# 1968-ish Pan Hollowbody



## blacktooth (Jul 3, 2010)

I have a really old Pan Hollowbody guitar. it's probably not really worth anything, but man, I love the way this thing plays. The neck is like it was built just for me. but the pickups are dead... they are an odd sized pup. 1 1/32" x 2 7/8" single coils that are some odd sort of surface mount. Does anyone know where I could find a replacement set of pickups that would not require any permanent modifications? 
Also, would anyone have any more information on these guitars? I can post a picture tomorrow if that would help.


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## blacktooth (Jul 3, 2010)




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## blacktooth (Jul 3, 2010)

i dont' know why they only linked as thumbnails.... I'll try with a better website tomorrow.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The links for larger versions of the pictures aren't working for me.

The pickups may well be just fine, and the problem lying somewhere else. Have you removed the pickups and measured them?

BTW, those types of instruments were often completely hollow. I had one like that in the late 80's / early 90's, and installed a sort of soundpost inside, under the bridge. Not quite the same thing as the maple centre block on the ES-335, but it went a long way towards improving sustain, and reducing the feedback a bit.

I had to remove the bridge pickup, and bit by bit carve a piece that I could stick into the pickup hole and then push back so it wedged between the top and back under the bridge area. I figure, if you like the way it plays, and you have to remove the pickups to see if they are truly dead anyways, may as well make use of that access hole.


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## ccuwan (Jul 9, 2008)

There are many of these models around under various names. I have a Ventura guitar that is nearly identical to a Pan owned by a friend. As hammer says, they are typically hollowbody and as you describe, the action and playability is outstanding. Like Hammer, I mounted a stabilizing post through the pickup hole and under bridge. I replaced the original electronics in mine with CTS pots and high quality caps etc. but also put a pair of P90 pickups from a PRS McCarty that I found. The original owner wanted Lollars so I picked them up cheap. As you describe, the pickup are a weird dimension so I made a couple of pickup rings for the P90s and they slipped into the body hole quite nicely.








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This is now one of my favorite guitars and frankly it sounds pretty good acoustic as well.

Enjoy your new guitar, it is a great player with all kinds of potential for electronic improvement.


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## blacktooth (Jul 3, 2010)

Hey, thanks for the info! I'll put in a stabilizing post as soon as I have time to make one, and I think I will replace the pups, because the neck one is definitely dead, and I've got a set of P90's laying around. ccuwan, yours is a very nice guitar. It looks to be in better shape than mine, at least finish-wise. it looks like at some point my headstock broke and was half-assed glued back together, so I may try to fix that up too.


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## Alex Csank (Jul 22, 2010)

Nice guitar! The pups are typical Teisco, Kawai pups from the '60s and they are easy to find (for replacements) on E-Bay. Those pups are actually pretty good when they are working well. Why not get yours re-wound? If done by a competent shop, they can sound fabulous!

I'm an advocate of saving vintage guitars in their original form...and yours is a good one, which will probably be worth saving...someday. But for now, why not make it work like it was supposed to instead of hot-rodding it? If you want to hot-rod a hollow-body guitar, go buy a cheapo modern one.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

I agree with Alex.....these vintage guitars are worth saving.....now. And in original condition if possible.


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## Alex Csank (Jul 22, 2010)

By the way, here's some info which comes from the website called www.guitarsite.com, a great resource for vintage guitar info. And so is Vintage Guitars at VintAxe.com. Anyway, here it is:

The trail of the Pan guitar brand leads back to the Aria guitar company. The Arai Co. was originally founded by classical guitarist Shiro Arai sometime in the early 1950s as an importing company which expanded in the mid 1950s and began manufacturing classical guitars. Electric guitar production began around the turn of the decade and the Aria and Aria Diamond names were adopted. Offerings at that time consisted of various solid and hollow body guitars loosely influenced by western designs such as the "Bison" and "Jaguar". Arai Co. also manufactured a number of re-brands and components distributed by other importers. Evidence of this can be seen in the design and construction of such brands as Univox, Conrad, Lyle, Domino, Maxi-Tone, Pan, Arita, and a number of others. The following link will lead you to a site which describes the history of the Aria company and some of the copyright lawsuits filed by American makers when the "Japanese Invasion" began in the 60's. http://www.therathole.org/guitars/arai_matsumoku.html

Your guitar is a variant of the famous 'Bruno Conqueror' model, which uses the same pups. These are very well-made guitars and yours is DEFINITELY worth restoring! Pans are even more rare than hen's teeth. It isn't necessarily worth a ton of money (yet), but there are lots of collectors who would love to take that one off your hands...me being one of them!


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## blacktooth (Jul 3, 2010)

I would love to find a set of the original pups, as even the cases on mine are broken, but I can't find that exact pickup anywhere. white on the outside, black in the middle. I'm also missing the pickguard, and whammy bar. the pickup selector was replaced, but I have the original, and it is missing the knob. any ideas where I could source that stuff?


