The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hello everyone

I am new here. I recently bought an Aria Pro II Cardinal series and I can't figure out what year it is from.

It has a six number digit, so I suppose it is pre-1981. Given the fact that the serial number is G800482, is it safe to presume my guitar is an 1980 guitar?
I read everywhere that cardinal series were made from 1981-1984 (or later).
So I'm quite stuck here. Do I have a rare early guitar or do I have an 88 guitar with a Matsumoko plate that was made after Matsumoko got destroyed?
EDIT: I found which type it is. It is the CS-2XX you find pictured on the bottom of this page:
http://www.matsumoku.org/models/ariapro ... /pics.html


I really hope you guys can help me.

If I remember correctly, that would be a build from July 1980...

Thank you very much. So that probably means that Matsumoku already had the Cardinal Series in production from the early 1980's.
Anyway, I'm quite happy that my guitar is one of the early Cardinal Series guitars and that in a year from now she will be celebrating her 40th birthday.

Hello Hendrick, yes you do have a Matsumoku product there.

But wanted to correct your statement about the company's being "destroyed". There was no fire, no earthquake, or other disaster. That is an Urban myth and nobody knows where it started.

Matsumoku simply went out of business. You can read the all about company's history here on the Westone site: http://www.westoneguitars.net/history-1/

And hey, how about some pictures of your Cardinal?

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Hi there
So this CS-2XX is probably an early prototype ?? notice the different tuners on the model page.
Very interesting!
Some photos please

Early, yes. Prototype, no.
For these to be available in '81, some had to be built in '80.

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