Vox Custom 25

mikeyrob73

Anyone know anything about these? Value? What are they like? They are quite pretty looking things. Guessing @HarrySeven will know something about them ;-)

ICBM

They're made by Matsumoku. Typically Japanese maple through-neck construction of the era - well-made, quite heavy, and not particularly characterful-sounding. The pickups were originally DiMarzio X2Ns which aren't very popular these days, although I've seen them with other DiMarzio models as well.

They're not worth that much, probably £250-£350 for a good example, less for a tatty/modded one.

JD50

I've had a couple of Standard 25's in the past, part of the same line around 1982 I think & Vox's take on a strat.

The guitars felt well made & pickups are really nice & made by Dimarzio. The necks felt great BUT they were really heavy, which is why I eventually sold them on.

I had one in the 90's which I believe I paid around £70 for in a nice translucent red & I bought another about 2006 for about £100.

Given the quality of cheap guitars these days Squier/G&L from my experience I would not pay more £150 tops for a standard 25.

The Custom looks a lot like a Westbury to me, wonder if there is a connection?

ICBM

JD50 said:

The Custom looks a lot like a Westbury to me, wonder if there is a connection?

Yes, made in the same factory.

mikeyrob73

Some great info there cheers lads 

SimonC

I had a Standard 25 when they were new in 1982.
That was more of a strat type, with 3 Di Marzio single coils.

It was really well put together as I remember, nice maple neck. The trem tuning stability left a bit to be desired, but other than that, a really nice guitar. 
Wish I still had it actually.

HarrySeven

@mikeyrob73 They're great guitars. I've had a few over the years. I think I shill have a (highly-modified) Vox somewhere. As usual with Matsumoku, etc, there's lots of crossover re. body shapes/styling with other brands of the day.

HarrySeven

FX_Munkee

I've got one. As others have said, very well made. Typical Matsumoko quality and design.
Nice through neck and has a fair amount of sustain. Neck is fairly chunky. Mine's all original apart from the X2N's were removed before I got it (late 80's). It was purchased as a backup and has remained so ever since as it's utterly dependable.
Oh and it weighs the same as a small planet. It's all maple just different stains, which is how I discovered Maple is quite heavy
As for prices, I honestly don't know. All I do know is that they seem to be rising. I've noticed them over the years on ebay as I have a passing interest.
If this one sells I'm sticking mine up mine's got the original trem arm and my case is in near perfect nick.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252770392467

entee

I have a standard 24 with super distortions - it is very heavy sounding; good for rock etc.  I have owned it for 30+ years now buying it brand new when I was 16  lol.  Neck on mine is actually reasonably thin and can't say it weighs any different to my other guitars....

EricTheWeary

FX_Munkee said:

I've got one. As others have said, very well made. Typical Matsumoko quality and design.
Nice through neck and has a fair amount of sustain. Neck is fairly chunky. Mine's all original apart from the X2N's were removed before I got it (late 80's). It was purchased as a backup and has remained so ever since as it's utterly dependable.
Oh and it weighs the same as a small planet. It's all maple just different stains, which is how I discovered Maple is quite heavy
As for prices, I honestly don't know. All I do know is that they seem to be rising. I've noticed them over the years on ebay as I have a passing interest.
If this one sells I'm sticking mine up mine's got the original trem arm and my case is in near perfect nick.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252770392467

That's mental  

FX_Munkee

EricTheWeary said:

FX_Munkee said:

I've got one. As others have said, very well made. Typical Matsumoko quality and design.
Nice through neck and has a fair amount of sustain. Neck is fairly chunky. Mine's all original apart from the X2N's were removed before I got it (late 80's). It was purchased as a backup and has remained so ever since as it's utterly dependable.
Oh and it weighs the same as a small planet. It's all maple just different stains, which is how I discovered Maple is quite heavy
As for prices, I honestly don't know. All I do know is that they seem to be rising. I've noticed them over the years on ebay as I have a passing interest.
If this one sells I'm sticking mine up mine's got the original trem arm and my case is in near perfect nick.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252770392467

That's mental  

No it's not. It's the standard price for a Custom 25 from now on.
<starts_creating_ebay_ad/>

ICBM

EricTheWeary said:

That's mental  

I like how 'all original' includes having the wrong trem arm, pickup selector switch, pickup surrounds and strap buttons - anyone familiar with Matsumoku will know what the original buttons look like - and 'great condition' also means one straplock having an extra hole drilled.

There's no danger of that selling for even remotely close to that price.

FX_Munkee

here's mine, only the pickups and surrounds aren't original.

 

fandango

Reminds me of a late 70's/early 80's Aria Pro II 400 ...

Sleepyscholar

fandango said:

Reminds me of a late 70's/early 80's Aria Pro II 400 ...

Again: same factory. My neighbours (I live 100 yards from the world HQ of Aria) used to have their guitars built at the Matsumoku factory during its heydey. Since I had a Vox Custom 24 which got nicked from the flat in London after I moved to Japan, I feel nostalgic about them, and the occasional Aria Pro from that period I see here second-hand stimulates a fair amount of GAS.

Thanks for reminding me about the absurd weight, though!

ICBM

Sleepyscholar said:

Again: same factory. My neighbours (I live 100 yards from the world HQ of Aria) used to have their guitars built at the Matsumoku factory during its heydey. Since I had a Vox Custom 24 which got nicked from the flat in London after I moved to Japan, I feel nostalgic about them, and the occasional Aria Pro from that period I see here second-hand stimulates a fair amount of GAS.

It's a shame what happened to Aria. For a while in the late 70s and early 80s their guitars and their basses especially were considered on a par with the best Japanese brands like Yamaha and Ibanez, in particular the SB1000 around 1980-83. After Matsumoku closed and the production moved to Korea the quality dropped fairly rapidly and by the mid 90s they were basically a junk brand. They've been revived a bit recently, but aside from the reissue of the SB1000 for people who haven't forgotten, I'm pretty sure they're still mostly thought of as a second or third rate brand at best.

I have managed to find another example of my first electric guitar - the '84 Aria RS Standard - but I can't really afford to buy another SB1000… my first bass, in '86. Although I'm actually looking for an SB-R really because the string spacing is wider - and they're a lot less expensive, so I may get one at some point.

WezV

ICBM said:

   After Matsumoku closed and the production moved to Korea the quality dropped fairly rapidly and by the mid 90s they were basically a junk brand.

I had an Integra bass here for a while, one of the first after the move from matsumoko.  You could see the change happening, the neck and bridge were awesome, typical mat quality.  The rest was quite dull