The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Here is an email I received from Jam Industries in Canada...
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In the mid to late 70's Jam Industries was the owner of the Vantage brand in Canada and in other oartparts of the world. We did manufacture the Vantage electric models at the Matsumoku factory in northern Japan. Unfortunately there are no archives or other records that will allow us to tell you any more about your guitar. Vantage was made in Korea in the mid to late 80's and up until recently was being manufactured by the Samick company in Korea. They have recently closed down their guitar factory and as far as I know Vantage is no longer being produced. The guitars produced in the 70's in Japan are real classics that have stood the test of time well. I have two of the 900 series guitars, VA900 six string and VA912 12 string. Both are superb and compare to hand made guitars today selling for 3 or 4 times the original cost.

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And a final follow up, just to clarify...
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We worked closely with Music Industries as well as some other international partners to develop the Vantage product line back in the 70's and early 80's. Music Industries sold Vantage in the US and it was also carried by distributors in other major markets such as England, France, Germany and Australia. We owned the trademark.
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So, Vanatage was a Canadian brand! Makes me , like, feel all proud inside, eh!

You my friend have just filled in a huge gap in the archives! I hope you don't mind if I use that in the Vantage section.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Feel free! I'm just happy to contribute!