# Pan guitars



## sulphur

Anyone familiar with this brand of guitar?

From what I gathered, it's a Matsumoku made, offshoot of Aria.
They were aparently made for the Canadian market.

I have a line on a hollowbody from the sixties.

So anybody have one, played one, heard of them?

Paging Alex, or any of the other MIJ oddball lovers...


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## Electraglide

Yup, heard of them but don't have one, yet. Got pics? And here's a link that might help http://vintaxe.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=2971&highlight=pan . Not too sure about the Canadian market, I'd say more North American. Depending on the model and the condition of the guitar it's probably the same as some of my 60's MIJ Es335 style hollowbodies, a good guitar. Without seeing or hearing the guitar or knowing what it comes with I'd ball park a price of around $250 or so if in good shape and every thing works. Same factories a Univox I think. If it's in good shape and everything works it's worth buying. And I'm not sure but I think there was a thread posted a while ago about a Pan guitar.


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## Buzz

Ya, I have an old Pan hollowbody (made by Arai just before Aria), Trini Lopez model. Its great! I put some flatwound strings on it and it has huge bass, actually a bit much I might put some regular strings on. 
The bigsby style tremolo is great, the pickups feedback nicely, they look like humbuckers but its really a single coil. Overall cool guitar and probably worth it as long as its in good shape.


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## sulphur

Here's a pic...










It says minor surface damage, I haven't had a chance to see it yet.
I just recieved an email back today, after two weeks.
He's asking three fifty. Too much?


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## mhammer

I think I had a Pan about 20 years ago, but I can't be sure. It might have been an Apollo or a Raven. Whatever it was, it was a 335-style budget Japanese hollowbody. Because it was completely hollow without the centre block of a true 335, it tended to feed back and didn't really sustain well. I managed to get a support in the hole of the bridge pickup and jam/glue it in under where the bridge sat. So, not quite a true centre block, but it damped the excess resonance to dramatically reduce the feedback and provided a solider base for the bridge so it tended to sustain a little better. Foolishly, I sold it for some reason.

It'd be nice to have one of those units from then again, whether a Pan, Apollo, Raven, Kent, Eko, Goya, or some other brand I used to see in Miracle Mart.


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## Guest

If it comes with a period-correct case .. I'd say 3 ish.
If you have the opportunity (and he allows you), take
a screw driver and take off the neck p'up. Inspect the
bracing of the neck, to make sure there's enough substance
to hold the tension. 

You don't want this to happen some day.


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## Fajah

The Pan is a Mats made guitar, very similar to my mid-60's Raven. These guitars sound and play great once you get them set up properly. Assuming that it's in good condition, the only downside (at least for me) is that the neck tends to be quite narrow. Typical nut width is 1 9/16" which was a Gibson trend for a few years back in the 60's. 

I've done allot of work on mine the last few years and it's been worth it. Doing the work myself minimized the cost of the renovations. Keep in mind that these were produced as inexpensive alternatives to what Gibson was making. Nothing on these guitars are 100% straight. However, if you're somewhat creative, you can work around it. The one thing I do like is that it's a full hollow body guitar. It just has a sound post under the bridge area. You can get a some very warm tones out of it.

You can check out these links for a history of what I've done:

https://picasaweb.google.com/105434046556215539982/RavenRestorationPart1?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/105434046556215539982/RavenRestorationPart2?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/105434046556215539982/RavenRestorationPart3?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/105434046556215539982/RavenRestorationPart4?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/105434046556215539982/RavenRestorationPart5?authuser=0&feat=directlink

http://youtu.be/QqAfGHZVcPA

Today, it's my "go to" guitar for everything from blues to jazz.


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## sulphur

No word about it having a case, though I wondered because it might be tough to find one.

It was mentioned in the ad that it has a slim neck. 

That was quite the intensive rebuild Fajah.

Thanks for the comments and info guys!


