For sale is a super rare Arbiter Custom electric guitar, made in Japan circa 1976.
This was a model built by Kasuga, as evidenced by 'K' emblem to the back of the tuners. They were factory-badged as 'Arbiter' as they were sold exclusively at Ivor Arbiter's Sound City on Shaftesbury Avenue, where the original owner (from whom I purchased it) bought it brand new in the 70s. It featured in the 1976 Kasuga catalogue as the model LG-770V. I believe a copy of it can be seen on the internet, somewhere.
This is truly a 'no expense spared' guitar - the specs are absolutely wild. The main draw for me is the top, which is listed as solid Jacaranda top - beautifully dark, figured which lends the guitar its rich colouring. Further, these guitars featured a 'tree of life' inlaid fretboard - highlight technical, painstakingly-detailed work. I'm reluctant to ever call a guitar 'stunning' but there really is a case for this one. The headstock facade itself is also Jacaranda (or very dark rosewood), complemented beautifully by the pearl 'Arbiter' inlay.
Atop of the above, it features an original (Maxon, I believe) 'staple' style humbucker in the neck - wonderfully warm, hot and a testament to the desirability of these original Japanese pickups. On inspecting the bridge pickup, to my surprise I found it to be an original 70s USA Dimarzio double white PAF clone! I have heard talk of Japanese factories of this period using Dimarzios by this point, and I have seen a few examples of this guitar - all with different pickups (some have double staples, some have 1+ one PAF-style, etc...). The pots have clearly been worked on so it's difficult to tell whether this is an original part, but either way, a nice surprise.
It has had a new switch, nut, truss rod cover and the odd screw missing screw replaced, but otherwise appears to feature most of its original parts, including all the hardware (which is all original factory gold).
The frets and electronics have been attended to and it is sounding and playing fantastic. It features a full nut width and neck - not a skinny 70s profile. Naturally, both pickups sound fantastic individually and the factory set-neck construction really helps the resonance, sustain and wonderfully warm tone of this guitar.
There are some marks and signs of playing wear, and some playing rash to the common playing areas at the back and sides. There is nothing in the way of 'breaks' and the finish is entirely original.
A beautifully-built Japanese guitar with some incredible specs and undeniable curb appeal.