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Lyle guitars were made in Japan between 1960 and the late 1970s in the Matsumoku guitar factory, which also produced Univox, Arai, Aria and other guitar brands. Some Lyle guitars were made in Korea, including the C-600 classical model.
Lyle guitars were distributed in the US solely by the L. D. Heater Music Company of Beaverton, Oregon, USA. It has been suggested that "the Matsumoku Company manufactured many Lyle branded guitars in Japan from (approximately) 1965 to 1972 until they were bought and shut down by Norlin Corporation, Gibson's parent company at the time". In fact, Norlin never purchased Matsumoku, nor did they shut them down. This rumor stems from a Gibson (Norlin) lawsuit against manufacturers (specifically Elger the parent company of Ibanez) copying their copyrighted "Open Book" headstock design. The guitars distributed by the L. D. Heater Music Company were not part of the lawsuit. Matsumoku continued to manufacture instruments beyond 1972. L. D. Heater Music Company was owned by Norlin. Matsumoku, as a sub-contractor of Aria (Arai and Company) manufactured instruments including Gibson Epiphone, Skylark, Cutler, Aria, Aria Pro, Aria Diamond and Washburn from 1964 into the mid '80s.
It is a common misconception that the famous Gibson/Norlin lawsuit was filed against a number of Japanese companies. It is also commonly said it was over the exact copying of American designs. Neither is true. The lawsuit was filed In 1977 by Norlin (Gibson's parent company) against Elger/Hoshino (Ibanez's American division) over the use of the "open book" headstock design which Norlin claimed as a Gibson Trademark. [1] [2] It was not over the exact copying of body dimensions or construction. These guitars were metric and not an "exact" copy. The lawsuit was not "won" by Norlin, but settled out of court. Most of the Japanese companies, as a precautionary move, turned away from close copies but many still offered their "version" of the classic American designs with at least minor departures in design and appearance. Often the term "lawsuit guitar" is used to raise the price of the copy, increase interest, or they have misunderstood what the "lawsuit" was all about. Too often it really isn't a lawsuit model at all. There appears to be a lot of this in on-line auctions and on-line guitar advertisements. Guitars can have an inflated price and sell for more than they are actually worth. Caveat emptor: because the ad states it is a "lawsuit" model, does not mean that it is.
The history of Alembic instruments of Santa Rosa, California, shines some light on the history and business model of the L. D. Heater Music Company.
1973 A small music distribution company in Beaverton, Oregon, L. D. Heater Music Company, read the article (about Pro Audio Gear) in Rolling Stone and it interested them enough to take a little trip to San Francisco. They wanted to discuss the possibility of Alembic making a more standardized form of instrument that they could distribute to their dealers. L. D. Heater Music was owned by Norlin Inc.. Norlin was based in Illinois and owned Gibson, Maestro, Epiphone and other music related companies. We negotiated an exclusive distribution agreement for a limited time. They gave me the purchase order I required, and this was the beginning of the manufacturing of a standard high end instrument for Alembic and the entire music industry. [3]
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 well as the first brand of guitars to mass-produce the seven-string guitar and eight-string guitar. Ibanez manufactures effects, accessories, amps, and instruments in Japan, China, Indonesia, and the United States. As of 2017 they marketed nearly 165 models of bass guitar, 130 acoustic guitars, and more than 300 electric guitars. After Gibson and Fender, Ibanez is considered the third biggest guitar brand.
The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typical design features a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top and a single cutaway, a mahogany set-in neck with a rosewood fretboard, two pickups with independent volume and tone controls, and a stoptail bridge, although variants exist.
Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over his father's business, Epaminondas Stathopoulos named the company "Epiphone" as a combination of his own nickname "Epi" and the suffix "-phone" in 1928, the same year it began making guitars.
The Gibson ES-335 is a semi-hollow body semi-acoustic guitar introduced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958. It features a solid maple wood block running through the center of its body with upper bouts that are hollow and two violin-style f-holes cut into the top over the hollow chambers. Since its release, Gibson has released numerous variations of and other models based on the design of the ES-335.
