The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Interesting guitar. I'm in agreement that it doesn't "feel" like a Mats.
Even thought the overall build and design of the guitar itself appears to be high, something just isn't right about the control layout. Too widely spread and awkwardly located.

And that "Strat" style jack is completely out of place on a centre laminate core construction. And why would you cut into it like that?! You'd never see that on a Mats; this almost looks like someone's idea of a "custom" job.

Can anyone tell us if the rubber stamp in the pup is Japanese or Korean? I'm guessing it's Jap since it's stenciled rather than hand written. The body has echo's of a Westbury, but the controls seem quite amateurish somehow.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

Stamp is 100% japanese. The characters are called Kanji and something I don't master(yet), so I can't translate them.
Or well, the lower pair I probably can translate back home with some aides I've got, but that's a good 18 hours or so away...

Pickups look like Bill Lawrence 500XL's or some other variant of his pickups. The only thing that is odd about the pickups are the stamps, I don't think he used stamps... (I'm talking about Wilde pickups, and not the ripoff cr*p sold by StewMac)

_________________
Confessed MAA member since April 21st 2011.
Went through MAA detox in April 2012.

We get Onyx's here also, they seem to come from many manufacturers.
Some are good some not so good, that looks like one of the good ones.
I'm 90% sure it was made by Chushin Gakki.
A couple of threads down is a thread on Azumi's, I'm quite sure they were also made by Chushin.
Here are a couple of Azumi pics I have, note the similarities.
Particulary the TRC on the red one & the Jack plate on the Green one.
Dead ringers for whats on that Onyx
Cheers.

_________________
My Guitars- http://matsumokuguitars.com/

Did you end up getting these Trevor? .....

P.

_________________
MAA Member since June 29th 2009, taking one baby step at a time..... and failing miserably!