The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Q&A, discussion, and information for the labels covered by The Guitar Gallery (Specifically and exclusively guitars made by Matsumoku up to 1987)
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PostPosted: Fri 29 Jul 2016 12:05 PM 
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willbo wrote:
My rosewood falcon was a Yamaki. In the control cavity there was a circuit board with "Yamaki" printed on it. I still believe that the serial number stamped is an indicator of a matsumoku product. My Yamaki product was printed, not stamped.


What is the difference between printed and stamped? The 81s and 82 HB-35s are definitely Yamaki, with the serial numbers "embossed" (my term) under the finish quite well. The serial number in my 83 is a bit different than the 81 and 82s and maybe looks a bit more "stamped". Either way they are all amazingly built and compare very well to Gibson 335s.

The late 80s point to Terada as the manufacturer for the Washburn HBs, however. I recently compared photos of a 1989 Washburn HB-60 to a Barrington BGW-200 made by Terada. They are identical except for slight headstock variations.

A lot of this will always be up for debate as Washburn was horrible about keeping records from the 80s. That said, the majority of their MIJ instruments from that era are stellar.


Last edited by ETMUSIC on Sat 30 Jul 2016 04:18 PM, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Fri 29 Jul 2016 12:16 PM 
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Two 1982s, only 20 serial numbers apart. The one on the right is mint

Image

The neck on the 83. Straightest neck Ive ever played.

Image

s/n on the 83 which is similar but slightly different typeset than the 81-82s

Image

apologies for my photos...they dont have much style to them.


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PostPosted: Fri 29 Jul 2016 06:04 PM 
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ETMUSIC wrote:
Thanks Barry. Matsumokus are also amazing builds obviously. I'm always looking to try something new from that era of Japan, especially hollow-bodies. Lately Ive been checking out Vantage, Westone, Grecos, Epis, Ibanez and Yamaha SAs. If you have any recommendations let me know. Its like a fever that gets a hold of you, in a good way!


When you look at Ibanez AS models, try to find the ones with the Gibson style bridge. Most Ibanez AS (and AM) models have a bulky piece of metal as bridge that (at least in my opinion) kills the tone. I learned that the hard way, when I tried to get a backup for my old AS-50 (still have it fortunately :) ), and still have the result standing around completely unused.


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PostPosted: Sat 30 Jul 2016 04:19 PM 
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Wutz wrote:
ETMUSIC wrote:
Thanks Barry. Matsumokus are also amazing builds obviously. I'm always looking to try something new from that era of Japan, especially hollow-bodies. Lately Ive been checking out Vantage, Westone, Grecos, Epis, Ibanez and Yamaha SAs. If you have any recommendations let me know. Its like a fever that gets a hold of you, in a good way!


When you look at Ibanez AS models, try to find the ones with the Gibson style bridge. Most Ibanez AS (and AM) models have a bulky piece of metal as bridge that (at least in my opinion) kills the tone. I learned that the hard way, when I tried to get a backup for my old AS-50 (still have it fortunately :) ), and still have the result standing around completely unused.



Thanks for that tip Wutz. Ive often wondered what the deal was with those older Ibanez bridges.


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