The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Thanks McBrat. I completely forgot about Appollo... probably for good reason.

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....right. They always crack in the end.

I saw a Silvertone (tiesco build ? ) with a similar headstock featuring typical 60's string retainer bar an earlier post on this forum so I've given up thinking it could be an Electra
The gold foils that were on the guitar when the seller bought it were the Dearmond humbuckers which went into the "Fender "Dearmonds in the late 90's ( he sold them separately and they fetched almost as much as I paid for the guitar ! ) The cheapo p100's sound great though (wax potted and from the hole in the bottom of the baseplate I can see the magnets are alinco ) I've got a pair of original 60's tiesco goldfoils in my parts box (i'ts become a draw) Perhaps I'll fashion some kind of support plate out of an old scratchplate and give them a try on this, currently # 1,000,001 on my things to do list

They ain't bad, eh? The only contact I've had with them is at the shop on an Epiphone(!) Wiltshire reissue. Small but punchy, and quiet too.

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"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

Right there you have a beautiful Firstman S2-C ca1967. Firstman was one of the small Japanese companies started by former Tiesco employees who left after the Kawai takeover. I have the same guitar labeled as a Liberty. These are nice guitars!

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www.drowninginguitars.com

Mystery Solved !
Thanks Charlie any chance of us sneaking a peek at your guitar ? It would be nice to see the original finish ,pups and headstock logo if yours is still "stock"

Sure thing man, here's a pic:

Mine has different pickups than yours, but all the "Liberty" ones I've seen have these white, split single coils. The "Firstman" labeled models usually have pseudo-looking humbucker types. Same guitar bodies, same components, but different pickups. Oh, and my Liberty plate fell off!!

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www.drowninginguitars.com

i thought i might poke around a bit to see if there were any guitars that looked like mine, wondering what it might be.....
then i came across this thread and..
WOW!! that looks a lot like mine!!
seems like most of my answers are in the thread above. thanks one and all!
so here is a closer look.....







the wang bar is missing, of course.
the pickups seem to be originals. it is easy to understand why they might get replaced tho, they are extremely microphonic, but they sound very clear when the volume is under control.
the guitar has a block under the bridge.
the tailpiece is chrome, it looks dark because of reflections.
i'm not sure what to make of the blue metal-flake paint on the edges of the sound holes.

Interesting git.
The back is sculpted which should be a good thing for projection. That blue paint is odd. Not likely original (?) but its purpose is probably to cover up the ply.. er, laminate edge. And make it purty!

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"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

Mine has black paint on the sound hole cutouts, it matches the black "binding". The pickups respond real well to wax potting, and they sound pretty good! Of course, the hollow construction doesn't help with feedback!

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www.drowninginguitars.com