NOGD - Castilla/Kopy Kat Melody Maker

[Wattage]

New old guitar day!

Picked up a cool old MIJ Melody Maker yesterday on the local FB Marketplace. Mid 70's best I can tell.

Castilla branded Kopy Kat. It was all original and in pretty good though rather dirty condition.

Gave it a pretty thorough tear down, re-wired, level, crown, polish and it's a pretty fun little guitar. The singles in this thing are really good! Bright but toneful, a little hollow sounding and it's a decent player. 9.5 radius, factory must've made a lot of Fender knockoffs lol

 

[Dave Locher]

That is awesome! I have never seen a Melody Maker copy and that thing is a total clone.
I would love the 9.5 fingerboard.
Enjoy!

 

[Wattage]

That is awesome! I have never seen a Melody Maker copy and that thing is a total clone.
I would love the 9.5 fingerboard.
Enjoy!

They're out there but not all that common. When these were made Melody Makers probably didn't go for much more than these did new lol

 

[Dave Locher]

Yeah, I wondered about the economics of copying an inexpensive guitar! That is what makes it neat to me. Bolt on or set neck?

 

[Wattage]

Yeah, I wondered about the economics of copying an inexpensive guitar! That is what makes it neat to me. Bolt on or set neck?

Bolt neck, it's a ply body but everything on it is good. It's finished really nicely, the venner front and back are very nice. Looks like a Gotoh wraptail (in 9.5 no less), Clover tuners which are still pretty decent after all this time, a well cut nut, the gold reflectors are beautifully patina'd. The logo inlay is perfect most Kopy Kat's were unbranded or had a decal logo. The guts were typical MIJ mini pots, box switch and tin jack. I dropped in 500k full size but reused the bridge tone pot so I didn't have to rout anything out to fit. I used the stock caps, the were decent mylar and read pretty close to their markings. I put in a Switchcraft jack and toggle to round it out.

The rosewood board is a little to the thin side but no worse than MIJ Fenders. The frets levelled out and crowned nicely.

 

[ErikH]

That's cool! That's a punk rock guitar right there.

 

[Wattage]

It's a little more 70's Aerosmith sounding though lol but definitely the look

4.19k ohm pups, crispy, snappy really sensitive. Sounds great playing Uncle Salty

 

[Dave Locher]

That's cool! That's a punk rock guitar right there.

Probably why I am drawn to it!

Funny you replaced to box switch, Wattage, I installed one (from an Aria I smashed on stage) into my 1977ish Gibson Marauder in the early 1999s and it is still working just fine.

 

[Wattage]

The switch and the jack were pretty corroded. I had the parts here so just as easy to replace

 

[Dave Locher]

Oh, wasn't trying to criticize at all, just amused me that my Gibson has a MIJ switch from a Gibson copy and your MIJ Gibson copy has a Switchcraft.
Enjoy that guitar - it is cool!

 

[Mincer]

I've never heard of this brand. Do you know anything about them?

 

[Wattage]

A little they were mostly known for acoustics, C.Bruno house brand. Probably made in the Moridaira factory mid 70’s they were often sold unbranded but with a Kopy Kat sticker on the back of the headstock

Here’a Memphis branded version not sure its the same factory though, appears unlikely

https://reverb.com/item/36188819-mem...ntent=36188819

 

[TheScottBeach]

Nice looking burst. I actually have a cherry sunburst single cut Castilla. They’re so unique and despite their light construction have a great, resonant tone.

I saw your post and had to say hello.

 

[Wattage]

well this just came back into my life, pretty happy about that

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Bolt neck, it's a ply body but everything on it is good. It's finished really nicely, the venner front and back are very nice. Looks like a Gotoh wraptail (in 9.5 no less), Clover tuners which are still pretty decent after all this time, a well cut nut, the gold reflectors are beautifully patina'd. The logo inlay is perfect most Kopy Kat's were unbranded or had a decal logo. The guts were typical MIJ mini pots, box switch and tin jack. I dropped in 500k full size but reused the bridge tone pot so I didn't have to rout anything out to fit. I used the stock caps, the were decent mylar and read pretty close to their markings. I put in a Switchcraft jack and toggle to round it out.

The rosewood board is a little to the thin side but no worse than MIJ Fenders. The frets levelled out and crowned nicely.

The back on this one looks strangely inviting :laugh2:

Congrats. Sweet axe!