The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

[img]http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g117/rolwoody/EpiGenesis-01.jpg[/img]

According to the owner...reads serial no wise like an Uncle Mat.
Weighs like an Uncle Mat.
All in all "reads" like an Uncle Mat.

Now...IS it an Uncle Mat?

I've been after one of these a couple of times, just because I like her looks a lot. Don't now for sure if matsumoku build them, though.

_________________
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Have read that she can be either Matsu OR taiwan.
The thing is,i asked the owner for the serial no,and what he presented was 01XXXX printed high on the back of the head.
About as Matsu as it comes in my book,and the zero clearly indicating it as a 1980 vintage.

Anyone else out there with more info?

Well boys,to evaluate this a little better i got some more pics from the owner.
Axe has obviously been rocked a tad to say the least,and what´s more...i´m really starting to have doubts as to if this can be an Uncle Mat.

Serial No looks more "gibsonish",tuners...













I guess it really would help with a shot of the front pup cavity as that might very well hold a philips headed screw?

But...compared to others onboard here i certainly am no expert,so what does the wise men of Acron have to say?

Well,did a trade för a Washburn,so i guess we´ll soon see what this genesis is made of and what it might hide within.

Well,the Genesis has landed .

1st and foremost,this axe has seen some serious service during it´s life,and as with the others lately i´ll take it upon myself to resurect it(NOT refinish it)as best as i can and i ask those that take an interest in it to please be patient for pics.

That the axe should originate from Taiwan...i fail to see that and i´ll tell you why.
First of all the hardware is clearly marked "japan" all over.
Second of all the serial indeed looks very "Uncle Mat" up close.
Third..i took a pic of the front pup pocket that is clearly marked with a set of numbers upside down,and i´ll post these as i get done with this little project.(Numbers are 729 if memory serves me)

Anyways.
From what we,here, have gathered the guitar is built entirely from mahogony.
It´s thick as a friggin brick,and carries the weight to prove it.
A friggin sustain monster for real.

Pups as noted are not the originals but US Gibsons-dunno which tho.
(Altho into Gibsons as well,is there anyway to find out apart from measuring reluctance?)

All in all, findings so far point to that this guitar indeed IS from Japan,not Taiwan,and in that case the natural question would be if it´s a Matsu?
Well boys...did Epiphone get guitars made anywhere else than Matsumoku at the time?
You tell me....

I´ll be sure to post pics of stop bar aso that clearly says "japan" asap.
See NO reason what so ever for the taiwanese to import that stuff from japan seing that "made in taiwan" at the time was labeled all over the place.

Electrics like pots asf has all been changed for CTS units-hence no help there.
Likewise,the split switch isn´t operative anymore and i sincerly doubt that it´s an original article as it looks rather "generic" to me at least.
None the less,i´ll make sure to shoot some pics of the entire cavity and indeed electronics as i proceed to make this into an INSTRUMENT again.

Found this over at the Epi forum,and i quote;

"The Matsumoku-made line of high-er, not necessarily "high" end (they were better than a lot of the junk coming from Japan at that point but only relatively "higher" end-they still had so-so pickups and polyurethane finishes) guitars began in 1975 and continued until 1986 when Korean production of the Sheraton and other models (by Samick) began followed by Samick-made Les Pauls in 1988. All acoustic guitar production was moved to Korea in 1983 and these were also made by Samick and follow the early (1986-1994) Samick format of first two digits of the serial number=the last two digits of the year followed by a two digit month code and then the production sequence number.
In about 1981 the distribution of the Matsumoku line became more expanded to include the US and UK. For the most part the Japanese market Matsumoku line's serialization works as the first digit of the number being the last digit of the year followed by two digits designating the month- 103XXXX = March of 1981 for example. Since the production began in 1975 there was an overlap of the use of "5" as the first digit in both 1975 and 1985-The way to determine which year the guitar was made is by the location of the Epiphone offices on the label-the 1975 model will say "Kalamazoo, Michigan" the 1985 model will say "Nashville Tennessee".

The more-common Matsumoku line from this period that was exported didn't have a lot of rhyme or reason to its numbering but does occasionally follow the higher end line's system. The way to date these to a any kind of time frame is by knowing when the model was introduced. Also, starting in 1977 the label stated the business offices of Epiphone as being in Lincolnwood, Illinois. prior to this the offices were of course in Kalamazoo. A year or so later the labels in the flat tops began stating the guitar was "A product of Norlin". In 1979 the PR or "Presentation" line of acoustic guitars was introduced and used the Japanese market Matsumoku serial number format.

Terada production began for the Japanese-exclusive market in 1987 and continues to this day (as the Elitist electric arch top line-Fuji gen makes the Elitist solid bodies)). Terada serialization is actually a sequential number and I haven't been able to determine the start and stop points of the years 1987-1998 but I'm working on it. It's been suggested that it's much the same as the Matsumoku Japan-exclusive system with the first digit being the last digit of the year and the next two numbers being the month but I happen to have a Terada-made Epiphone with the serial number of 65783 that I was told by the original owner was purchased in 1993 so that doesn't work for this particular guitar though it could be that my guitar, which was a special model ("65 Casino") made exclusively for a Japanese music store chain falls outside of the usual numbering system for the Terada-made instruments





The Gibson-made Epiphones from 1957 to 1970 follow the Gibson serial number system of the time which makes absolutely no sense so you have to know the other factors such as if the guitar nickel or chrome hardware (Nickel until 1965, chrome after), when certain body style changes occurred and when certain pickups were used as well as when the particular serial numbers were used (there are MANY overlaps and repetitions) and much too expansive to go into here.
"

Very interresting stuff, Racing (I'm dead serious here). But what does this tell us about your Genesis? (Maybe I missed something, but you're obviously diving deeper into it).

_________________
http://www.GuitarDir.com has been hacked by some mindless fool, destroying years
of gathering info on guitars by non-commercial guitar lovers. Why?

The quote is from a discussion of genesis specificaly.

..and yup..you´re right...diggin deeper.

"The Epiphone Genesis was designed in the US by Gibson and built in Japan in the late 70s early 80's. The style of the guitar is similar to that of a Les Paul but featured a double cutaway rather than the Les Paul's single cutaway.
The guitar featured a single Volume control, two tone controls, One Coil Tap, Passive "coil splitter" electronics allowing the user to select single coil pickup sound as well as the Gibson/Epiphone trademark humbucker tone. The Epiphone Genesis also featured a Mahogany body with Rosewood fretboard, stop tailpiece and chrome hardware.

The guitar is particularly heavy and the double cutaway design and "chunky" neck makes the guitar a little unwieldy (especially when playing seated). However this benefits the guitar by contributing to its impressive sustain.

Tonally the single coil splitter electronics create a versatile instrument from sounds reminiscent of that classic Les Paul crunch to an electric/acoustic tone. This makes the Epiphone Genesis suitable for a variety of styles from heavy rock to jazz.

Epiphone discontinued the Genesis although you can still pick them up on some internet auction sites - they make a nice alternative to the Les Paul with a wide variety of tonal options.

"

...and still at it....