Incoming Guitar...want to take a guess? 20 questions

[BoringPostcards]

Ah yes, I remember you having mentioned the Italia before. They’re really nice guitars. Been a while since I’ve seen one in person.

[jakeisjake]

Welcome back to the Italia owners club!

Italias are made in Korea and their quality is pretty impressive. Mine is probably my second most comfortable guitar right after my CIJ Jag.

The Italia Mondial had a fiberglass hollow body.

The (semi hollow) body is actually half mahogany (back) and half Acoustiglass (top), which is Italia's fancy name for plexiglass/acrylic. There's also an all wood version (Deluxe).

I think the hardware and pickups are Wilkinson designed.

I'm not sure about the hardware the pickups are Wilkinson WVCs and they sound really nice.


Here's the demo by Andy Martin that convinced me to buy mine.

That vid did it for me, too
Thanks for the clarifications!

[Futuron]

It is white with a black Picard.

From an alternate Star Trek timeline?

[jakeisjake]

Wow...I got the guitar yesterday and played it in practice last night!

It is pretty great!

The acoustic sounds legit and blended with the HBs gave it such a full, clear sound. I put a tiny bit of carbon copy delay on the electric side to bring a little sparkle. I'm sure it would sound even better with a little bit of overdrive (but I'm not so good at that).

The case is beaten up and there is some wear marks on the body. Also, since the front and back are different materials, they have aged differently. The front is still pretty white, but the back has a buttery cream color.

I'll take some pictures during daylight hours later...

But this was definitely a score!

[jakeisjake]

Here are some pics!

[LeftyJ]

Nice! I always thought these were supercool when you could still find them in stores.
I owned an Italia Torino bass for a while, in a cool cream white finish. It was surprisingly heavy for a semi (the center block was HUGE) and it was my first experience playing a shortscale bass - but it used regular longscale strings, because the tailpiece was a substantial distance away from the bridge.

The only thing I didn't like was the ergonomics of having such a wide body with sharp bound edges and an arched back - when I'm really built for guitars that have a belly cut . That gave it a tendency to topple forward when playing it on a strap. When I played it live I resolved that by keeping the arch somewhat to my side. Loved everything else about it though! Sounded really beefy and warm.

[Steadyriot.]

Welcome back to the Italia owners club!

Italias are made in Korea and their quality is pretty impressive. Mine is probably my second most comfortable guitar right after my CIJ Jag.

I somehow got it in my head that Italia were made in the same factory as Duesenberg guitars. Are they made by WMIC?

[jakeisjake]

Nice! I always thought these were supercool when you could still find them in stores.
I owned an Italia Torino bass for a while, in a cool cream white finish. It was surprisingly heavy for a semi (the center block was HUGE) and it was my first experience playing a shortscale bass - but it used regular longscale strings, because the tailpiece was a substantial distance away from the bridge.

The only thing I didn't like was the ergonomics of having such a wide body with sharp bound edges and an arched back - when I'm really built for guitars that have a belly cut . That gave it a tendency to topple forward when playing it on a strap. When I played it live I resolved that by keeping the arch somewhat to my side. Loved everything else about it though! Sounded really beefy and warm.

That's nice

[LeftyJ]

That's nice

Sure was! If I ever see it back up for sale I may try to buy it back. I've come to appreciate shortscale basses a lot more in the last couple of years.

[MKR]

That’s SO nice. Congrats.