 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2017) |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder | Mr. Tsukada |
| Defunct | 1987 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Electric guitars, basses |
Matsumoku Industrial was a Japanese manufacturing company based in Matsumoto, Nagano, between 1951 and 1987. [1] Established in 1951 [2] as a woodworking and cabinetry firm, Matsumoku is remembered as a manufacturer of guitars and bass guitars, including some Epiphone and Aria guitars.
In 1951, Matsumoku was founded as Matsumoto Mokkō ("Matsumoto Woodworking Company") by Mr. Tsukada in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan. It was a family-owned woodworking business that specialized in building tansu cabinets [2] and butsudan.
Shortly after the World War II (1939-1945), the Singer Corporation had established a Japanese subsidiary, Singer Sewing Machine Company Japan, and set up production facilities in Nagoya. Singer contracted Matsumoku Industrial to build its sewing machine cabinets, and in 1951 Matsumoku became a partially owned subsidiary of Singer Japan. Matsumoku also branched out into building cabinets for manufacturers of televisions and "hi-fi" amplifiers.
In the early 1960s [3] (or mid-1950s[ citation needed ]), Matsumoku began to look into other woodworking markets when several subcontracts of Singer Corporation were moved to the Philippines [3] and, as it had on its staff several skilled luthiers,[ citation needed ] ventured into guitar and violin[ citation needed ] production in 1963. [2] Modest classical guitars, small steel-stringed acoustic guitars, mandolins and violins were built and marketed in the mid-1960s. [3] However, as other Japanese companies were producing similar instruments, Matsumoku set out to distinguish itself by producing high-quality acoustic and electric archtop guitars. Several of Matsumoku's early archtop guitars survive, most owing their basic designs to Hofner, Framus, and Gibson. By the early 1960s,[ citation needed ] Matsumoku had acquired new mills, lathes and specialized presses and began to increase musical-instrument production. This new equipment, operated by its staff of skilled craftsmen, enabled Matsumoku to realize the mass production of high-quality guitars.
By the early 1970s, Matsumoku had begun using CNC (computer numerical controlled) mills, routers, and lathes, one of the first guitar makers to do so. This created a significant economy of scale, allowing the company to rely upon factory automation rather than skilled labor for rough shaping of components and basic assembly tasks. Even so, 60% of the construction process was still done by hand, including planing, fretting, joining, and assembly. This machine-cut yet hand-worked process offered improved profit margins at lower unit prices and yielded high quality instruments with unique character.
Matsumoku produced guitars, or parts of guitars, for Vox, Guyatone, FujiGen Gakki, Kanda Shokai (Greco), Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez), Nippon Gakki (Yamaha), Carlo Robelli (Sam Ash), Hondo professional series (USA guitar company), Aria and Norlin (parent company of Gibson). American owned Unicord contracted Matsumoku to build most of its Univox and Westbury guitars. St. Louis Music imported Matsumoku-built Electra Guitars. J. C. Penney sold Matsumoku-built Skylark guitars through its catalog division. Matsumoku built many early Greco guitars as well as Memphis, Vantage, Westbury, Westminster, C.G.Winner, Cutler, Lyle and Fell. Washburn Guitars contracted with Matsumoku to build some of its electric guitars and basses from 1979 through 1984. Though the names above reflect Matsumoku's involvement, many of the names were later sold to other companies, which made guitars that were completely different in quality and sound.
Although its name began appearing on neck-bolt plates, headstocks, and sound-hole labels in the 1970s, Matsumoku's role in the making of guitars under contract was largely unknown outside of Japan's guitar-making circles. Matsumoku's contract with St. Louis Music, which had marketed Matsumoku-made guitars under the Electra name, was taken over by Unicord, which owned the Westone name, and the guitars Matsumoku built during the resulting transitional phase bear the dual name Electra-Westone. Matsumoku's final phase as a maker of guitars under contract was making the Westbury, Westminster and Westone brands owned by American importer/marketer Unicord (which named those brands after the location of its headquarters in Westbury, New York). In 1979, however, when its contract with Matsumoku came to an end, Unicord chose not to renew it but rather to cut costs by moving production to Korea. Thus, once again, Matsumoku found itself in need of work. This time, though, rather than seeking a new distributor, Matsumoku began to self-market its guitars under its own brand name: Vantage.
