The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Nor does the name on the headstock make it a better guitar.

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Hi Jorg,

As the saying goes: perception is nine-tenths of the law. But I will happily buy the Mats' guitar they are replacing, so there is that.

Rob.

There is definitely power in that label on the head stock.

'Back in the day' when I was the tech in the local guitar store (and did my share of sales too) it was frustrating to introduce a customer to fantastic products like Music Man (Silhouette, Axis) or a Taylor or Breedlove acoustic.

They would get very excited playing them, understand the superior features, etc., and then. . .turn around and buy the Fender or Gibson hanging on the wall.

I am conflicted about the Gibson brand. My first guitar is a '64 ES-330 which I bought new (!) and it's an amazing instrument. But having seen so many brand new Gibsons come into the shop in less then stellar condition, I shake my head at the continuing loyalty to the brand when quality control has been an issue for a long time.

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"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

I grew up playing Fenders and have always wanted a Les Paul Standard but I could never find a LP without a baseball bat neck.
Fenders were designed to be the "Volkswagon" of guitars. I truly believe Leo was just in the right place at the right time.
In my opinion, Gibson has always been a better crafted instrument than Fender but my AP2 PE-R60 is just as nice or better crafted than a Les Paul.
I use a lot of Mat ideas in my own guitars. The more I build my own guitars, the more I cannot understand the "name on the headstock" snobs.
Like Rob said, I will also happily buy the Mat they're replacing.

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Player conservatism would be the root cause of the whole Fender/Gibson thing; I played a Vantage VA900 out and about for nigh on 25 years, the build and tonal qualities of which are second to none, and yet other players who see it always commented negatively about it, and compared it to their Fender or Gibson!! Yet at gigs, they'd just heard it do strat, tele and LP noises with aplomb....

I quickly learned to just nod and smile and walk away.... you're never, ever going to change peoples minds when they're that closed!

A while back I had a chance to buy a complete set of a Dutch monthly musician magazine, spanning from 1977-2010. I bought it in the hope of getting more background on Matsumoku guitars. Well, they didn't let me down on the snobism side of things. Their main reviewer was clearly a fender guy and it really showed. This view altered slightly, when Westone launched their Rainbow and Prestige models, but it altered grudgingly.
I dislike this kind of judgmental view of: it's Japanese, so by definition it's s##t. Especially for someone whose job it is to inform people.
As for buying and owning a Fender/Gibson, there are as many reasons as there are people who buy them. Could be a lifelong dream or just a case of not knowing any better and anything in between.
I own an acoustic Fender Concord which I bought new in the 90's. It's a nice guitar, but at the moment I prefer my acoustic Arita. I don't see myself buying another Fender or a Gibson. First of all I could buy a few nice Matsumoku guitars for the same amount of money and secondly the idea that I have to take care of a guitar that's worth more than my current car (I drive cheap ones, but still), would make me too nervous to enjoy playing it.
So I stick to Mats and trying not to become to snobbish or evangelical about those.

Rob.

Amen, Brother!

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

The original pickups in the FS would have been quite bright sounding. If you want to go for something sounding halfway original, try a set of Seymour Duncan SH-2 (or something similar from another manufacturer).

I have a line on a possible set of MMK's, supposedly swapped out from an '85 AP Interceptor. Photos don't jive, tho. Plain plastic covers and no visible markings on the back (photo is not very good).

I'll check into it.

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Comparing spammers to a pile of organic waste, is an insult to the organic waste.

Uncle Mats ES-500, RS Wildcat, RSB Deluxe, FS-750, Magna MA 30 (non-Mat), TA-61 non-Mat), a Westone limited run/proto Thunder and an OAKLAND (Westone) XI100.

Pete

Uh oh.

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"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