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Italia guitars


leicester35

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I noticed something nice and sparkly in the window of a guitar shop the other day:

 

GUITAR_9_front.jpg

 

An Italia Modena (I'm guessing these are Asian made reissues?)

 

http://www.italiaguitars.com/

 

Anyway, it caught my eye because I appreciate unusual guitars.

 

Does anyone have any experience of these? It's in a music store some distance from my hometown (I was actually hurrying for a train when I noticed it, but I might go back and have another look...)

 

Apparently one for my personal 'guitar heros', Chris Rea, is a new convert to this brand (or at least a paid endorser...)

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I've seen a few Italia guitars in a secondhand guitar shop near where I live. They're very pretty with great sparkle paintjobs, but they're also quite bulky, not very contoured. Not sure what they sound like as I've never plugged them in. Build quality seemed reasonable as these were secondhand instruments which were all ijn good shape.

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The other guitar player in my high school jazz band played a semi-hollow Italia, and it was probably one of the best-playing guitars I've ever played. I don't remember the exact model, but it was a single cutaway and it wasn't sparkly. Oh, and it had a stereo output jack, I think one side was acoustic like the Epi LP Ultra II.

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It's a great look ... that's for sure!

 

Anyone on this forum that knows me a little, knows how much I love these 60's import guitars! The originals were not the best ... they were made of some pretty questionalble materials, were impossible to intonate and had action that was as high as the sky.

 

Thanks to companies like Italia, Eastwood, DiPinto, Danelectro and some others, players that like these "qwerky" axes can enjoy the look and have a desently playing instrument at the same time!

 

Jim

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It's a great look ... that's for sure!

 

Am I completely nuts' date=' or does it look [i']just[/i] a little like a non-reverse Firebird (in terms of body-shape)...?

 

 

500552.jpg

 

1nonreverseCS_004.jpg

 

Either way, I reckon it's worth the train ride to Manchester to have another look.

 

P.S. MIDIMAN, I am in full agreement with you as regards your liking for wild & wacky '60s guitars.

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I bought a red modena secondhand off ebay about a month ago and i love it. It is quite heavy, but it's a really nice player. The sound is quite dark, much darker than i expected from mini-humbuckers, but i would'nt say it's muddy. I did'nt think much of the tremelo, but i'm not a tremelo user so take that comment with a pinch of salt. I got it for just under £200 and i'm very happy with it.

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Am I completely nuts' date=' or does it look [i']just[/i] a little like a non-reverse Firebird (in terms of body-shape)...?

 

 

500552.jpg

 

1nonreverseCS_004.jpg

 

Either way, I reckon it's worth the train ride to Manchester to have another look.

 

P.S. MIDIMAN, I am in full agreement with you as regards your liking for wild & wacky '60s guitars.

 

How about this from Eastwood guitars?

 

gtr_Gold-stormbird.jpg

 

I'm thinking about buying one of these:

 

gtr_Red-P90sp.jpg

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Yeah, I really like the look of those Eastwoods - but I have never seen one in the UK. I really wish we could get Reverends over here, too. I was after a Reverend Manta-Ray at one time, but it was too much of a palaver in the end.

 

The 'home-grown' UK brand is really Gordon-Smith (they are based in Manchester).

 

http://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/

 

The one shown below isn't mine, but I wish it was!

 

Gordon%20Smith.jpg

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