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: Fri 28 Jan 2022 12:58 PM 
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Hi,

I have a vintage Aria ES-175 copy. Besides the "Aria" lettering on the headstock, it only has on it the following markings:

- "14x25" under each pickup
- "47198" stamped directly on the fretboard at the 19th fret.

The first number under the (Maxon?) pickups points to a 1974 fabrication date based on information I found on various other forums.
But I'm really curious about the model and whether it was made by Matsumoku or not.

I'll post pictures later tonight when I'm back home.


Thanks,

Patrick


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PostPosted: Fri 28 Jan 2022 06:37 PM 
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Here are the pictures.


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PostPosted: Fri 28 Jan 2022 06:43 PM 
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Last one.


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PostPosted: Fri 28 Jan 2022 06:45 PM 
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This is the Maxon pickup code info I found:

Quote:
Maxon guitar pickup serial number consisted of five-digit number.
Period used: up to and including 1977
The serial number: ABCDD
A: production line code (1: prototype line (very rare pickup), the other numbers are the production line numbers.)
B: year of manufacture (e.g. 1977 was shown as "7".)
C: month, 1=Jan ... 9=Sep., 0(zero)=Oct., X=Nov., .(dot)=Dec.
DD: day of the month (01 to 31)
If A is 1 (prototype line), B is the year code and CDD are not disclosed.


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PostPosted: Fri 28 Jan 2022 09:08 PM 
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That's a beauty.
This looks very much like the Westone Session II build. Except for the head stock design, the fret board position markers and pickups (MMK53's), it seems to be a dead ringer, even down to the trapeze design and bridge.
https://westoneguitars.net/guitars/session-ii/

Whatchathink?

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PostPosted: Sat 29 Jan 2022 11:27 AM 
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It does indeed look pretty close.

I feel the Aria is older though, partly based on the fact that the open-book headstock and crown logo are identical to the Gibson ones, which probably became
no-nos after the lawsuit '77 lawsuit.

Is that correct reasoning?


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PostPosted: Sat 29 Jan 2022 02:51 PM 
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The Aria model likely does predate the Westone brand which didn't really kick in until about 1980. However, it could still have been a Mats build prior to the switch to the Aria Pro II label.

I suspect that the Session II was based on the Aria version in a reciprocal arrangement. According to some of Tom Presley's stories, there was a lot of shared (and swiped) innovations between APII and Westone during the brief period of Matsumoku's involvement.

p.s. There was no actual "law suit", that's an urban legend. It was a cease and desist order from Gibson to Hoshino concerning the open book head stock design. Other Japanese manufacturers took the hint and stopped as well. :wink:

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