Orville vs the real thing

KrisGee · October 2023

Morning all,

How do they stack up against a Gibson?
There's a 96 LP standard for sale locally that I got my eye on. Is there a particulary good year or period for these to look for? It only says Orville on the headstock, not the 'by Gibson' thing.

The one I'm looking at has a highly flamed top. Does anyone know if these are maple tops, veneers or maybe the photo flame thing like on Jap fenders?

Are the pots and pups any good or would require some work on?

I've not played the guitar yet which would probably answer some of my questions if I did but wouldn't mind doing it with some pre-loaded knowledge before getting in the car.

Thanks in advance.

OilCityPickups · October 2023

Image: https://franticplanet.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/02.jpg?w=499&h=381

Orville's great :-)

theatreanchor · October 2023

As much as I’ve wanted them to be better than their US equivalents, I’ve never found the MIJ guitars to wholly stack up against them. Bits of them, yes - but not as a package. Just my 2p.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

My feeling is much like the old 80s Japanese Squiers. They were brilliant value when they could be had for half the price of a "real one". That turned into a simple unqualified "these are amazing guitars" and the value went up, but they're not good enough to justify those relative increases imo. Still really good but not guaranteed-better-than-Gibson as sellers would love you to believe

Seziertisch · October 2023

I have an Orville by Gibson from the early 90s, it came with 57 Classics, CTS pots and has a solid flamed top. I would say it is somewhere between a US Standard and a Custom Shop in terms of quality.

The regular Orvilles are different again, more likely to be a veneer flame. No idea about the electronics, ask the seller for a photo. Otherwise, try it and see if it floats your boat.

guitarjack66 · October 2023

What are these guitars? I've never heard of them.

timmypix · October 2023

guitarjack66 said:

What are these guitars? I've never heard of them.

Gibson licensed guitars built by Fujigen and Terada and distributed by Yamano Gakki from 1988 to 1998 to try to combat the copies coming from Tokai/Burny/Greco etc.
Orville by Gibson generally have nitro finishes, long neck tenons, Gibson pickups, solid tops.
Ones just branded Orville are a bit lower in the range - short neck tenons, poly finishes, Japanese PAF copies, veneer tops.

Trogly's got a good summary video as he goes over an ObG Custom.

kennyabis · October 2023

Whats the serial number, thatll tell more about the specs

Fingers657 · October 2023

Dunsy in Edinburgh has bought a few different Orville guitars from Zen Market in Japan and reviewed them on his Dunsy’s Guitar World YouTube channel.
Worth a look if you’re interested in the history of Orville guitars.

KrisGee · October 2023

OilCityPickups said:

Orville's great :-)

Aaaaw thanks man

Thanks all for the replies.
I've watched a few YT clips, this chap Nick In The States seems to know a lot about them.

The one I'm looking at is half the Gibson money. The serial is 601567.

Guess I'll just jump in the car and play the goddamn thing before coming to any conclusions.

kennyabis · October 2023

Should be a 1996 Fujigen built model. Will be photoflame with Japanese made PAF clones and hardware. Long neck tenon construction. Lower end of the Orville models but should still be a good guitar if the price is right. Just check for splits in the flame top as they are prone to falling apart

KrisGee · October 2023

kennyabis said:

Should be a 1996 Fujigen built model. Will be photoflame with Japanese made PAF clones and hardware. Long neck tenon construction. Lower end of the Orville models but should still be a good guitar if the price is right. Just check for splits in the flame top as they are prone to falling apart

Thanks a million. Marvellous amount of info @kennyabis!

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Orville vs the real thing

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