a very entertaining read, like all the postings on this mad website.
i chust thought i'd throw in my tuppence ha'penny as well since obscure reminiscing is the order of the day............

i bought an EROS 6 string new in plymouth ,uk about 1970/71. as far as i know these were made by eko. paid i think £33 for it with a few plectrums, nice woven strap (worth a fortune today )and a red tartan soft bag for it.

it survived lots of hitch hiking from the sw to back home glasgow and all sorts of places in the uk and even falling off the back of a motorbike failed to make much impression on it, built like tanks they were indeed.

i eventually sold it to some fellow hotel dishwasher at the end of the season a year or 3 later for £20 or thereabouts, never saw him again.
next guitar i had was a small bodied eko rancho, and my then girfriend had a MELODY 6 string, also italian, probably eko made.

fast forward to the present and i have collected over the years ( among many other guitars) an eko ranger 6 string which my daughter has had for years, a 12 string ranger with 6 strings on it and missing half the machine heads, a modello 100 cutaway small archtop acoustic , an eko cobra strat copie plus one or 2 other real cheapo eko acoustics.

i came across a pretty nice rio bravo a couple years ago but didn't buy it, they didn't accept my half what they were asking offer.........

my email in case any old mates read this: volkswullie@gmx.ch