The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Q&A, discussion, and information for the labels covered by The Guitar Gallery (Specifically and exclusively guitars made by Matsumoku up to 1987)
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PostPosted: Wed 16 Mar 2022 07:46 AM 
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Power Chorder

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numbfingers wrote:
It would be interesting to see the back of a pickup and the pickup cavity, and also the label inside. What is that label(?) on the back of the headstock

-Steve W.


Thanks Steve. Just opened her up a bit. Pickups are Matsumoku. Writing in cavity says G56 - 30/SE 1000 (open to interpretation!) Block is possibly mahogany??


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Last edited by Bulkington on Wed 16 Mar 2022 05:50 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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PostPosted: Wed 16 Mar 2022 07:55 AM 
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The 1 at the beginning should be 1981.


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PostPosted: Wed 16 Mar 2022 08:11 AM 
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Crusty wrote:
The 1 at the beginning should be 1981.


Yeah, that would make sense. The bridge is 79. 81 was probably before the TA 100 went into production?


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PostPosted: Wed 16 Mar 2022 08:33 AM 
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It was officially introduced in 1981 in the US, possibly earlier in other markets such as Japan or Europe. As far as "prototype" goes it is VERY highly unlikely considering there is silk screening on the headstock and the guitar is "completed".

http://www.matsumoku.org/cm_models/2021 ... ler-slick/


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PostPosted: Wed 16 Mar 2022 05:45 PM 
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Crusty wrote:
It was officially introduced in 1981 in the US, possibly earlier in other markets such as Japan or Europe. As far as "prototype" goes it is VERY highly unlikely considering there is silk screening on the headstock and the guitar is "completed".


That all seems logical. So it would appear that I have a TA 100 from 1981 that would have been produced for a none USA market before they corrected the name to Titan Artist.

I can't wait to finish cleaning it up and play it!


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PostPosted: Wed 16 Mar 2022 05:59 PM 
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It would seem you have one of the first.

There were numerous series name changes over the years. The RS series is a perfect example (e.g. Rock Solid, Rev Sound etc.). The TS series went through name changes as well.

I'm anxious to hear your impressions once you get it set up and played some. I loved my TA-70, wish I never sold it.


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PostPosted: Thu 17 Mar 2022 09:51 AM 
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Even though that bridge was used on many models, the RS designation makes me think it was initially developed for the 1st run RS guitars. My 1980 RS600 has the same bridge.

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PostPosted: Thu 17 Mar 2022 11:11 AM 
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That could be true but at this point only conjecture. The SPT, ST, STB Super Tuneable (sp?) Bridge was used on quite a few models during that period including the TAs and the PEs. RS may be a manufacturer's initials as although Matsumoku designed many of their signature components they did not manufacture all of them.

The idea with the SPT was to eliminate the intonation issues associated with the ABR-1 style bridge found on most Gibsons (At least that is what I was told by an Aria Pro II rep when I bought my first PE-R80 and I'm inclined to believe it).

A standard ABR-1 allows string guages from 09 to 11 easily but intonating lighter or heavier gauge stings was iffy at best. It depended largely on exactly where the bridge was set in the body in relation to the nut. I've worked on many with ABR-1 bridges and it was always a junk shoot with non-standard gauge strings. I hated the invention of "Skinny Top - Heavy Bottom" strings. :cry: The SPT on the other hand has a very long throw for the saddles making more string gauges possible with correct intonation. For instance many moons ago I originally ran 08s on my PE-R80 and the intonation was dead on. The additional mass of the SPT also improved sustain.

StewMac sold a bridge in the late 90s that was a direct drop-in for most ABR-1 bridges that had longer saddle throws on them for lighter/heavier gauge stings. I installed quite a few back then. Matter of fact I just finished setting up a guitar with an ABR-1 style bridge and couldn't quite get the low E and G perfectly intonated.

There is NO WAY POSSIBLE a Gibson ES-335 could come close to your Titanic Artist TA-100!!!!!! No way in H-E-double-toothpics.

Standard ABR-1 (Both are strung with 09 gauge strings) You'll notice the saddles on the ABR-1 are all towards the very back of the bridge where the saddles on the PE-R80 SPT are not.

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SPT

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PostPosted: Thu 17 Mar 2022 11:43 AM 
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Crusty wrote:
No way in H-E-double-toothpics.


Ha! It took me a while to get that! I'm English. Very funny :lol:


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PostPosted: Thu 17 Mar 2022 12:01 PM 
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I have cuss-filters set up on the board so I have to get creative when the need arises. :lol: :lol: :lol:


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