The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hi everybody,

Because I wanted to do more with guitars than playing, collecting and occasionely doing basic repair/maintanance, I decided to follow a 3 month guitar building course in the UK at Crimson Guitars. It was an adventure in itself and not only because I had to end the course a week and a half early because of the corona virus.
Long story short, I managed to finish 1 guitar completely and 2 partly, but enough to finish them at home. Because I'm working again, I haven't had the time to finish them, but because I'm proud of them, even in this state, I wanted to share them with you.
Why here, you might ask? Well, two of the three guitars where heavily inspired by Matsumoke guitars, so I hope you will see the inspiration.

The first one I built, was a '52 Fender Telecaster. I only have this photo, because it's currently staying at my brother and because of corona, it's gonna stay there a little bit longer.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uU6jsd7pyfdv4ZP36

It has an ash body and one piece maple neck and fretboard. The hardware is as close to a '52 tele I could get.

The second guitar started out as Gibson Les Paul Standard, but as the built progressed, I got inspired by the builts around me and decided to go for a more Aria Pro II PE style guitar. The knob lay-out changed from the traditional 2 vol/2 tone to 1 vol/1 tone with the selector switch on the bottom and the jackplug socket on the front.
It also has a carve on the back. The rest of the spec's are:

-two piece mahagony body with cream binding.
-one piece mahogony neck with a ebony fretboard with trapezoid m.o.p. inlays and cream binding. Maple fineer headstock in ruby red.
-two piece maple top in emerald green.

The rest of the hardware is going to be in gold and cream.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ykzujVcj4KqnzGeu7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ApuCD9r8YQe8LKuC7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gvXVRPpnuGvB2G7J8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6MypuEBcHuKFJKGx8

My third built was always going to be a Mats inspired guitar. I wanted to built something like a FS750/1000 and this is my take on it. It also has some typical Westone influences like the form of the headstock. It also has something of me in it. The body style is based on a Gibson SG and there is going to be a carve on the back as well. This are the spec's:

-5 piece maple and mahogony neckthrough neck with a sunken, ebony fretboard (what looks like binding is the neck itself), with walnut fineer on the headstock.
-mahogony hollowed out wings with a walnut top, maple binding.

It's going to have a set of MMK-61 humbuckers with 2 vol/2 tone with push/pull pot's.The rest of the hardware is going to be chrome and black.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3FK9swCyBkKeQaH5A
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1TmNy8CAFgbKDBsv5
https://photos.app.goo.gl/evsP9jN6qmjDLVPT7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5PmytMPTAx3YMmuKA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pawi7TuPXqZHNmjm9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CuwzwkNdBtUns8rf6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zHUgD1cGkGdDnwMr6

This one still needs a lot of grinding before I can use oil to finish 'm. I also want to put maple binding in the soundholes.

I hope you enjoy this and that I can show you the finished guitars in the near future.

Kind regards, Rob.

Outstanding work Rob, well done!

Your Tele looks every bit the '52 vintage. Just about perfect!
I love the LP colour combination, and the heeless neck treatment is a great feature.
The SG is a nice take on a classic, kind of a cross between the SG and a Tele Thinline. I'd be interested to hear how she sounds.
And that grain on the front is just spectacular!

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

I've followed Ben Crowe through Youtube for ages so this is interesting! He seems like something of a character, to be sure, and the gear coming out of Crimson looks superb so well done, you!

Like the guitars you've built, too!!

Very nice!

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Thank you guys, for your kind words. I wished I could have finished them there, but you can't have everyting.

@Barry: I also can't wait to hear how that semi-hollow (or is it a semi-solid) is gonna sound. Especially with the MMK-61's, for which I bought a Matsumoku built Hondo H-1030, just for the set. With the wood I just got lucky. I bought a piece of walnut at a local timber shop, but there's no guarantee you're gonna end up with a bookmatched set of tops. I got high hopes that the LP is gonna sound great and of the Tele I know it sounds great. It's got the twang.

@Corsair: Ben Crowe is definitely a character. But a great guy, who has always a supportive word or a handy tip. And the YouTube channel was a great way to show the folks back home, what I was doing there. You can see me built my guitars in the "whats on the bench" video's from January till March.

Kind regards, Rob.

I'd love to find an experienced mentor. I've built a few myself and learning through trial and error (emphasis on error... ).
This is what I affectionately call "#4" beside my CS Custom. It's very simple but surprisingly, an absolute joy to play. I play at church most weekends and this is my "go to" guitar. It plays very well with my '61 Deluxe.
Many things learned on this one that will be improved upon on the next one.
https://imgur.com/a/rRyn8jl

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Nice guitar, Jorg. Building and playing your own guitar is something special.
Because I lack the tools, the time and the discipline to go for the "trial and error" route, I opted to go to the UK. They have an experienced instructor and all the tools you need. Working with wood was not new to me, but on this level and using new (power)tools was quite a big learning curve. But I'm used to work with my hands. But with metal instead of wood. Their might be a career change in my future.

Kind regards, Rob.

It really is special playing something you made yourself.
When I told people what I was doing, 2 people actually wanted one. What started out as my father and I building a couple of guitars for ourselves, turned into building guitars to sell.
We had to learn quickly.
We've built 7 and sold 2. We gave one to my brother in law.
I'm currently ramping up to build 2 more, we'll see what happens with them.

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Looks really good Chris!

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

That's a nice looking machine, Chris - I wonder where the inspiration for that came from?!?

@Rob; if I was still living in the Channel Islands, I'd've gone to Crimson in a heartbeat, simply because of Ben Crowe - he is an impressive human being, and he likes old hand tools!! Win/win right there!! That 90 hour build - yeah, right!! - was phenominal...