The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

MMK53's! Nice! You'll love those.

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"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
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I had no idea what to expect. But I love them!

When you change the tone knobs, it's almost like a LPF/HPF effect (low/hi pass filter) -- in other words, the tone controls work a charm. Not sure how all this relates to pickups, but it works as a whole. I work with EQ's in the digital domain a lot, and have even got into a bit of the deeper DSP with it, but that doesn't matter so much. I'm just used to not having much range with most guitar Pups. How much the Pup/Pot combination affects it all, I have little idea. It's pretty impressive for a passive guitar, though.

These Pups have a wide tonal range -- I suppose the tone pots just help to bring that out. It's a very versatile guitar, even before you add in the coil tapping/splitting?

There's no way I would change them, at least not for now, while they are still working.

Just wondering. For those that have both to compare, what would be the perceived difference between the two Pups you mentioned (not the DiMarzios)?

One day I'd like to own the U-100 and U-60 too. If for no reason other than spares and maybe to swap things around a bit. I'm pretty smitten with this guitar, as you might be able to tell.

Not too sure if I can quantify the difference; 45s are a great rock'n'roll pickup; high output, and very ballsy and the 53s - to me! - are a little more tonally complex. I gigged a Vantage VA900 for a long time with 53s and was able to get just about any tone required from it.

The received wisdom is that 45s are the most common and standard equipment on most Matsumoku gear, 53s on the more upmarket stuff, 61s on the semi hollows, though we've seen them on solids as well, and the 75s I have only ever seen on the Westone Pantera X350/X390, though I'm sure they must be on other guitars.

When Don does a string change on his APII PE-Supra, we'll find out what's in there, as well!!

I believe, too, that the 45 was modelled very closely on the DiMarzio SD of the time and am quite prepared to believe that!!

I do! A lot!


I edited down the shots I've already taken. Here they are.

This is the serial number:


Notice the 'Aria Pro II' on the tuners.

Another shot of the fingerboard, pre-conditioning:


You can see a little fret-wear here, but it's very slight.

Another shot, pre-conditioning:


What looks like gunk is just discolouration where it has been played. I've scraped the gunk off with a credit card, and used a razor blade very carefully to clean close by the frets. It's actually fairly clean though it doesn't look it.

Another close up where you can see the frets a bit more:


Maybe it did have some 'paint' on it to begin with. Hard to tell as it would have worn off by the time I got it. I noticed my new Aria does have a bit of 'paint' on there to make it look darker. It's a rosewood board and it will wear off soon, no doubt.

Shot of the back of the guitar. No cracks, and all in very good condition:


This is a shot of the pick-up cavity and what was written on there - no idea what is means - it's the neck position:


The other Pup slot does not have anything at all there.

This is the neck, post Lemon Oil conditoning:


Here are a few final shots from the collection:

















She's a bit beaten and scarred - just like me - but she's in pretty good nick considering. I'm going to take real good care of her now, from here on in.

I originally bought her in about '94, I think. Hard to tell. I had been playing her for a year or two before buying her, from the guy I used to play with in a duo. I used her as a backup. In fact, I swapped her for my main guitar, and a £100, when the other guy in the duo made me an offer. He had his eye on my custom str@, and it blinded him to the quality of this guitar.

The str@ was a Walnut body/Birds eye Maple neck, with EMG Pups. It was a real beauty. Quiet but with a wide range of tone. I still miss her. She even had the original Fender case. I got the original case with this one as well, so no complaints.

The Urchin was bought from another guitarist in the house, who had her previously to my mate in the duo. He bought a cheap Yamaha and had no more use for her. He was probably the best friend I've ever had in this life, and that is why this guitar holds sentimental value for me.

I don't think either of them knew what a top notch piece of kit this was.

The guitar case has a few tour/gig stickers on it iirc. One of the main ones being from the band 'Wire' - they were a guitar band and pretty successful, but I don't know if they actually toured with it, or just did a few gigs. Still, it's a nice piece of history to add to the mix.

The Fen**r I swapped her for was a beauty, but not as original and unique as the Urchin. I think this guitar was picked up very quickly because of its looks, then put down as quick again, probably due to its balance, and people not realising what a truly great guitar it was. The guy in the duo really thought he had got one over on me, but I didn't care, I just loved this guitar. Turns out I was right. Neither of us were wrong. We were both happy at the end of the day, and that's always a nice place to end.

