Matsumoku

In 1951, Matsumoku was founded as Matsumoto Mokkō ("Matsumoto Woodworking Company") by Mr. Tsukada in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan. It was a family-owned woodworking business that specialized in building tansu cabinets and butsudan. Shortly after the World War II (1939-1945), the Singer Corporation had established a Japanese subsidiary, Singer Sewing Machine Company Japan, and set up production facilities in Nagoya. Singer contracted Matsumoku Industrial to build its sewing machine cabinets, and in 1951 Matsumoku became a partially owned subsidiary of Singer Japan. Matsumoku also branched out into building cabinets for manufacturers of televisions and "hi-fi" amplifiers. ==Production==

In the early 1960s and, as it had on its staff several skilled luthiers, ventured into guitar and violin production in 1963. In 1976 St. Louis Music would acquire the Westone brand from Matsumoku, a name the Japanese company had itself acquired previously to market their guitars to European and American consumers. Eventually in 1984 SLM would consolidate Electra and Westone together and create Electra-Westone branded instruments; a year later the Electra name was dropped and they would produce guitars solely as Westone. Matsumoku's final phase as a maker of guitars before shutting down in 1987 was under contract making Royce, Westminster, Westone and Westbury Guitars. (Westbury was a brand owned by American importer/marketer Unicord which named the brand after the location of its headquarters in Westbury, New York). ==Aria==

Shiro Arai founded Arai and Company in 1953 as an importer of classical guitars. In 1960, Arai contracted Guyatone to manufacture guitars. At the time, Guyatone was one of Japan's leading musical instrument manufacturers. However, when exported to the western United States, the drier American climates caused early Guyatone-produced guitars various problems: bindings became unglued, backs split, and necks broke just below the headstock. Guyatone could not meet Arai's production requirements, and in 1964, Arai and Company contracted for musical instrument manufacturing with Matsumoku. Arai addressed these issues early on with Matsumoku's management. The solution was to use wood that had been dried for at least two years, stronger glues with longer clamp times, and one feature that remained throughout Matsumoku's production: the 3-piece maple neck. Besides Matsumoku, Aria had two factories that produced guitars, one of which made classical guitars, and another that made medium-grade and specialty guitars. But the relationship between the two companies was both amicable and symbiotic. Aria focused on sales in both domestic and export markets and provided design development, while Matsumoku devoted its energies to engineering and building guitars and other stringed instruments. Throughout its 22-year business relationship, Aria remained Matsumoku's principal client. Matsumoku often preferred using Aria as its business agent, and many of Matsumoku's contracts were written by Aria with Matsumoku stated or implied as sub-contracted manufacturer. Arai and Company guitars were briefly labeled Arai, but switched to the familiar Aria around 1966. From the 1975 arrival of design engineer Nobuaki Hayashi (currently with Atlansia) onward, however, all Aria guitars were labeled Aria Pro II. Hayashi's pseudonym, "H. Noble", appeared on many of the Aria Pro II instruments he designed. Aria's guitars that followed showed remarkable design innovation and a definitive move away from Gibson and Fender formats. Hayashi is best known as the designer of the Aria Pro II, SB-1000 bass and the Aria Pro II PE-series guitars. Some of these were made with maple bodies, but higher-end models such as the PE1000 with Protomatic pickups and the PE1500 with DiMarzio pickups, had ash bodies. These ash-bodied guitars were produced only in relatively small numbers for the domestic market; most, however, had maple bodies. Some guitars were produced with the urushi finish and, again, these, in both red and brown urushi lacquer, were produced mostly for the domestic market. The vast majority of these have ash bodies, whereas the export models were made mainly of maple. Matsumoku also manufactured drum kits under the Aria name, initially under licence from Remo, which had identified a gap in the market for low-cost drum kits in the compact 5-piece "rock" configuration as innovated by the Rogers PowerTone range in the early 1970s. ==Epiphone==

