Well knock us all darn wiv a fewer, if it ain't that loveable old Making Music geezer Paul Day, known to them what know as the bleedin' Guitar Guru, star of screen, scratch-plate and screened control cavities everywhere. He knows all about this lot, don't 'e. All your'n, guv...

J H Emery (Treharris, Mid Glamorgan):
"I recently bought a secondhand first series Fender Squier Strat (ie large 'Fender' and small 'Squier Series' on headstock), number JV0892. Is it worth anything, as it seems rarer than the second series Squier Strats?"

M D Edwards (Ashford, Middx):
"I own an Aria ZZ Deluxe, serial number 3010564, in a black and blue sunburst and with a maple fretboard. Can you tell me whether this is a rare model as I have only ever seen ZZs with rosewood fingerboards?"

Ian Cook (Edinburgh):
"I have an Eko violin bass, serial number 81679, all in good working order. Can you tell me anything about its history and how much it is worth?"

Brian Robertson (Edinburgh):
"I've got a circa 1968 Micro-Frets Signature hollow body guitar with a 'Micronut' and a 'Calibrato Modulator' (ultra hip trem system). Can you tell me a bit about the company, the guitar, and its approximate value?"

Terence Raw (Elswick, Lancs):
"I have a Hofner Galaxy no 4079, can you tell me anything about it? It's red, with eight controls, a black scratchplate, a pearl inlaid black headstock, and three Nova Sonic pickups."

Greetings, searchers of guitar facts. First, Mr Emery's Squier Strat, which is actually one of the second series. The very first batch didn't mention the name Squier at all and, as you can imagine, this caused a few problems. Not many of these escaped before the headstock logo was hastily amended to include the small Squier logo. As you correctly surmise, this batch is more collectable than the later all-Squier versions, not just because of the more misleading visual aspect but because these earlier examples were of better quality than the later (current) versions — though I will add that the new ones are pretty good as well. The early ones seem to sell at around £250, a bit higher than secondhand prices of the later versions.

The Aria ZZ Deluxe that Mr Edwards owns is a 1983 example, going by the serial number. This series was introduced in late 1982 and although the literature at the time stated that the fingerboard was indeed rosewood with no options, models were actually available with the maple type. I wouldn't say these are particularly rare, but certainly they're in the minority.

Mr Cook's version of the Eko Violin Bass was brought into this country from Italy by importers Rose-Morris in 1965. It was a competitor to the Hofner version (as used by Paul McCartney) which inspired numerous cash-in copies. The original Eko version was of solid body construction but was soon superseded by the acoustic model like Mr Cook's. It retailed then for about £65, a similar price bracket to the Hofner and obviously aimed at the same market. Current value has to be about the same today as there is really little demand for the Eko, unlike its more illustrious competitor.

The Micro-Frets company was one of the more idiosyncratic US guitar manufacturers, and this Maryland-based concern started work in 1965 and brought such features as Speedline necks, Micro-nuts, Microsonic bridges, Calibrato vibrato units, and Martian Sunburst finishes to the attention of a discerning public. So discerning, in fact (or lacking in imagination, bad taste and humour, perhaps) that they gave Micro-Frets a pretty general thumbs-down. A selection from the original range was imported into the UK in the early 1970s by B L Page, based in Doncaster, and the Signature model like Mr Robertson's retailed then for £258.

The original Micro-Frets company changed hands in the mid 1970s and production continued until late 1977; a variety of weird and distinctly wonderful designs appeared during this period. Quality was pretty good and some of the 'novel ideas' actually worked. However, the overall appearance of most models was poor and their sound generally suited country or jazz rather than rock. The brand never caught on in this country, though in America a list of supposed 1970s users contained names like the Grateful Dead, Grand Funk Railroad, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Charley Pride, and Hank Williams Jr — quite a cross section, in fact.

Current values of Micro-Frets guitars reflect this lack of popularity (then and now); certainly this is one brand that is yet to come into fashion. Most of the models with Calibrato wang bars are worth around £150; non-vibrato versions about £100. The vibrato unit is a good one, so really only trem-equipped Micro-Frets are worth going for — in my humble opinion they offer a lot of character for this sort of money, plus good playability and a reasonable basic sound.

The Selmer company first imported Mr Raw's Hofner in 1963, bestowing upon it the Galaxy title — somewhat more interesting than its original West German '176' designation. From your description I would estimate yours to be a 1964 example. Red was certainly the most common colour, but it also came in sunburst, white and various vinyl-covered finishes. Around 1968 yet another control was added (as if the original eight weren't enough), a treble-to-bass, five-way rotary selector on the right horn, and by 1972 the circuitry had been revised yet again.

The original retail price in the 1960s was £57.75, but by 1974 had risen to just under £100. The Galaxy proved to be one of the most popular Hofner solids and remained in their catalogue until very recently. Vintage Hofner solids have not attained the same levels of fashionable desirability as Hofher's big-bodied semis, and current values are correspondingly much lower. Ignoring the unrealistic and ridiculous prices asked bv some dealers (often London-based), good examples are available at around £75.

IF YOU'D like some useless old pile of crap identified by Guitar Guru (er... steady on - Ed) or even a more recent example of the luthier's art sorted out, send as detailed a description as you can, plus a photo if possible, to GUITAR GURU, MAKING MUSIC, (Contact Details). Make music, not war, OK kids? (Actually, don't write the last bit on the envelope, only our postman gets well grumpy at the best of times.)