I recently got another Aria guitar, and I'm going to make a post about that too in the relevant section. F**ders and Gi**ons hold little allure to me, having owned both, and still owning some of them. It's true that there was great design and craftmanship that went into these guitars. I recently saw one 'The Aria' on ebay and it was an absolute dream. Not even that expensive. From Japan too. I even have an old beater Aria bass!

I'll just leave with this thought: the other night I was practicing some old/new scales, and I was just getting used to the new 52-10 gauge strings I put on. A little heavy on the bottom end, but it worked well. This guitar now rings like an acoustic. The intonation (which I still have not set up), was 'good enough'. It just plays like butter, as they say, and that is without the back of the neck being 'sanded down'. The poly finish does 'stick' slightly more than a sanded neck, and the profile is not as slim as my new Aria either. But I'll leave it for now. It all works perfectly together.

I've had a long break from playing guitar, but it's wonderful to have this instrument, still in my possession after so many years, and starting up again. I really do not wish for any more. This is the one!

As I practiced my Mixolydian and Phrygian and Dorian scales the other night, I couldn't resist to play around on the good old Major Pentatonic as well, as an ode to Japan, to the guitar makers, and to music itself -- simple, effective, does all that is required -- everything needed (and no more) to stir up all the massive emotions that make up music itself.

It's all about the music.

Thanks a lot for the information.

That is why I took the time to go to the pains of describing the pots and whatnot, with regard to my 53s. It's more like a parametric EQ sweep than a typical tone knob when I dial in the range on the pots. Pretty impressive for a passive design.

What you say, certainly seems to correspond with my perception. I got lucky with this guitar. It stuck with me through thick and thin, and it's the only one I didn't sell -- my very last guitar -- the one I kept through homelessness and much restlessness in my life. It's a good karma that I still have it, and that it still works, and that I have found a wonderful site like this where people take the time to share their opinions and thoughts and findings.

I only found out the other day, that coil-splitting and tapping are not one and the same iirc. So much we don't know, that we think we know.

For example, I was talking about the Major Pentatonic scale in my last post. One of the most basic scales a guitarist can learn -- essential even. And yet, I did not know it. For all my understanding of modal diatonic scales, this one is something else again. Yet, when I played it, and 'listened' to it, I could see it was the classic Japanese scale. So I looked up Japanese scales, and there it was. It was interesting to note that they almost never use the minor versions of the scale.

Well, I never! What an ignoramus I am. Eh eh.

For the record, and seeing as I am rambling, the first serious guitarist I ever jammed with was in the middle east. He was a Japanese fellow, with an Arab fellow on drums. I had never seen or heard of a guitar FX pedal before -- I can't even remember what it was -- but it changed the tone drastically at a kick of the switch. I was smitten.

The Japanese fellow saw my delight, and I will never forget this; he took it out from his rig and insisted I plugged it into mine. Magic. True magic.

I don't worry too much about technicalities these days, being an audio engineer and being a bit burned out with it all. That is why I remember fondly those times when it was all new.

On the whole, I like old, cheap, battered guitars, with bad action and bad pickups -- still trying to recreate that original moment when music took its spark in my young mind.

That is why I bought my latest Aria: a Telecaster!

I'm going to post more about that in another thread, as promised. It's a truly exceptional guitar. It's not an uncle Mat, but man, what an instrument. Maybe I got lucky, but Aria seem to have come full circle.

Thanks again for a wonderful site. If you want to pull me up, or ask any question about stuff I've posted, go right ahead.

Technically speaking they're both ceramic magnets:
MMK45 = Isotropy Ferrite
MMK53 = Anisotropy Ferrite
The difference is in how the magnetic field is induced apparently, which gives the '53 perhaps a slight edge in the resistance department but a lot more clarity as Corsair pointed out. The difference is noticeable.

If you have nothing better to do with your time you can get down and dirty with the full poop here:
http://www.ferrite-info.com/ferrite_magnets_made.aspx

_________________
"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 didn't bother to check, when I switched the pickups on one of mine for Seymour Duncans. They are buried deep in a box right now, but I can check next time I have to get to that box.

.... given that Don doesn't play, your suggestion is probably the better of the two options!! Please, when you get a minute, I'd love to know!!

Nothing to add other than - thanks for the great reading (if you typewrite like me it must have taken you hours! ) and the great photos. all of which reminds me of similar hours of pleasure discovering and restoring these great guitars.