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## blacktooth (Jul 3, 2010)

does re-fretting a guitar affect it's value?


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## Alex Csank (Jul 22, 2010)

blacktooth said:


> does re-fretting a guitar affect it's value?


No. Not really. I mean, if you had a guitar with absolutely 'NO' wear, and its original frets, that might have a bit more value to a collector than one which had been played a lot, but I prefer some of the 'patina' of age.



blacktooth said:


> I would love to find a set of the original pups, as even the cases on mine are broken, but I can't find that exact pickup anywhere. white on the outside, black in the middle. I'm also missing the pickguard, and whammy bar. the pickup selector was replaced, but I have the original, and it is missing the knob. any ideas where I could source that stuff?


They are always showing up on E-Bay in the USA. Check it out! The pups are common to many Japanese vintage guitars, so it should be easy to find one...just keep searching. However, yours can probably be re-wound to sound even better than original, by a good shop.


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## ccuwan (Jul 9, 2008)

I'm in full agreement with the others who suggested you should keep your guitar as original as possible. There are however alternative ways of doing that. When I rebuilt my Venture, I did so without cutting any holes or making any physical adjustments to the wood. The pickup rings I made line up with the original holes in the top. The tuners, because they generally require additional screw holes drilled are original. I replaced the electronics but have the complete package stored for future reassembly if I want. I feel that in this way I get the best of both worlds. I can store and save the original equipment maintaining the integrity of the Vintage piece while enjoying the benefits of modern instrument technology and audio performance. 

Thanks for the compliments on the finish. It's not bad but the photograph hides some imperfections. This is a 30 year old guitar and a player.

Alex,
The Pan guitars may be hard to find in NC but if you really want one, post a "want to buy" ad for one in Toronto or watch the Toronto Kijiji postings. Not sure why but they and their other variations are really quite common here. Typically the clean ones go for a little over $300 cdn here.

The following is a picture of a Vintage Silvertone which I have modified in a similar manner by making a new pickguard and loading it. Of course in this case, the lipstick pickup which was the highlight of these guitars is original and in full use. (Great light weight slide guitar) Again, the original parts are all carefully stored for future reassembly........and yes I know the intonation is backwards in this picture


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## Alex Csank (Jul 22, 2010)

ccuwan said:


> The Pan guitars may be hard to find in NC but if you really want one, post a "want to buy" ad for one in Toronto or watch the Toronto Kijiji postings. Not sure why but they and their other variations are really quite common here. Typically the clean ones go for a little over $300 cdn here.


Ccuwan,

1. Maybe 'Pan' branded guitars were imported by a company which sold a ot of them in T.O.? In any event, that Pan is a very cool guitar, and it is worth restoring and preserving in my opinion.

2. You did a great job with your Venture. Although I prefer playing the older guitars pretty much as they were built, I DO have a '69 Teisco ET-110 which is 'hot-rodded' to make it a better 'slide' guitar. However, ike you...I have an original pick-guard (and another whole body to go with it!) in case I want to change it back to riginal specs.

3. That 'Mercury' Silvertone is great! Me likey!!!


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## ccuwan (Jul 9, 2008)

Alex Csank said:


> Ccuwan,
> 
> 1. Maybe 'Pan' branded guitars were imported by a company which sold a ot of them in T.O.? In any event, that Pan is a very cool guitar, and it is worth restoring and preserving in my opinion.
> 
> ...


1. Can't agree more. I have a few guitars, some much more valuable than my Venture, but the Venture (Pan) is one of the most payable. Really nicely made hollow body guitars coming out of that factory in that era.
2. I enjoy rebuilding old guitars while saving the original parts as in this manner they will last forever. Had a Japanese strat that I did the same with. Lifted the pick guard, put it aside and rebuilt a new loaded guard. I sold the guitar recently with both the revised guard and the original. 
3. Thanks.....the Mercury logo came off a Mercury (not sure what year as I bought it already removed from the car). Thought it carried lots of blues connotation and simply looked cool so I added it to my replacement pick guard. "Crazy Bout My Mercury"


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## Buzz (May 15, 2008)

Hey nice guitars! I have a Pan also, its a Trini Lopez copy in red. Mine has a piece of wood under the bridge to keep the top stable. The pickups are single coils made to look like mini humbuckers, real sweet sounding, really full. The guitar has become one of my favorites as well. The bigsby copy is the same as the Venture guitar, its great!


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## debrad (Aug 17, 2010)

Hey there!

I have been hoping that I might find some "Pan" information on here! I had been after a Casino hollowbody for ages and happened across a Pan for sale in Kitchener. The electronics needed some work and it had quite a few finish cracks but I wound up getting it for $125 so I felt pretty good about the deal. Fast-forward several months...maybe even a couple years...and I was on the verge of trading it in on a Jay Turser 335 copy. I decided to give it one last jam session and, WOW, it blew me away that night...amazing tone and no feedback even though we tend to play loud in a pretty cramped rehearsal space. Not sure what it has for pickups...seems to me they were something generic like "magnatone"...but I swear they sound MUCH better than the Epiphone Elites I put in my Epi Les Paul. Played a live show with the guitar a couple months ago and loved it!!! Not sure what model I have but, needless to say, this guitar is staying in my collection!

