I played it a bit last week, did a string change and setup as well as all the intonation and used some wax polish on it. He wants to sell it, or at least find out its value, I really want it badly because it is AWESOME, but I'd feel like a bit of an ass if I asked him for it, and I know I don't have nearly enough to buy it from him anyhow. I'd post photos but he hasn't gotten around to e-mailing them, but I'll try to locate a similar one on the inter-web. It's in a natural finish with a slight tint, maybe age, maybe not but its pristine. The EMG pickups have an older decal on them that I'm guessing are 80's, I've never seen them before and I have EMG's that are pre-current design logos, so I know they're old. I believe it's pre-Samick and pre-Gibson that has a one piece flame maple body, a flame maple neck with an ebony fretboard and a Floyd Rose. Hey all, My uncle has this Valley Arts Strat that he has had for many years and is basically unplaced for the most part.

I remember going into the store in the San Fernando Valley (bought a used Moonstone Flying V there once) in the late '70's pre-Samick and wondering what the big deal was with the customized strats at such high prices. I'm not sure what they wanted with the intellectual property, other than that it sort of lives with the two original owners at this point - most of what Valley Arts was originally about was repairing and customizing Fender-type guitars for celeb guitar players. I don't know that they're particularly coveted by anyone, but they're certainly not bad guitars by any stretch.Īfter Gibson bought the name (about nine years ago, as I recall), they opened a 'Valley Arts' shop as a custom shop extension in Nashville.

You have one of the guitars produced during the eight or ten years that Samick owned the name. Unfortunately, they weren't very happy with the guitars Samick was producing and left to go to Gibson (where they remain). The original owners of Valley Arts sold half of Valley Arts to Samick in about 1992 and had them manufacturing the guitars. Some are two-wire pickups where the Duncans that they emulate have four, etc. They're definitely not the same as a Duncan pickup and don't sound the same, either.

Its a Valley Arts California Pro (serial number CAL 01084) - from the Samick/Valley Arts Overlap period from the looks of it.ĭuncan Designed pickups were usually Korean-made versions of Duncan pickups. Information on Pre-Samick, Pre-Gibson Valley Arts Guitars, including history and registry of serial numbers and pictures.

Valley arts guitar serial numbers