The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Snagged this for just over $300 from Guitar Sinner. As expected NOTHING had been done to it since it was traded in. The strings were rusty at the tuners and rust was all over the tuner posts and the strings were dead. Intonation was way out. New strings and a complete clean and polish while they were off was in order. Action is great, sustain is great and the pickups sound amazingly good. The tuners have a high ratio and are smooth with no slipping. As expected it has the heel-less cutaway. Nothing fancy on this one such as coil cut or phase switching like you'd see on higher end models. The pickups are 4-conductor plus ground so I can add this later if I want. I already have some Bourns push-pull pots just for those occasions.

I really like how the all black hardware makes the white binding pop. Definitely a keeper. The PE-390 is not easy to find. Earliest mention I can find is a YouTube video dated 2019.

Nice for $300

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My wife yes
My dog maybe
My Vantages never

Gone are the days Uncle Matts were going for this price point used. I could shoot myself in the head for selling so many I wish I still had for what would be pennies today.

Not every guitar from China, Indonesia or Korea is junk as some would claim. Sure there are some real turds but if you look hard enough and research enough you can find some real gems. No, they're not Uncle Matts but Korea (in particular Samick) has become the new Japan.

Agreed.

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

+1

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"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
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If you ask me, when it comes to guitars... Indonesia is the new Japan.

Even the Korean manufacturers move their factories to Indonesia.

I noticed that. Samick now has factories in Indonesia and China both.

I have a handful of Indonesian gems and they are right up there with my CS-350s. You really have to impress me to match my PE-R80s and R60 though. Or the PE-450 for that matter.

My Gretsch is Indonesian and it is as nice as my PE-R60 in fit and finish.
I only have 2 issues with it:
1. One of the bridge posts was made incorrectly causing the bridge to not seat fully on that side. It didn't cause any problems but it looked funny because of course, it was the bass side and I saw it every time I looked at the guitar so, I replaced the posts.
B. The selector switch is way cheap and feels sloppy. Again, it doesn't cause any problem but I feel it every time I move it so I know I'll be replacing it one day.

It has become one of my favorite guitars to play. It sounds awesome (P90s) and stays in tune even when using the Bigsby.
That, to me, says a lot.

EDIT - I forgot, I paid less than $400 shipped...

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

That's a good deal!