Antoria is a UK guitar

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

dating back to the 1950s, which has changed hands three times. Originally the brand consisted of guitars made in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(first by

Guyatone Guyatone (Japanese: or ) is a Japanese guitar brand and its manufacturing company making electric guitars, guitar amplifiers, and effect pedals. In the 1930s, the predecessor company was founded as the earliest electric guitar manufacturer in Ja ...

and then by

FujiGen FujiGen Gakki (), also known as FGN, is a Japanese musical instrument manufacturing company based in Matsumoto, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Matsumoto is designated as a core city since 1 April 2021. , the city had ...

); contemporary Antorias come from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Current products commercialised under the Antoria brand are

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

, acoustic guitars and

basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass ...

History

The Antoria brand consisted of

-made guitars exported to the UK from Japan. Hank Marvin played an Antoria LG50 prior to Cliff Richard buying him his more famous Fender Stratocaster.

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...

played one, as did

Big Jim Sullivan James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958. He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of t ...

when he was playing with

Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including "Endless Sle ...

. They were imported by James T. Coppock (Leeds) Ltd, Charles Summerfield Ltd and J. L. Music Ltd. Some Antoria guitars may have been manufactured in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, by

Framus Framus is a German string instrument manufacturing company, that existed from 1946 until going bankrupt in 1975. The Framus brand was revived in 1995 as part of Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG, in Markneukirchen, Germany. The company's cus ...

.September 2018 – A Potted History of the Guitar Part VII
on Crave Guitars In the 1970s, Antoria imported guitars made in the

factory, which also manufactured

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...

guitars. Later, production shifted to Korea, where, among other models, an imitation

Gibson ES-335 The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial semi-hollowbody electric guitar, sometimes known as semi-acoustic. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES (Electric Spanish) series in 1958, it is neither fully hollow nor ful ...

was made (a model also sold under the

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

brand). James T. Coppock ceased trading in the early 1980s and Antoria guitar production ceased. Then, probably in the 1980s, John Lawson acquired the brand and distributed guitars using the name until 2006. In January 2007, the Antoria brand was purchased by Adam Hall Limited, and then in 2010 by Tim Gentle Music of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

. The new Antoria electric guitars are manufactured in South Korea, and their acoustic and electro-acoustic guitars in China.

References

External links

Official website
{{Guitar brands British brands Electric guitars Acoustic guitars Bass guitars