The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Last week I scored one of the ultra rare 1982 Matsumoku Epiphone '59 Les Paul's. For those not familiar with it Matsumoku made semi and hollow body guitars when Epiphone moved production to Japan. But nobody's really sure how the Les Paul Epis came about. There doesn't seem to be any contract for Mat to build them. Yet here they are. Well a few of them anyway.

Today I took mine to Guitar Center for a shoot out with a $5800 Gibson Custom 2013 1959 Les Paul Reissue. Mine was almost identical. The only significant differences that I could see were

1. Epiphone tuning pegs instead of Kluson
2. The paint on the back and sides of the Gibson are a bit clearer revealing more of the wood grain
3. The wood on the front of the Gibson was a bit nicer
4. Mine says Epiphone rather than Gibson and
4. The round plate on the back identifies the Gibson as a reissue.

In fact if you made those modifications and asked an experienced player which was an original '59 they'd probably pick mine because its obviously been around a lot longer than the Gibson. The $5800 Gibson played just a little bit better. But a good set up might remedy that. And they were close enough that after swapping back and forth a few times I sometimes forgot which one I was playing (through a Vox AC30).

But when it came to tone I have to admit the Gibson was superior. They were in the same ball park but mine sounded a bit muddy by comparison. Each note on the Gibson was distinct and clear. Here's what the specs on Guitar Center's website say about it.



What recommendations would you give me to make my '59 sounds as good as the Gibson? Assume that I am going to scrap all the electronics and start over. I play blues so let's say that I am trying to recreate Clapton's "woman tone". BTW I have another guitar with SD Whole Lotta Humbuckers and the Page wiring set up. How can we max out the potential on this one?

Ah, the endless quest for a specific sound! Ain't life grand....

Mate, I don't know what you'd do to approximate that Clapton tone, if I'm honest - you could use his actual guitar and his actual backline from that era and not sound anything like him, eh; I firmly believe the players touch has an enormous effect on the sounds produced.

Yeah.. I suppose PAF pickups would be a good start - I'm having a second go at a custom build from a few years ago and I'm going to use a Tonerider ACII Classic which look to have the same sort of readings as the 50s PAFs - shop around, I guess, and see what blows your skirt up!

I'd love to see your guitar before you start modifying, though - any chance of a pic or two?

Hello Muddy. Thanks for the write-up, very interesting.
It's good to know that you do get something extra for the premium paid for the Gibson besides the logo.

I think you could go quietly mad chasing the tone in your head, but hey, it's your head! Theoretically, if the wood and build etc., is the same you should be able to duplicate the sound by duplicating the electronics. But as Corsair has said, it's more likely the tone will come more from the player than the electronics, so it may be a frustrating quest. Fun though!

I will second the request for pictures. If this is a rare model it seems a shame to mod it, but at least there will be a record.

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I think it is the one he posted in this thread. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13279
I know nothing about tone (tone deaf?). I am slightly fascinated with the matsumoku builds for epiphone though.

Ah yes, most likely. Still happy for more pics though.

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I will be keeping anything that comes off of it (with photos). So down the road if someone chooses to restore it to original they can easily do so.

I believe I read a rule here that linking to ebay (with photos where I bought it) is not allowed. But I've got a post similar to this going on Seymour Duncan's website that has the photos. I also posted a couple of YouTube videos of the pickups I think I'm going with. I believe I'm going to do the '59 bridge and the Alnico II Pro Slash neck. Like somebody started with the period correct pups and swapped in the Slash for a little bit different tone. I think its got a bit more than the '59 neck. But you could maybe swap the players and I'd draw the opposite conclusion. Please let me know what you think!

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?315766-Redoing-electronics-on-rare-82-Mat-Epi-59-Les-Paul

SD Alnico Pro's are nice. I got them on one of my PE's, in case I have to play through Marshall amplifier.

However... if it's "clarity" that you are missing, they would not be my first choice.

If you want to go with Seymour Duncan, try the SH-55.

If that is still not enough "clarity"... try Sheptone (http://www.sheptone.com).