Is there any way I can post a picture that ISN'T stored on a web page?


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## ccuwan (Jul 9, 2008)

debrad said:


> Is there any way I can post a picture that ISN'T stored on a web page?


I have an account (no cost) at photobucket. You simply upload your photo there and the site will provide you with the link to post the photo here. I'd like to see your Pan. Good call keeping it. They really are well made guitars.


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## debrad (Aug 17, 2010)

OK...photobucket account created...

Since this picture was taken I have replaced the truss rod cover, installed a black selector switch, and changed the controls to black speed knobs.










Here's a close-up of the body:


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## ccuwan (Jul 9, 2008)

$125 well spent....very nice. I expect the bridge has been replaced along the way as everything I have seen in a Japanese hollow body from that era had a roller bridge with plastic rollers. I have the original bridge but I changed to a modern metal roller bridge.


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## debrad (Aug 17, 2010)

ccuwan said:


> I expect the bridge has been replaced along the way as everything I have seen in a Japanese hollow body from that era had a roller bridge with plastic rollers.


Interesting!

Anybody have an idea what the model number/name might be on this one?


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af129/Electraglide49/Unknow and others/100_1994.jpg
Here's a pic of my Kent from the same time frame.....late 60's. As far as I can tell, everything is original.....metal rollers on bridge. Not too sure of the model #/name but when I change the strings I'll see what I can find under the truss rod cover, pickups etc..


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af129/Electraglide49/Guitars/60s.jpg
After looking at the pics I did a little cloning and put the guitars side by side. Hope nobody minds. They're similar. I'd hazard a guess that some of the parts were made in the same factories. Pickups, tremelos, etc.. Couldn't find too much about the Pan but found this site about the Ventura
unofficial bruno ventura guitar page looks pretty close to the V-1001 from 1970. 
The Kent has a sound post under the bridge, looks about 3/4"x3/4" and green felt under the bridge and the trem "feet". The bearings for the trem are caged ball bearings. Might be some markings on them that might help with id'ing. The wiring that I can see thru the f holes is grey. The pickups are chrome covered plastic, 1 9/16"x 2 15/16".....the chrome is worn. The neck has 22 frets, a 0 fret and mother of pearl markers. The headstock looks very,very similar to a Gibson headstock. When I change the strings, hopefully I'll find out more. But as it sits right now the guitar sounds very good.
later


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## ccuwan (Jul 9, 2008)

That Kent certainly has a metal bridge so obviously both were being used at the time. Those bodies all look pretty similar. I expect that in the day an order for maybe 100 units would result in a unique logo and maybe even a unique headstock. The other Pan hollow body that a friend owns has a Strat style headstock but everything else about the neck looks like my Ventura. The Pan has diamond sound holes as well. This I found on the net but it's exactly the same, even color.


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## blacktooth (Jul 3, 2010)

the horns on my Pan seem to be different from everyone elses. they are pointier. I did some screwing around with it, got the neck pup working, and plugged her in tonight...man, i could sleep with this thing if i found a place to put it... what a beauty tone. but so damn quiet. not sure what the pups are wound to, but they just whisper compared to my other guitars with Bill Lawrences, EMG's, GFS', and such. really bluesy, close to a strat sound a la Jimi or SRV, tonewise... now if i could just play like them...


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## musickiller (Mar 13, 2010)

I have one by Granada, made in Japan, tho more in a truer replica of a ES-300 series Gibson. This thing is awesome, you can bend the neck and it won't go out of tune. It weighs about a pound all said and done and a experience to have it on your shoulder. The writing on the headstock resembles Epiphone's, so I'm guessing they had something to do with it, though there is no real cross-referencing anywhere on the web. It is documented Gibson sued Granada for design / patent infrindgements and won, which would explain why I can't complete it's history (sadly)

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## Guest (Aug 27, 2010)

used to have a granada sg. traded for a washburn cumberland.
what I found about granada is they (70's) were matsumoku
aria's re-branded for the calgary conservatory of music as
student guitars.


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## pauledc (Mar 4, 2013)

Here's my new to me Pan Trini Lopez. Nice guitar! sounds and plays great...the neck is a wee bit skinny but again sound makes up for it.

http://s1286.beta.photobucket.com/u...ort=3&o=1&_suid=13624161122810780173466147926


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2013)

I like! and the trayner too! no wonder 
you get a good sound. old bass master?
oh .. and welcome to the forum.


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## ccuwan (Jul 9, 2008)

Nice Pan Guitar Pauledc. That is identical to the piece my buddy owns. Great...great player.
And btw nice amp too. I have the YBA2A Bassmate head into an old Traynor YBA2 combo cabinet that someone harvested the amp from. Great old tube tone from this combo and my Ventura shines through it.


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