Eko Manta (1970s)? (or Musima Deluxe (1970s)?)

Steve_Pisteve Joined: Jan 15, 2023 Posts: 25 Budapest	Posted on Apr 25 2024 04:20 PM An old Eko Manta has just come up for sale in my area, as has a Musima Deluxe. Does anyone have experience with either? Neither is a particularly high end guitar but I fancied something "garagey" (but playable). OK, I admit it, there is no urgent reason for me to buy another guitar, but they both look the part, offset single-coil, wacky. I have a feeling the Eko is the better quality of the two, and has a better vibrato unit. In fact the Musima may not have a trem, which would not be very surfy. The Eko is 50% more expensive, but still fairly cheap. Would anybody not touch either with a barge pole, or is one or both worth a look? I can't find much about the Eko Manta online, especially from a surf perspective. Top
Bango_Rilla Joined: Jan 06, 2019 Posts: 180 Bananas, TX	Posted on Apr 26 2024 02:51 PM I'm kind of a sucker for wacky guitars, and I like the cut of the jib of both but when options are no-trem or have-to-fix-an-exotic-trem then it kind of cuts down on the fun factor. — Bango Rilla! DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!) The GO-GO Rillas Bandcamp \| Facebook \| Instagram \| YouTube \| TikTok \| Threads: thegogorillas \| Spotify Top
Kawentzmann Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 1062 Berlin, Germany	Posted on Apr 26 2024 03:46 PM I once had a Musima Deluxe for a while. The sound was closer to a 50s style strat than a jag or jm. The neck was very thick with a flat, no-radius fretboard. That neck gave me some pain when I played it for practice, so I ended up sanding the back of the neck down quite a bit. It was kinda ok after that, but I got rid of it when I thinned the herd. — The Exotic Guitar of Kahuna Kawentzmann You can get the boy out of the Keynes era, but you can’t get the Keynes era out of the boy. Last edited: Apr 26, 2024 15:47:29 Top
Steve_Pisteve Joined: Jan 15, 2023 Posts: 25 Budapest	Posted on Apr 26 2024 04:51 PM Thanks for the input! I went and tried the Eko today, and foolishly didn't take a tuner with me so that wasted quite a bit of time as it hadn't been played for two years according to the owner. Anyway, I didn't fall in love with that example. The action was rather high above the 12th fret and the switch for the bridge pickup only worked half the time. Also the neck pickup was far louder than the bridge pickup (and of course the bridge pickup was the one that interested me more). The guy's not very nice amp didn't help matters. The trem unit looked like it worked OK but there was no trem arm. I will now go and check out the Musima, which I have determined (by actually opening the photos on the seller's ad) is a Deluxe 25V - "v" for vibrato, and it does have a whammy bar. And.... a listing for a Teisco "EG2" has appeared, also fairly close to where I live. It looks intriguing, and the price is nice. Thoughts on Teiscos? It is a two pickup model, supposedly called "EG2". I don't know...What is this, some kind of spring time rite, involving people selling off their weird vintage guitars after the winter? A form of spring cleaning?? Top

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Eko Manta (1970s)? (or Musima Deluxe (1970s)?)