The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Q&A, discussion, and information for the labels covered by The Guitar Gallery (Specifically and exclusively guitars made by Matsumoku up to 1987)
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PostPosted: Thu 23 Jul 2020 04:50 PM 
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Prospective Member

Joined: Tue 21 Jul 2020 09:00 PM
Posts: 2
Hi,

I have in my possession an Aria guitar with the aforementioned name. It's Japanese made inducted by the back plate, and the serial number is 'H710523'.
I can't upload a picture right now but I do have the Reverb listing of my purchase which includes pictures: https://reverb.com/item/28197174-aria-p ... e-in-japan

The seller listed it as 1987 which as I've read on here, is when the Matsumoku factory closed, so I'm wondering if this is a Matsumoku made guitar or not. Plays very nicely and I love it, but I can find barely anything about the model online.

Any idea's?

Many thanks!


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PostPosted: Sat 25 Jul 2020 11:10 AM 
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Virtuoso

Joined: Wed 05 Aug 2009 10:48 AM
Posts: 109
Location: NW Washington State
I have one too, except in white. My photobucket pictures aren't available anymore. I posted here and got a couple of replies, but nobody had seen one before. No info on the web either. I'd guess that it was made just after the Matsumoku era, but I don't know where. Mine weighs 6.2 pounds and plays well. It has a couple of finish cracks in the control area- the wood there might be pretty thin. Odd that it has a dinky body and pointy headstock but a hardtail bridge. I've seen pictures of an AR-77 that might be a relative.

-Steve W.


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PostPosted: Mon 27 Jul 2020 12:28 PM 
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Joined: Tue 21 Jul 2020 09:00 PM
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numbfingers wrote:
I have one too, except in white. My photobucket pictures aren't available anymore. I posted here and got a couple of replies, but nobody had seen one before. No info on the web either. I'd guess that it was made just after the Matsumoku era, but I don't know where. Mine weighs 6.2 pounds and plays well. It has a couple of finish cracks in the control area- the wood there might be pretty thin. Odd that it has a dinky body and pointy headstock but a hardtail bridge. I've seen pictures of an AR-77 that might be a relative.

-Steve W.



Thanks for the reply. I'll have a look and see what I can find about the AR-77. Shame it's unlikely a Matsumoku era model, but it does make it very intriguing as to where it's actual from, how the craftsman ship stacks up to the original factory and what the 'argent' series is.


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PostPosted: Tue 28 Jul 2020 09:20 AM 
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Virtuoso
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Joined: Sat 25 Mar 2006 09:25 PM
Posts: 3190
Location: Grand Absurdity, TX
Welcome LG1816!
It is Japanese so it's probably a very nice machine but I seriously doubt it's a Matsumoku product.
It doesn't share any build characteristics with any existing model at the time. Being an '87 model and knowing the state of the company, I doubt they would have built an entirely new model.
By '86 or possibly sooner, they were looking for ways to save money. Look at the "The Cat" guitars. They had plyw- uh, I mean, laminate bodies that were not shaped exactly correct. Now, I owned one and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it but it wasn't quite what my other Mat guitars are. I still own the neck. It's one of my favorites and is currently on an '83 RS Special V body. I believe the necks were actually Mat made but the bodies were not. Nowhere on a "The Cat" does it say "Matsumoku" or "Made in Japan".
I believe they were contracted out to the lowest bidder.

Anyway, nothing against your guitar. It's probably a much better machine than "The Cat". :jammin:

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