The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Snagged this the other day. Was talking to another guy and I caught him in a couple of lies and he would not deal on a guitar that had been listed for over 6 years. The second guy was much better to deal with and he accepted my offer for MUCH less than the first guy was wanting.

It has an ABR1 bridge on it so I had to flip the A and D saddles around to get the intonation right. It plays so easy you'd think it was an air guitar. The quality of workmanship is impeccable. I did put a new stop tail on it, the gold plating was worn off of the original. The frets are perfect. Whoever owned this took care of it. It is a 2002 model made by Samick in their higher end shop. I'm sure Aria was very involved in the manufacturing and quality control on this model. Not many around. It had gold top hat knobs on it but I can't stand them and they make the guitar look cheap so I put a set of amber notched speed knobs on it just like the ones on the PE-R80. This thing is one sweet piece of kit! There is abalone inlay in between the layers of binding, the inlays are pearl and abalone and done very precisely and the headstock is matching quilt. No foto flame here. Came with a very nice locking hardshell case to boot.

http://www.therathole.org/pe/


[I wasn't thinking, I moved the topic to the proper forum]

Just gorgeous!
Great catch!

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That's a very nice looking guitar Crusty. May you both have long and happy lives together!

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Thanks.

Just got done playing it. It is the best Korean guitar i have ever played. I gave $621 for it all totaled which included a VERY nice locking LP hardshell case. I realize that is a lot of dough. I have been wanting an Anniversary model for along time now. I had a line on another but the guy kept jacking me around so I passed him by. Got this for less than he was wanting for one without the case. $84 less and that was before shipping and taxes. It's obvious Aria was very involved in the construction and quality control. I haven't found a flaw yet. It came stock with Duncan Designed HB103s in it. All I've changed is the tail piece because the original was worn and swapped out the Straplock strap buttons for gold mushrooms. The tuners must be 1:18 as they are smooth as silk and very precise. The action is right down on the fingerboard just like my PE-R80s and PE-R60. There's something to be said for a 3-piece neck.

I never thought of this model as rare, they were a very common sight in Japan 20+ years ago.

Interesting enough your guitar has the typical Korean bridge and tailpiece combination... while most in Japan have the bridge and tailpiece looking more like the old one from the 80s (but with a more standard spacing). Like this one for example: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/au ... 1076578962

They're not very common here. There again there are a lot of models that are common in Japan that aren't here. I've seen several that were tempting but the shipping cost and transit times were deal breakers.

I've seen both Greedson style as well as ones with the SPT and QH. I was talking with a seller about one with the SPT and QH but he refused to deal even though the guitar had been listed for over 6 years. Caught him in a lie about it as well so that ended that. He wanted about $150 more for his without case.

About a year ago there were several listed, two from Japan and one from Italy but the shipping was way up there and would have cost me almost a grand for them all totaled. That's too much for a Korean guitar for me, even this model.