The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hi All,

Can anyone help me identify this beauty ? I bought it on a whim on UK ebay as a late Christmas present to myself. .I was guessing it could be an Electra because of the cool wave headstock and similar tremolo tailpiece to some of their 335 copies(seen the same one on a 68' Greco V Shrike too) .. though unlike most of Electra 3+3 headstock models the 24 1/2 " neck features a zero fret( perhaps designed as a "toned down "Mosrite copy) the neck is far more substantial than the one on my Matso Epi 250 but it plays just as nicely , came strung with 12's but hardly noticeable 'till I try bending the wound 3rd .. could be a parts job but I have never come across a semi with such huge horns or so heavy (large centreblock) ..I'm guessing that perhaps it was a prototype or short run for a small distributor. Looking at the guitar featured in the previous post and the fact that my guitars got the same style headstock & neckplate I'm now thinking it could be an "Imperial"

The seller bought it from a pawn shop in Sydney. It had been resprayed by it's previous owner from sunburst to black and fitted with Dearmond gold foil humbuckers .
which he swapped out for the cheapo (but great sounding) P100 style single coils and resprayed white, before putting it up on e-bay .

Looks kinda familiar, particularly the headstock, but I don't know nuthin' else.
One of the members will be by shortly I'm sure with something useful.

However, I am a bit concerned about all the "respraying" that's been going on with this baby.
On a solid body it's normally not a problem but I get queasy seeing a semi-acoustic coated in paint. That can significantly dull the resonance characteristics of the wood and thwart the acoustic design properties. Much better to be stained than painted.

_________________
"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

Absolutely NOT Electra, and not even an Electra neck either. Not sure at all what it is but I agree with Barry's ideas and concerns reigarding the paint and wood resonance.

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

Interesting desing.

Close up pics of the hardware would help to determine origins.

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

That trapeze tailstock is a piece of work for sure. The "pickgarded" switch on the lower bout kinda says Conrad to me.

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

Hi again, so it's not an Electra ! possibly early Greco or Conrad

Frenchy suggested that some close up picks may help to identify so here's the original bridge (note the screwed down "cups" supporting the posts) and trem baseplate closer up, Would have been great to get the "full" trem but perhaps that's asking to much for the price I paid..

Well, whatever it is, I think it's super. Definitely has a bit of a Mosrite vibe to it, and that's cool with me.

Too bad that the foil pick-ups are long gone. Original gold foils are to die for!

Surfs Up!

The headstock was bugging me then I remembered a little something that I have....

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4684

We never found the origin on it....not much help....

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

I am going to post a link to this over at the Electra Forum just in case.

There is a minute possibility it could be a PCM Electra import, rather than the more familiar SLM models that were made at Matsumoku, Terada and a couple other Japanese houses. The chances are VERY slim however as that "wave" headstock was Electra's response to the lawsuit nonsense surrounding Gibson's open book design that Electra did use up to 1976.

Give me a few days and I'll try to get a concensus there to post back here.

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

the Hofner beatle bass had the wave style headstock. the first Electra use of the wave headstock was on the PCM Beatle Bass copy.

SLM also had a wave headstock on an Appollo branded guitar in the 60's.

Also, the Phoenix headstock shape is nearly identical to the SLM distributed Custom Kraft brand from the 60's...