Gibson decided to move Epiphone production to Japan in the early 1970s and chose Aria as its contractor. As a subcontractor to Aria, Matsumoku manufactured most electric Epiphones made in Japan from 1970 through 1986 (a few solid body electrics were made by other Japanese manufacturers and at least one model was made in Taiwan). Models include the solid body ET series (Crestwood) the SC series (Scroll) and the Model 1140 (Flying V) as well as Epiphone's archtop electric guitars: 5102T/EA-250, Sheraton, Riviera, Casino, and Emperor. Early Matsumoku made Epiphone archtops and hollow-body basses had four-point bolt on necks. As production costs of bolt on neck guitars were less, some guitarists regarded them as inferior instruments. However, it was not the neck construction that was inferior (as described below, many Matsumoku-built necks were of premium quality). Rather, it was the lack of reinforcement in the neck pocket area, which could enable that area to act like a hinge, causing future problems with high action due to tension on the body's neck pocket from the strings. Collectors of Matsumoku guitars from this period have often solved this problem by fabricating and installing permanent custom neck shims. Set neck archtop guitars followed in late 1975. Specifications on Epiphone archtops changed throughout the Matsumoku era. == Distinguishing characteristics ==

CSB-400 showing 3 piece maple neck "Kuro" - likely the name of the inspector. "78" is a production number and not a year. Many Matsumoku built guitars, including Epiphone archtops, utilized a 3-piece maple neck with the center section's grain-oriented 90 degrees from the side wood. This created a very strong neck not prone to splitting or warping. An often used variation of this is the 5-piece neck with two thin trim strips of walnut or ebony separating the 3 sections. Matsumoku made many neck-through-body solid-body electric guitars and basses, most with 5-piece necks. Matsumoku often utilized the Nisshin Onpa company (who own the Maxon Effects brand) as a subcontractor for its pickups. Some Maxon pickups have Maxon's "M" logo stamped on the back. The name Matsumoku appeared on the neck bolt plate of some guitars they built. Early Grecos and some 1980s Aria Pro IIs have Matsumoku on the neck bolt plate. Other neck plates were blank or simply had the word "Japan" stamped on them. Many Matsumoku set-neck guitars and basses have the inspector's hon (name stamp) stamped inside the neck pick-up cavity. == End of production ==

Gibson restructured after being sold by Norlin and began to move its Epiphone production to other Japanese manufacturers and to Korea. By 1986, the home sewing machine market was in heavy decline and Singer was nearly bankrupt. Matsumoku could not afford to buy itself out of Singer and in 1987, closed down. After Matsumoku ceased operations, Aria continued production of Aria Pro II guitars and basses through its own factories and other manufactures. Some top line and special edition guitars are still manufactured in Japan, however, most Aria guitars are now produced in Korea and China. Matsumoku's contribution to guitar-making has been publicized on the internet and its products enjoy a following of enthusiasts. ==Notable players of Matsumoku guitars==

• Earl Hooker, Univox Rhythm and Blues bolt-on Les Paul copy. • Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Univox Hi-Flier, Epiphone ET-270, Aria Pro II Cardinal Series CS-250, Washburn Force 31 • John Taylor of Duran Duran, Aria Pro II SB-700, Aria Pro II SB-900, Aria Pro II SB-1000 bass • Cliff Burton of Metallica, Aria Pro II Elite, Aria Pro II Black'n'Gold bass • Elvin Bishop, Electra Model 2281 • Neal Schon, Aria Pro II PE series guitars (several models) • Noel Gallagher and Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs of Oasis played Matsumoku-manufactured Epiphone Rivieras in mid-1990s • Dave Brock of Hawkwind plays a Matsumoku made Westone Spectrum LX among other Westone guitars • Wayne Hussey of The Mission plays a (very rare) Matsumoku Aria Pro II RS-800/12 • Tim Smith of Cardiacs, Westone Thunder I • James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle, Epiphone ET-270 • Robert Smith of The Cure, Epiphone 5102T / EA-250 • Georgia South of Nova Twins, Westone Thunder I bass ==See also==