Shiro Arai founded Arai and Company in 1953 as an importer of classical guitars. [4] In 1960, Arai contracted Guyatone to manufacture guitars. At the time, Guyatone was one of Japan's leading musical instrument manufacturers. However, when exported to the western United States, the drier American climates caused early Guyatone-produced guitars various problems: bindings became unglued, backs split, and necks broke just below the headstock. Guyatone could not meet Arai's production requirements, and in 1964, Arai and Company contracted for musical instrument manufacturing with Matsumoku.
Arai addressed these issues early on with Matsumoku's management. The solution was to use wood that had been dried for at least two years, stronger glues with longer clamp times, and one feature that remained throughout Matsumoku's production: the 3-piece maple neck.
Besides Matsumoku, Aria had two factories that produced guitars, one of which made classical guitars, and another that made medium-grade and specialty guitars. But the relationship between the two companies was both amicable and symbiotic. Aria focused on sales in both domestic and export markets and provided design development, while Matsumoku devoted its energies to engineering and building guitars and other stringed instruments. Throughout its 22-year business relationship, Aria remained Matsumoku's principal client. Matsumoku often preferred using Aria as its business agent, and many of Matsumoku's contracts were written by Aria with Matsumoku stated or implied as sub-contracted manufacturer.
Arai and Company guitars were briefly labeled Arai, but switched to the familiar Aria around 1966. From the 1975 arrival of design engineer Nobuaki Hayashi (currently with Atlansia) onward, however, all Aria guitars were labeled Aria Pro II. Hayashi's pseudonym, "H. Noble", appeared on many of the Aria Pro II instruments he designed. Aria's guitars that followed showed remarkable design innovation and a definitive move away from Gibson and Fender formats. Hayashi is best known as the designer of the Aria Pro II, SB-1000 bass and the Aria Pro II PE-series guitars. Some of these were made with maple bodies, but higher-end models such as the PE1000 with Protomatic pickups and the PE1500 with DiMarzio pickups, had ash bodies. These ash-bodied guitars were produced only in relatively small numbers for the domestic market; most, however, had maple bodies. Some guitars were produced with the urushi finish and, again, these, in both red and brown urushi lacquer, were produced mostly for the domestic market. The vast majority of these have ash bodies, whereas the export models were made mainly of maple.
Matsumoku also manufactured drum kits under the Aria name, initially under licence from Remo, which had identified a gap in the market for low-cost drum kits in the compact 5-piece "rock" configuration as innovated by the Rogers PowerTone range in the early 1970s.
Gibson decided to move Epiphone production to Japan in the early 1970s and chose Aria as its contractor. As a subcontractor to Aria, Matsumoku manufactured most electric Epiphones made in Japan from 1970 through 1986 (a few solid body electrics were made by other Japanese manufacturers and at least one model was made in Taiwan). Models include the solid body ET series (Crestwood) the SC series (Scroll) and the Model 1140 (Flying V) as well as Epiphone's archtop electric guitars: 5102T/EA-250, Sheraton, Riviera, Casino, and Emperor.
Early Matsumoku made Epiphone archtops and hollow-body basses had four-point bolt on necks. As production costs of bolt on neck guitars were less, some guitarists regarded them as inferior instruments. However, it was not the neck construction that was inferior (as described below, many Matsumoku-built necks were of premium quality). Rather, it was the lack of reinforcement in the neck pocket area, which could enable that area to act like a hinge, causing future problems with high action due to tension on the body's neck pocket from the strings. Collectors of Matsumoku guitars from this period have often solved this problem by fabricating and installing permanent custom neck shims. Set neck archtop guitars followed in late 1975. Specifications on Epiphone archtops changed throughout the Matsumoku era.
Many[ when defined as? ] Matsumoku built guitars, including Epiphone archtops, utilized a 3 piece maple neck with the center section's grain-oriented 90 degrees from the side wood. This created a very strong neck not prone to splitting or warping. An often used variation of this is the 5 piece neck with two thin trim strips of walnut or ebony separating the 3 sections. Matsumoku made many neck-through-body solid-body electric guitars and basses, most with 5 piece necks.
