The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hi Folks just aquired a nice Raven.
Its a Cherry Sunburst Second series Jobby & came with its original fitted case.
I also already have a Yellow 81Third series Raven & an 83 FV-10V.
All are solid Mahogany, no plywood here.

Its in very good condition but has had the pickups replaced with Seymor Duncans, bridge is a Duncan Distortion & Neck is a 59NJ.
Tuners have also been replaced with locking Schallers.
Speaking of which, the previous owner, when he replaced the tuners, wasn't happy with the old screw holes, so he performed a refinish of the back of the headstock in a nice thick fluro green something or other.
Here's a pic what do you guys think?

He wanted to do a top job, so he also sanded off the original finish underneath.
Wasn't that nice of him

Any how, could be worse, He might have tried refinishing the whole thing.

Here's a couple of comparative pics between the yellow 3rd series & the cherry burst 2nd series






Obvious differences like the control cavity route & the neck plates & subtle differences like different strap pins & different nuts.
Knobs on the cherry one look to have also been changed.
I'll pull the pots over the next few days on the cherry & check caps etc.

_________________
My Guitars- http://matsumokuguitars.com/

This is my 83 FV-10V just after I finished a full resto.
They appeared in the 1980 Stage series Catalogue.
It shares all hardware ,electronics & headstock with the Ravens.



None of these guitars in my opinion were made at Matsumoko.
I own Approx 30 Mats guitars and can find no similarities to these 3 Washburns.
My Gut tell me they possibly all came from Fujigen Gakki.
Any one else have Ideas on this theory?

Check out the massive sustain block on on The FV-10V's trem on the right.
Its The Washburn Dive Bomber Vibrato.
It is shown beside an Act EX trem from my Aria Pro11 ZZ Standard

Cheers.

_________________
My Guitars- http://matsumokuguitars.com/

Here's a pic of the FV-10V whilst under restoration, beside my Vantage FV-575

Both Great guitars IMO.

_________________
My Guitars- http://matsumokuguitars.com/

"Or other" I'd say. . .

Beauties!!

To my knowledge most Ravens were made at Mat.
Some of the highend ones like the Eagle,Falcon et al were on the other hand made at Yamaki.
As far as i know Washburn never contracted Fuji Gen.

We´ve had this discussion over at the washburn forum too,and what has been established so far is Matsumoku and Yamaki.

No matter...they´re good guitars in general,and i for one am a sucker for their looks.

I am blown away by the back of the headstock. It's a good thing he didn't refinish the whole guitar which is a real beauty. .

Mats or not, close 'nuff fer me!
Just a gorgeous collection! Thanks for the pix.
(darn, now I have more stuff to add to the 'must get' list!)

_________________
"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

Thanks for the nice comments guys.
They are all very nice to play.
The yellow one is especially nice to play, it plays like butter since its restoration with a
Super, super low action.
I really like the smooth full sound it has with the original goto pickups (very nice imo)
Some folks are funny you know, when I purchased her she was in a bit of a state of neglect.
Long overdue for a fullsetup & general maintenance.
The guy I bought her from sold her to fund his Brand new Chinese Fender Squire & amp Purchase.
Which played like, a soul les Chinese Fender Squire.
Absolutley no comparison, & he wasn't a kid either, probably in his fifties.
Why he didn't spend the cash on fixing the Raven beats me.
Similar story with the cherry one, the guy had just purchased a Korean Tele & decided to let this one go.
He'd bought her s/hand in around 82, had someone fit the seymour duncans to it, then did the schaller tuners himself at some time, including that great green vomit on the rear of the headstock.
It looked like it had never had a proper setup, action was way high and uneven, intonation was not even close & the pickups were way down away from the strings.
Basically it played like sh1te.
It seems that some folks dont seem to be aware of, or even care to learn even the basics of setting up their instrument & are happy to trade them for a nice new shiney pos they can play straight out of the box.
I have mixed emotions when I come across guitars alot of the time.
On one hand I am very happy about purchasing a new guitar to restore & play that I feel is also worth so much more than I am paying for it.
But on the other hand I feel sad to see such a fine instrument that has been passed over in favour of something so very, very inferior, for no fault of its own.
Ah well, more guitars for us lovers of these beautiful instruments I suppose.
Cheers all,
Trev

_________________
My Guitars- http://matsumokuguitars.com/

Look at the state of the bridge from the FV-10V when I got her.

But with a little love all is now good with it.

_________________
My Guitars- http://matsumokuguitars.com/

Beautiful job on the bridge resto Trev! I've had rusty saddle screws too, but nothing as bad as this one!
Yeah, I share your comments about owner neglect, it never fails to amaze me just how badly some Bozos abuse these fine instruments. Stickers are just dumb but relatively easy to get rid of, but why they go crazy with magic markers and bad rattle can sprays, then don't even wipe 'em down after playing is beyond me.

I'm constantly amazed at those who offer these for sale looking like that, and expecting top $$$!
There's just no excuse for the state of that bridge. Most people wash their cars more regularly.
A good polish now and then, wipe it after playing, use a cotton swab and a drop of oil once on the threads once in awhile, then put the guitar in its case. How friggin`hard is that? (sigh)

_________________
"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