Japanese Columbus Les Paul

p90fool

There's no reason they can't be made to play with a bit of a Danelectro vibe, and I know I'd prefer that to a PRS SE. 

The Magic Sam clip I posted is all about character to me, you'd really struggle to pull that off with any modern twin humbucker guitar. 

All of us oldies battled with shite guitars like these when we wanted real pro gear, but they have their place when you have the pro bit covered many time over.

blobb

TTony said:

Our neighbour was working on his old Morris 1000 last weekend. 

My first guitar was a 'Hurricane - by Morris', the circle of life is complete. To be honest it was pretty good, I stood on it though and snapped the head off.

scrumhalf

I had a no-name Les Paul copy similar to the Columbus. It has one of the best necks I've ever come across.

I removed the hum-sonic pickups; I put a DiMarzio Tele pickup at the bridge and a Mighty Mite strat pickup at the neck and I re-strung it with Nashville stringing (the high set of a 12-string). It sounded very different.

Phil_aka_Pip

Wouldn't one of those be OK for experimenting, and if you end up with something playable that plays & stays in tune, haven't you got a cheap bonus? You could always save it for those dodgy gigs you don't want to take a prize Gibson to.

guitars4you

TTony said:

ICBM said:

Unless you want something with a bit of character and aren’t bothered about quality as such 

OK.

Our neighbour was working on his old Morris 1000 last weekend.  It was his mother's, sold to her by his uncle, got loads of paperwork with it, etc, etc.

It has character a-plenty (in lieu of things like effective brakes, safety belts, lights that actually show where you're going, a radio, etc) but it's not a car that I'd choose to use to actually go anywhere.  

Yet  it obviously has huge sentimental value to him, so he's happy to spend the time and money to keep it in running order to maintain that value.

On that basis, I can understand someone wanting a Columbus LP - memories of their early playing days, etc.  

Indeed, I too had one as my first guitar.  But some things, I  just don't need reminding of ...

great analogy Tony and something similar to stories I use quite a bit - loads of character, but from an engineering point of view, you could make  a great case for a Toyota Yaris as a superior car - Certainly most would not want to use the M Minor on a day to day basis 

jonnyburgo

I actually like cheapo guitars, they sound great when applied to the right kind of music, the Magic Sam clip is nothing short of explosive.

FatPete

The Morris Minor analogy doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. The Minor was an entry level car admittedly, but it was at least a distinct model in its own right, not a cheap copy of an Aston Martin. Plus, it was broadly representative of the state of car engineering when it was introduced - advanced, even; certainly for its market sector.

Your Columbus/Satellite LP copy is a fibreglass Ferrari replica kit-car built on a Yugo chassis.

mr-mac

Get a Korean Columbus.  Least its made of wood

imalrightjack

Well, this has been an interesting debate.  The Columbus is, in many ways, 'shite'.  But, as observed by a few, its application is crucial in determining the veracity of this.  The Magic Sam clip is indeed magic and proof that these instruments can be made to sound very special in the right hands.  Admittedly, for the money, most will take a PRS SE - and I don't blame them.

On another note, if anybody wants to buy this very well-preserved (and I understand all-original - 4k pickups, etc.) original guitar, let me know!  It has a 'vintage' hard case, so posting it isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

rossi

p90fool said:

@ICBM stripping the salvageable parts off before you set fire to them doesn't sound like the most scintillating stage act tbh. 

 

especially as he had to ask the audience if anyone had a screwdriver.no style .

rossi

My probable AVON has two screw holes  where its headstock badge went and small centre motif ,weighs 7.5 lbs on the baby scales.Its ply and pressed top .Its a nice guitar unless you are expecting a Les Paul .The pickups dont go microphonic which I gather some do ...As  the real test of a guitar is really how well set up   it is to play  for the music you play the Avon passes muster .i also play it mainly through a DV Little Jazz  and joyo American sound which makes anything sound warm sweet pure bluesy  and jazzy and a sort of fingerstyle so no harsh picks.

JezWynd

impmann said:

I'm sorry but "why?".

Recapturing lost youth maybe? That time when it was all in front of you rather than behind.

Matt_McG

I have, and recently tried (and failed) to sell a near identical one. CSL branded, but pretty sure it's the same Fuji-Gen made model. Mine has genuine HBs, as far as I can tell, not single coils.  Although it's pretty heavy, and the original tuners and bridge are not very good. I kept the tuners, but replaced the bridge (although I still have the original).

Plays very nicely, I think.  I also think it sounds pretty good, too, although a modern budget LP (Vintage Lemon Drop, or whatever) is a much more authentic LP copy.

I think there's probably a fair bit of variation, since mine has many of the features mentioned by others -- plywood pressed top, crappy tuners, substandard bridge, etc. -- but not others. It sustains just fine. Makes a nice noise.

impmann

JezWynd said:

impmann said:

I'm sorry but "why?".

Recapturing lost youth maybe? That time when it was all in front of you rather than behind.

There are many things I’d like to recapture from my youth - and most of them have tits. Crap guitars aren’t one of them...

57Deluxe

Put it this way: You can safely say that that guitar has seen it's reflection in the mirror more times than has been used in anger on any stage!

HarrySeven

I’ve lost count of how many similar models (Columbus, Satellite, Antoria, CSL, Eros, Hondo, Avon, Jedson, Aria, Kimbara, etc, etc), I’ve owned over the years - and I dare say I’ll own a fair few more yet.

As I intimated earlier, if you don’t expect too much (or pay too much!), enjoy them for what they are and live with their foibles, they’re fun to tinker with and render playable.

Strat54

AlexC said:

As an aside... mid 80s I had a Columbus. Bright red. Tele shaped. Pointy headstock. Two humbuckers. Dodgy trem unit. Played it in my first band. Did the job. Got rid of it after 18 months though for a Tokai!

Yeah I had a black one with red binding  \m/ 

mort

John_A said:

TTony said:

My first guitar, way back when ...

Mine too - I set fire to it at a gig and regretted it later

Same here, exactly as the picture. Bought from a shop in Shaftsbury Avenue in 1976. I polished it more than I played it and sold it to buy a metal detector about 6 months later.

HarrySeven

impmann said:

I'm sorry but "why?".

I endured one of these pieces of shit as my second electric guitar. It had no pleasing qualities whatsoever - thats why we all got rid of them as quickly as we could back then. Yes, you could fit new pickups to it but thats akin to rolling it in glitter - as you can't polish a turd.

I'm stunned that *anyone* would pay more than £50 for such a guitar - as for the prices quoted above you could buy something that sounds and plays far superior for less.

Its not kitch cool, its not cool at all... its just a cheap, nasty Les Paul.

I think my major issue with such guitars is when they're talked up into something they very definitely aren't.

From £0.00 - £50.00, they can be a mildly entertaining nostalgic diversion, but once "mojo", "vintage", "lawsuit", blahblahblah are mentioned (along with a commensurate price hike*), then I'm totally with you.

*Just the fact of knowing that they are still out there for £Peanuts in plentiful quantities would prevent me from spending crazy money on them.

guitars4you

HarrySeven said:

I’ve lost count of how many similar models (Columbus, Satellite, Antoria, CSL, Eros, Hondo, Avon, Jedson, Aria, Kimbara, etc, etc), I’ve owned over the years 

that just about sounds like the full set - the only 1 I can add to that is a Grant - but more of a badged guitar by a store in Scotland as against an importer/distributor model 

You missed Kay from that list

The only 1 on that list I can't recall who imported them was Jedson - might have been Arbiter