Matsumoku often[ how often? ] utilized the Nisshin Onpa company (who own the Maxon Effects brand) as a subcontractor for its pickups. Some Maxon pickups have Maxon's "M" logo stamped on the back.
The name Matsumoku appeared on the neck bolt plate of some guitars they built. Early Grecos and some 1980s Aria Pro IIs have Matsumoku on the neck bolt plate. Other neck plates were blank or simply had the word "Japan" stamped on them.
Many[ quantify ] Matsumoku set-neck guitars and basses have the inspector's hon (name stamp) stamped inside the neck pick-up cavity.
Gibson restructured after being sold by Norlin and began to move its Epiphone production to other Japanese manufacturers and to Korea. By 1986, the home sewing machine market was in heavy decline and Singer was nearly bankrupt. Matsumoku could not afford to buy itself out of Singer and in 1987, closed down.
After Matsumoku ceased operations, Aria continued production of Aria Pro II guitars and basses through its own factories and other manufactures. Some top line and special edition guitars are still manufactured in Japan, however, most Aria guitars are now produced in Korea and China.
Information about Matsumoku's contribution to guitar making is better known now due in large part to the Internet. Matsumoku's products enjoy a strong following among devoted enthusiasts. [5] [ better source needed ]
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.
An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players.
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.
The Epiphone Casino is a thinline hollow body electric guitar manufactured by Epiphone, a branch of Gibson. The guitar debuted in 1961 and has been associated with such guitarists as Howlin' Wolf, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Dave Davies, Brad Whitford, Shirley Manson, Paul Weller, The Edge, Josh Homme, Daniel Kessler, Brendon Urie, Gary Clark, Jr., Glenn Frey, John Illsley, and Peter Green.
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.
Westone is a brand of musical instruments that has been used by various manufacturers of electric and acoustic guitars and basses. The name gained wide recognition in the mid-1970s when Matsumoku in Japan and St. Louis Music in Korea began marketing guitars under the brand. After production by Matsumoku ceased in 1991, the brand has occasionally been used on instruments by luthiers and guitar manufacturers in Europe and Asia.
Fender Japan, Ltd. was a joint venture between Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Kanda Shokai (神田商会) and Yamano Gakki (山野楽器) and Fujigen Gakki of Matsumoto, Nagano Japan to produce and sell Fender-branded instruments for the Japanese market. The collaboration began in 1982 and ended on March 31, 2015, with Fender's launch of Fender Music Corporation (Japan) taking over the Japanese business effective April 1, 2015 with a Fender-manufactured product line. The Japanese-made Fender guitars sold by Fender Music Corporation (Japan) have since been categorized as the "Japan Exclusive" series.
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.
The Epiphone Sheraton is a thinline semi-hollow body electric guitar. Though the Sheraton and all its variations were introduced under the ownership of the Gibson Guitar Corporation, Epiphone is the exclusive manufacturer.
Lotus was a house brand of certain guitars made in various Asian factories from the late 1970s until the late 1990s. 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.
The Ibanez Jet King is the term for a family of electric guitars sold by Ibanez. The family includes:
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.
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.
The Vox Custom 24 was one of a group of guitars produced in Japan by the Matsumoku company between 1980–85, which included the Custom and Standard 24 and Custom and Standard 25 guitars. Custom and Standard bass guitars were also included in the range. Matsumoku had already produced guitars for Aria and other brands such as Westbury. These were recognised as leaders in performance, innovation and quality. The electronics in these guitars were designed by Adrian Legg. The guitars are passive but the complex switching allows for a wide variety of sounds, making them extremely versatile instruments.
Guyatone 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 Japan, making guitars under the Guya brand, until 1940. After WWII, in 1948, the company was re-established and made electric Hawaiian guitars. In 1951, Guyatone brand was established for electric guitars, and in 1955, their first solid-body guitar was introduced.
The Epiphone Rivoli was a semi-hollowbody electric bass guitar designed by Gibson and built by Epiphone in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1959 until 1970. From 1993 until 1999, the model was reissued as a part of the Korean-Japanese Epiphone line.
