The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Here is my new Hondo ii professional which is made in Japan ( i'm almost positive) and has a sad story (with a happy ending). It was damaged during shipping - the tone knob was smashed into the wood cavity pretty bad



I did, however, end up getting the guitar for almost free so i'm not complaining. It really sucks that the value is diminished ( big time!) but it still plays and sounds the same! Amazing guitar, nice feeling neck and lots of tone options. I love this axe!
So I ended up putting on a tele plate which almost looks like it was meant to be there ( notice the lineup of the knobs). It has fixed the problem and is stable as ever.



A few more pics - thats Deaner chewin a bone.




Beautiful neck - it so fun to look at while playing!



So i was wondering where this beauty may have been made. The pickups are early Gotohs and the switches are Fujisoku. Both signs of Japanese made guitars. I also saw this guitar in a 1980-81 Hondo ii catalog on ebay which i tried to snag but it went for almost $50! I've heard Tokai used early Gotos, did Matts? Thanks in advance my friends.

Others will probably chime in but here is my $0.02 worth. It may well be MIJ. I have seen Hondo II's that had MIJ neck plates. I don't think it is a Matt though. Every natural finish Matt guitar I have seen had a laminate neck, usually five piece. Also the neck joint is not typical Matt. They had a variety of joints but I don't know of any like yours. Having said that , I can't say who did make it but there are people here who are very good at that. You may have to wait a bit for them to notice the thread though.


It looks like a nice guitar and I like your fix

It really looks like some matt made Quest that have surfaced in the last year... here are some postings to compare:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6029

and mine:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5998

All my Quest guitars have Goto pickups....

Thanks for posting your new baby... Nice job on the fix

More guitars to add to list...

P.

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

Thanks for the kind words and info! I was reluctant to place the tele plate on there because the wood grain is so sweet but it did work out pretty well.
There is a similarity to those Quests - and they sure look beautiful! Awesome guitar Frenchy. Very cool.
I know Hondo ii's were made in various factories in Japan (and mostly Korea of course).
It sure is fun and challenging to try to track down where these mystery guitars were made.

Soooooooooooooo, anyone read Japanese or Korean?

Well, i didn't want to start a new thread but have another question about a Hondo ii 335 copy i have (H935WA). I like to know if it is Japanese or Korean made and the only clue i have is these characters on the switch. Its a long shot but what the hey!



p.s. feel free to comment on the other Hondo as well!

At first glance they look to be korean, but the image isn't good enough to know for sure(at least for me).
Do you have one at a higher resolution?

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

Thanks there Ohjay, i tried to crop in as much as i could. More than likely a Korean Hondo ii, but it's still nice.

Thanks, it's still a bit hard to make out, but I'm 91% sure it's korean writing.

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