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## Electraglide

If you're comfortable with a slim neck that should be no problem. If the neck is like the one on my Kent it's just under 1.5" at the zero fret and just under 2" at the last fret. A little slim for me at times but I work around it. As far as cases go, L&M carries some, other places probably do to. Or, you could do what I do and modify or pad a more standard archtop case. The fun part is finding a case for a guitar like my Raven Teardrop. When it's not being played it spends it's time in an Epiphone Les Paul box. Hopefully the seller gets in touch with you, everything works at a good price, and we see pictures of your new/old guitar.


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## sulphur

It took him a couple of weeks to respond to my first email.
The resonator that he had is gone, but this is still available.

Hopefully they'll respond a bit quicker to my last email.

The slim neck might be a problem, we'll see.


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## WAlfie

sulphur said:


> Anyone familiar with this brand of guitar?
> 
> From what I gathered, it's a Matsumoku made, offshoot of Aria.
> They were aparently made for the Canadian market.
> 
> I have a line on a hollowbody from the sixties.
> 
> 
> I have one. Looks just like that. Missing wammy bar and a dimarzio has been put in bridge pickup. I love the tone but not sure about what year it is or its value.


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## WAlfie

I have the same guitar. Not sure of the year or its value. It's missing the wammy bar and the neck pickup has been replaced with a Damarzio humbucker. I love the tone and it's great for slide playing


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## Frenchy99

Fajah is correct... Mat made and with a little adjustment , these can be great guitars. I have a few Pan guitars. 

I have this Trini that I had to rebuild completely:
You can read up on my job here:
The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku • View topic - Pan 5202 Trini Lopez rebuild

and have one like this: 

Hi Fajah ! Long time no talk !


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## keefsdad

I had the Trini copy as my first electric, IMHO it was not professional or giggable quality.


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## guitarman2

I had a Pan acoustic hummingbird copy. My dad bought it around 1972. When he bought a new Ibanez in 1978 he gave me the Pan. It was a beautiful sounding guitar. over the years it mellowed nicely very reminiscent of a hummingbird. I had it until about 1983 when it literally fell apart. I have to admit though that my dad and my self were not exactly easy on the guitar. It went through a lot. But for some reason the back separated and the top lifted. It had 13 good years.


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## hedzup

Frenchy99 said:


> Fajah is correct... Mat made and with a little adjustment , these can be great guitars. I have a few Pan guitars.
> 
> I have this Trini that I had to rebuild completely:
> 
> 
> I have the same model Trini in stock form !





I have the same model Trini in stock form!


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## knight_yyz

I did some research and almost bought a trini lopez model but the guy was asking a bit too much.


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## Fuzzy dagger

I also have the pan trini Lopez model. I concur with all the above comments, although I haven't played it in years. It arrived in what I believe is the original alligator cardboard case. Good whammy bar and floating roller bridge.


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## Buzz

My Pan Trini Lopez copy is a great guitar! I got it in minty shape. Its not a feedback monster, sounds really good. Its one of my favorites now.
The sticker states its made by Arai , which was before they changed the name to Aria.


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## Buzz

Bumping up this post cause my red Pan Arai guitar sounds amazing. I was using flatwounds for a bit but switched to regular strings for that old blues chime. This guitar also rocks. I took off the black pickguard so you can see both diamond sound holes. The feedback is really fun to play with guitar movement and the whammy.


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## eveready

I have a Univox Made Pan Mosrite Copy. This one is exactly the same as a Univox Phase One Hi-Flier. It's identical to the Univoxs that Kurt Cobain made famous. Sunburst, Jazzmaster style trem, 2-P-90-ish pickups, Pearl Pickguard. Really a fun guitar to have. I also have a Univox made Raven Dan Armstrong Plexi Copy which is a great guitar too. I also recently picked up a Ibanez made Barclay Single Cut Les Paul Special clone. Again another great guitar.

These were all made under the univox brand and Pan names that I've seen. All were made in early Matsumoko plant I believe and are great guitars.


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