Univox was a musical instrument brand of Unicord from the early 1960s, when they purchased the Amplifier Corporation of America of Westbury, New York and began to market a line of guitar amplifiers. Univox also distributed guitars by Matsumoku, effects units by Shin-Ei Companion, and synthesizers by Crumar and Korg.
The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed in 1957 but not released until 1982. The Explorer was the final development of a prototype design that, years later, Gibson marketed under the name Futura.
A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the tuning pegs or other mechanism that holds the strings at the "head" of the instrument; it corresponds to a pegbox in the violin family. At the "tail" of the instrument the strings are usually held by a tailpiece or bridge. Machine heads on the headstock are commonly used to tune the instrument by adjusting the tension of strings and, consequently, the pitch of sound they produce.
Kramer Guitars is an American manufacturer of electric guitars and basses. Kramer produced aluminum-necked electric guitars and basses in the 1970s and wooden-necked guitars catering to hard rock and heavy metal musicians in the 1980s; Kramer is currently a division of Gibson Guitar Corporation.
Orville by Gibson (オービルbyギブソン), the models with only Orville (オービル) were made after Gibson ended the contract with leftover parts, was a brand of guitars that was managed by the Gibson Guitar Corporation for the Japanese market during the late 1980s and most of the 1990s. The name is borrowed from Orville Gibson, who founded Gibson in 1902.
Matsumoku Industrial was a Japanese manufacturing company based in Matsumoto, Nagano, between 1951 and 1987. Established in 1951 as a woodworking and cabinetry firm, Matsumoku is remembered as a manufacturer of guitars and bass guitars, including some Epiphone and Aria guitars.
Greco is a Japanese guitar brand owned by the Kanda Shokai Corporation (in Japanese) 神田商会, a musical instrument wholesaler mostly known for being part of Fender Japan. Instruments manufactured with the name "Greco" are electric and acoustic guitars.
Aria Guitars Co. is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. The company, sited in the city of Nagoya, produces electric, acoustic and classical guitars, electric basses and ukuleles through its brands Laule'A, Mojo Gig Bags, Fiesta, José Antonio, Pignose and Kelii.
The Epiphone Texan is an acoustic flattop guitar of the (advanced) Jumbo type. Recent models have an integrated light-weight internal electric pickup fitted; the original model was acoustic only.
FujiGen Gakki, also known as FGN, is a Japanese musical instrument manufacturing company based in Matsumoto, Nagano. The company is named after Japan's iconic Mount Fuji. "Gen" means stringed instruments and "Gakki" means musical instrument – the name is literally translated to "Fuji Stringed Musical Instruments". FujiGen does OEM guitar manufacturing for well known guitar brands and they also manufacture their own brand of guitars known as FGN.
Lotus was a house brand belonging to Midco International of Illinois. The brand was applied to guitars, basses, banjos, and mandolins made in various Asian factories from the late 1970s until the early 2000s. Lotus guitars were usually copies of better-known, up-market brand-name guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul and the Fender Stratocaster. The quality of the instruments was very good for the price.
An archtop electric guitar manufactured by Matsumoku and sold 1970 to 1974 or '75 in the United States under the Epiphone brand. Matsumoku also manufactured the nearly identical Univox Coily guitar and several related guitars sold under the Univox brand.
Penco was a brand of guitars owned and manufactured by the Hoshino Gakki Co. in its factory of Nagoya, Japan. Ibanez guitars was another brand owned and manufactured by Hoshino Gakki. In the United States, Penco guitars were distributed by the Philadelphia Music Company.
Gibson Brands, Inc. is an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and professional audio equipment from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and now based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company was formerly known as Gibson Guitar Corporation and renamed Gibson Brands, Inc. on June 11, 2013.
Chicago Musical Instruments Co. (CMI), later known as Norlin Music, was a manufacturer and distributor of musical instruments, accessories, and equipment, which at times had controlling interests in Gibson Guitars, Standel, Lowrey, F. E. Olds & Son, William Lewis & Son Co., Krauth & Beninghoften, L.D. Heater Music Company, Epiphone Guitars, Selmer UK, Moog, and other musical instrument brands. In the mid-1970s, the company was the largest manufacturer of musical instruments in the United States.
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