In fact not my guitar but the Acoustic brand (USA) introduced
this model being quite scarce and played by Jimi Hendrix and
Frank Zappa (among others). Quite heavy but still a semi
acoustic guitar with its' cavities. There are very few 'parts'
pictures on the internet alas, so I will make them and explain
what I found further around these remarkable guitars. Take a
listen to one of the Black Widow guitar video's on YouTube.
A bit in the Gretch tradition as that brand also equipped the back
of some of their models with a leather looking piece.
What is original and what is not I'm still not able
to say but the pick ups do not seem to be humbucker
types of pick up as the magnet are in the middle and
within time I will take more pictures of these Maxon
type pick ups and in fact the same as on the guitars
of Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. They more look
like the so called P 90 pick ups from Gibson. But
a dummy coil on top could be responsible for the
fact that it works as a humbucker. A fretless version
of the first edition of these guitars was given to
George Harrison. Quite rare but he used that guitar
on the "White Album" in the song "Happiness is
a warm gun". Sold in 2020 at Bonhams' for about
300.000 USD.
About the same guitar found on the internet. No logo
but certainly produced by Matsumoku - Japan. A se-
curely crafted body but the pots, wiring and selector
switch are quite mediocre. A good working bridge
and solidly made neck with good fretwork. On the
right my own Matsumoko guitar is visible.
I can understand that the two screw attachment to
the body might raise questions but the neck has been
sticked into the body as far as the bridge placing.
A really stable solution regarding the tension that
is coming on the neck itself. Also satisfying as
we are dealing with a 24 fret neck!
I already made remarks around the electronics but seeing
these tuners one might believe that this guitar has been
fitted with very deluxe tuners from Gotoh, a respectable
factory and brand. They work very well.
This added piece of wood to the actual neck is making this
guitar stable and apart from that the neck that is quite long
it still is absolutely straight and can be adjusted if needed
by a built in truss rod.
The fingerboard is a nice piece of rosewood and this guitar
has been taken apart as it needed a good cleaning and to make
pictures about how it has been designed. As for the fretwork
this guitar needs about 7 frets to be replaced. They are too
far gone. A new topnut will complete this neck as everything
was sturdily glued together and simply broke off.
As this picture attests the guitar has been provided with
a partly semi acoustic construction. The stop tailpiece
however has been mounted on solid wood again. I do
not think the whole body is made out of maple on this
Matsumoku made Black Widow. I think they used the
darker colored mahogany though very fine grained
(and heavy!) while the cap glued on this wood seems
to be maple indeed.
A bit strange is that the neck pocket and the pick up cavity
are done in one move. There is no issue in this construction
as the neck moves all the way through the cavity here above.
Besides the two holes for the neck attachment there is a
third insert used to install a round piece of cork on this spot.
The neck itself has the same small cavity and together with
the two screws at the end of the body and one screw near
the bridge it makes a sturdy fit for this neck and gives the
possibility to adjust the neck / body angle. The pick ups
have been mounted with springs so the possibility is there
to adjust the height of the pick up pole pieces to the strings.
I also would have supplied the screw for the neck near the
bridge with a spring to make the connection even more
stable. Now the tension of the strings alone have to hold
the neck in its' place. That extra spring would have acted
as such. Can also be installed afterwards.
The cavity for the selector switch is also a difference
between the formerly produced Black Widow guitars
in the USA. This is more in the Gibson tradition but
can be used as a confirmation this guitar to be produced
in Japan either not branded or Aria branded though
Moseley claimes the last 200 guitars to be made by
himself. He already had connections with the Japanese
workforce in an earlier stage.
The non branded headstock is a bit of a mix between a Gibson
and an old Kay guitar, popular long ago in the USA. The truss
rod cover is another detail to look at. Most of the original truss
rod covers do have this shape but there are also covers
modelled in another, more square way.
Discussions may arise around these pick ups but these are
the Maxon produced ones. The pole pieces can be adjusted
with an Allen Wrench key. And the rather wide coil seems
to betray it not to be a humbucker pick up though the possi-
bility may arise that there are two coils placed on top of each
other. And indeed there seemed to be a dummy coil placed
on top of the real coil.
Another side view where the springs can be seen for
height adjustment,
To my opinion AlNiCo magnets but I'm not a connaisseur
in that field. The pick ups work very well in combination
with this guitar. That cooperation isn't always there but when
you take a look at the Danelctro Convertible guitars in
combination with their lipstick pick ups. Great sounding.
As for AI, the magnets used by Matsumoku were AlNiCo 8.
On the left there is a extra ground lip to be screwed together
with the mounting of the pick ups. Both pickups are showing
some slight detoriation of the magnet strength which results
in a weak first string signal. Experiments with a strong
magnet made clear that it was all about the magnet strength
as you can (temporarily) restrength the magnets with a
a good and even sound result but it vanishes after a while.
Therefore some new magnets (AlNiCo V) will be
mounted in the near future.
This is the back of an original Acoustic USA produced guitar.
4 screws to hold the neck. I think the Japanese did a very
successful addition in adding a piece of wood all through the
body's guitar as the neck is already quite long and therefore
must be able to resist a lot of tension. On the other hand I
presume the American made guitars are fitted with better
quality pots and pick up selector switch.
More screws for the imitation "leather" back plate.
Moreover, the switch cover plate difference can be
seen as well. I think to have seen a volute on the
back of the head of an original "Acoustic" branded
guitar as has been published here beyond!
On the left is the "Acoustic" branded back of the headstock
so USA made. The original tuners on that one have gone but
they are present on the back of the head on the right but
the "original" USA made one indeed is made with a volute.
This is the original bridge with their specific rounded saddles
that can take care of the right intonation with Allen Wrench
screws. The bolts on either side cannot be adjusted in hight
as they are resting on the bottom of the bushings in the body.
You are able to change the height of the bridge with the nuts.
The 'hole" in the middle has been ment for the third screw
to hold the neck. As the distance between the two visible
outer screws at the end of the body and this one near the
bridge is quite big, it makes a very reliable connection.
To my opinion the bolts are a bit too long as now they
are resting on the bottom of the bushings for the bridge.
You can always swap these bolts for shorter ones.
The rather big saddles were ment to add more sustain to the
guitar. Though there is a cavity up to the bridge in the body,
the 2 bolts are mounted in an embedded metal part in the body
Two nuts at the bottom can be used for the height adjustment.
The bolts are not screwed so the bridge can be taken apart
easily when necessary.
The "leather look" plastic cover on the back has been
mounted with sort of push buttons and can be removed
in order to get access to the control cavity. The Japanese
models have this unit screwed, in fact more safe as by
pulling it off, the "pillow" can be easily damaged.
In fact the form of the stiching in the middle should
look like a Black Widow spider, hmmm..
With most parts removed from the body, a good cleaning
might do a great job and it does. For that purpose I'm
using a mild component often used by violin makers:
The so called "Nicko" fluid, a French product.
