The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hello all!

Just wanted to say Thank You! Ever since i've been able to make, at least, semi-sound decisions in life (age 27 ) i've considered myself a Gibson man. But that all changed about 5 months ago. Somehow i stumbled upon a "lawsuit era" LP labeled "rare", "matsumoku". Having no clue whatsoever i decided to find out what was so "rare" about this "matsumoku". And that led me here! An absolute wealth of information you all have accumulated! Bravo!
Long story short...... i have since acquired an '81 VSH-455 (i think it plays better than my early 70's 325! Booya!) and an '81 VP-710 bass. Not sure how it happened but Vantage seems to have emerged as my favorite matsumoku build. For now anyway.
Again, thank you!

Welcome, we're glad you're here!
I grew up a Fender man. I now have 1 Fender and 1 G&L but the rest are Matsumoku of some sort. A VSH-455 has been on my list for some time.
Post some pics if you can, we love pics.

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Certainly glad to be here!

Trying to upload pics just not sure how to, i'm sure they need to be resized. Could you recommend a site to do so?
....and there's a 455 on ebay right now, fyi. Seems like it's priced a bit high, i got mine for $750, and doesn't have the stripes. Maybe they just threw a 455 trc on a 445? Not sure.

Welcome aboard!!!

Pics do have to be resized. Max 80K because we are severely limited on disk space for the site.

Welcome to the the Uncle Mats Madhouse, Josh!
Like Jorg, I grew up as a Fender bender with the occasional Gibby thrown in (Melody Maker, SG and a 345). All changed when I tried an ARIA ES-500 to replace my stolen Gibby 345 back in '85. Been a Mats Masher effectively since.

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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

Thanks for the welcome! Count me as a newly converted mats lover!

Hi Josh.
You can't go wrong with the Vantage label. It's one of my favourite Matsumoku builds.
(I have 9 of them, including 2 acoustics! )

Vantages were very well represented here in Canada in particular, and many Canadian bands were seen playing them in the 80's.

The Westone brand still has the soft spot in my heart though (11 of those). Especially the Spectrum line which I think has just about the best production neck ever made. So comfy.

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