears to be identical to the Univox on the first page of this thread, but carries the Aria "Diamonds" headstock badge.

[woody96]

Here is one more...just picked her up...and with original HS case too!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/pe9chu][img]http ... .jpg[/img]CAM00342 by woody96, on Flickr[/url]

I would LOVE to know what the slider switch does to the pickups and tone....I cannot tell what is happening....sounds like series or parallell I think, but not sure.....any help??

[FMD]

It's a bass cut/boost switch. It adds a resistor inline between the pup switch output, and the V/T controls.

Edit: 0.002uF capacitor (there's a wiring diagram on page 2 of this thread).


Changed resistor to capacitor. Sorry about that.

[TchikiSteph]

Woooooh, I would give a lot for this original case.

Allright, so here is the wiring diagram posted by Shorty.
The slider switch adds a 0.002uF capacitor (not a resistor ) in series with the signal coming out of the pickup selector.
It is often presented as a bass boost but in fact the "boosted"position is when the switch is not engaged, as the original pickups are quite bassy.
When the switch is engaged, you get a thiner sound which is considered as "unboosted".

[stray75]

This list is awesome. I've got a question specific to the pickups. My neck pickup (trapezoid) has some bad connections and I hate to say it, but I think it needs to be re-wound. How do you know when you've got 9K ohms? Is it a particular length or # of wraps or what? Any advice welcome. The pickup wire looks darn near as thin as human hair and I can't seen to splice it where I need to.

Thanks!
Sam

So here's the updated list:

• Brand....................Model Number/Name..........................................Extra Info
  
  Aria.......................1802T, 1803T (three single coils) 1832T (two p-90s)......Earlier examples marked "Aria Diamond" and "Aria Diamonds"
  Conrad...................(two single coils)................................................US market imported by David Wexler, Chicago
  Domino...................202 &/203 (three single coils) “Olympic”: .................US market imported by Maurice Lipsky Music Co., New York
  Dorado....................5985 (two p-90s)...............................................Imported by Gretsch as their value line, 3+3 headstock
  Electra....................2263WC “Sustainer” (two PAF humbuckers)...............US market imported by St. Louis Music, St, Louis (circa 1972-76)
  Epiphone..................ET270...........................................................Unique neck dimensions & 3+3 headstock
  Eros.......................(two single coils)...............................................UK market imported by Rosetti House of Music, London
  Granada..................(two single coils)...............................................Canadian market sold through the United Conservatory of Music, Calgary
  Howard...................1803T (three single coils).....................................US market, evidently a house brand of Howard Guitar Amplifiers out of TX?
  Lyle.......................1802T, 1803T (three single coils)............................US market imported by L.D. Heater Music Co., Beaverton, OR
  Tempo....................(two single coils)...............................................US market imported by Merson Musical Products, NY
  Toledo....................(two single coils)...............................................Canadian market sold through the Canadian Conservatory of Music, Toronto

The list is an edit from the previous version. The strat-style single coils date a guitar to later in the 70's, the trapezoid face singles are mid 60's to early 70's. The latter should have a resistance of ~9k Ohms at the neck, and 9.5k Ohms at the bridge *note this is evidently not necessarily true of all pickups*. Serial numbers (or lack thereof) on the "Steel Reinforced Neck" neck plate really aren't helpful for dating on these, as production likely ceased by the time that Matsumoku actually utilized date-coded serials.

For those searching for parts: The Univox, Princeton, Howard, Crown Professional, and Toledo UC-2/UC3 guitars, the Aria 1532T and Domino Spartan, as well as Blackstone/Bruno Maxitone/Conqueror/Commodore/CustomKraft/Greco and Supro nameplates, are either Mastumoku made hardware, or have multiple similarities in necks, electronics, and other hardware (like the all-important bridge) to the above.

[TchikiSteph]

Little 1803t spotted in an ad for Hansa Records, presumably from the late 70's.
Taken from the book "Ten Imaginary Years" (1988) about The Cure.