The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Cool! This web site answered all the questions i had. I bought mine in 1997 from this jazz guy for $800.00. (WOW) love it and still do. The knobs where changed to black ones and someone's social security number is scratched on the battery cover. The serial number is 106401. Everything works great. some miner dings and scratches and two of the linlays fell out. I still have them. I cann't belive they only sold for $339.99. I would love to get some original knobs for her.

I am also a happy owner of a Skylark 2588.
It is one of my favorite children.
How 'bout that 6 Position Rotary Switch switch?
Ain't that something? They thought of everything.

All guitars should have 24 frets in a perfect world.
Yours must be in excellent condition since a jazz player had it.
They are perfectionists when it comes to guitars.

I have serial 106426. 25 numbers after yours.
Wonder if they were made on the same day.

Here are some pictures of it.
Skylark

Well I hope you two are happy. I haven't played mine in over a week but I think I will when I get home tonight!
By the way Aaron, the original price was actually under $150.00. I bought mine from JC Penneys back in the early 80's. I wish I still had the receipt.

The Skylarks intrigued me form the time I found my 2588 in a pawn shop for $200. The electronics had been boinked with, but after about 3 years enough folks had sent me pics and such of the cavity I was able to return it to stock. Being long scale I was never quite 100% comfortable with it so I sold it to someone here. If I were still in acquisition mode I would be on the hunt for the bolt neck model, but since it is so close to the Cardinals (of which I have 3-1/2) I'll refrain and let someone else enjoy that adventure.

The skylark info page now has scans of the catalog page with a price of $339. I'm wondering if the $150 was a closeout special or something of that nature. In any case that is less than what I paid for mine used and quite a deal!

You had best hang on to that thing. The 2588 has at least doubled in value, which may be partially my fault for posting the info.

If I'm not mistaken the knobs on the 2588 are the same as those on the Cardinal series. If you have a contact in Japan, Aria of Japan has them but I have no idea what the cost would be. The knobs I received for my PE-R80 from there were a greatly appreciated gift from someone here.

I honestly don't remember paying that much for it. I did order it from the catalog though. But then again my memory ain't what it used to be either. Anybody have a time machine I can borrow? I know the receipt is back in the 80's somewhere.

I'm not too sure about JC Penney, but if memory serves Sears used to have a closeout section in their catalogs with reduced price clearance items. There were always deals in those pages. I rememer watching that section for bicycles.

JC Penney may have also done this when inventory became static.

I picked one of these up on ebay for $500 a few months ago on ebay. I think I got a lot of guitar for the money. It was a buy-it-know deal and I was like the fourteenth person to view the auction. I believe it is the same guitar on ebay that was discussed in this forum in august, then pulled because someone bought it locally. I bought it from a person in an adjoining state to where that auction originated. The knobs had been changed to clear speed knobs and it was also missing the truss rod cover and screws. Turns out the cover and screws were jammed in the edge of the lining of the case, I did not find the screws for over a month. It has a few dings but nothing too bad, otherwise in great shape.

I used to look at the skylarks in the JC penney catalog when I was a teenage kid but I had no money. I especially like mine because all of the grain lines in the ash part of the body are about 3/8 of an inch apart, pretty uniform , and run straight trough the body like pinstripes. The serial number is 106268, 158 from 426. Do you think they were numbered sequentially? I wonder how many of these were actually made? I think they are pretty rare. If anyone ever gets famous playing one, they would be a hot item(or they might come out of the woodwork), but that is highly unlikely. Any other blue skylark owners out there willing to post their serial number to help satisfy my curiosity?

The serial # on mine is 106159.

Mine had a serial of 106426 pictured here.

This guy I know. said 500 where probaly made! sounds good. Any serial numbers higher then 106500?