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ok some weeks ago i saw this -real cheap- and just couldn't let it pass.
there's some hum problems and the bridge pickup sounds VERY weak, and it hums/buzzes like crazy (sounds like grounding prob). still a great deal... even if just for the looks!

but... what is it? any idea? i first thought of EKO or Italia or something like that but then again it just screams 60s japan. the pickups say JAPAN on the bottom and the pots are VIOLET branded. huh?
any ideas?

yeah i KNOW... but wouldn't YOU have bought it for under $50?! - ha! told you so!
c'mon it's GOLD flake/glitter!!!!

so here are the pics:






on/off rocker switches - how cool is that?!






bigsby-ish thing


HEY! those are the exact same saddles that came on the crackwhore jag!






even has a REAL serial number... but no MADE IN JAPAN!?


yes it's all plywood...




i guess that's the grounding problem right there... so, to the bridge studs maybe?


sez JAPAN

i compared the guitar with all the italian guitar catalogs online and nothing exact... but....i think i'm onto something... http://www.vintaxe.com/faq.htm :

Can you tell me about the history of Norma guitars?
Normas were built in Japan between 1965 to 1970 by the Tombo Company and distributed in the U.S. by Strum´N Drum, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. The company specialized in copying Italian guitars like EKO and Goya and sold them in the U.S.A as NORMA's. The most blatant EKO copy is the SDEG 490-4, a guitar that confused the heck out of me when I was shopping for an EKO. It is covered in a blue-green plastic sparkle laminate that I was pretty sure EKO had never used but guys will market the guitars as EKOs ($800 vs. $400 value). The Tombo Company is still in business, but these days they specialize in harmonica production.

no pics, though.

on the back of the tuners it sez TONBO... so maybe that's something like the "tombo company" above mentioned?


so... hit or miss?!

Pat.

I have the exact same knobs in chrome on my Jag-Stang, and remember they came off a Norma guitar I had. It looked like this:



Exact same bridge w/cover too... but my pickups were more like on that one, vaguely Top Twenty style.
I've never seen a Norma like that though.

Jcyphe signal.

i saw an amazing norma on ebay a couple of years back, a bit fancier looking, but with the same gold flake. it sold for a fair bit (like £200 or something).

might have been one like this-

stewart wrote:i saw an amazing norma on ebay a couple of years back, a bit fancier looking, but with the same gold flake. it sold for a fair bit (like £200 or something).

might have been one like this-

AMAZING!!! that's as close to mine as ... anything!
i'm almost convinced this is a Norma guitar.

in fact, i now realized some sticker/glue residue on the lower horn side pickguard. where the Norma logo used to be.
coool!

thanks guys!

Pat.

except for the 3 pickups, this review pretty much describes mine!
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... arkle/10/1

but the "finish" is acutally some sort of plastic glued to the body, like grandma's linoleum floor.


Pat.

Looking at your pics and the pickup I have some more I think they're probably the same pickup, but they have a strat style cover over them on yours instead of a rectangular chrome peekaboo one. See how they're rectangular from the bottom?
I routed out the neck position of a Squier tele for that pickup, it had balls!

paul_ wrote:Looking at your pics and the pickup I have some more I think they're probably the same pickup, but they have a strat style cover over them on yours instead of a rectangular chrome peekaboo one. See how they're rectangular from the bottom?
I routed out the neck position of a Squier tele for that pickup, it had balls!

i think the pup covers are original, otherwise the pickguard pup cutouts would be square too...
from the crappy polaroid pic - those seem to be the same pups as on mine.

greets!

Pat.

what an odd little thing. thanks for the pics though!

Pacafeliz wrote:

paul_ wrote:Looking at your pics and the pickup I have some more I think they're probably the same pickup, but they have a strat style cover over them on yours instead of a rectangular chrome peekaboo one. See how they're rectangular from the bottom?

i think the pup covers are original, otherwise the pickguard pup cutouts would be square too...
from the crappy polaroid pic - those seem to be the same pups as on mine.

I didn't mean they've been altered, but I think Norma have put them into a different cover. The baseplate and polepieces look the same

oh!

will check!!!

paul_ wrote:

Pacafeliz wrote:

paul_ wrote:Looking at your pics and the pickup I have some more I think they're probably the same pickup, but they have a strat style cover over them on yours instead of a rectangular chrome peekaboo one. See how they're rectangular from the bottom?

i think the pup covers are original, otherwise the pickguard pup cutouts would be square too...
from the crappy polaroid pic - those seem to be the same pups as on mine.

I didn't mean they've been altered, but I think Norma have put them into a different cover. The baseplate and polepieces look the same

that looks identical to the ones off my old teisco with a bit of black paint on the top bit.