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Research Library - Matsumoku Factory, Japan
The famous Matsumoku Guitar Factory, Japan
History of the Factory
In the early 1900's, the Matsumoku Industrial woodworking factory was set up in Matsumoto, Nagano Japan (Aria Guitars, Inc., 2023) to produce furniture. Following World War II, Matsumoko Industrial contracted with the Singer sewing machine company to build sewing tables to fit the Singer machines, and by the 1950's Matsumoku ventured into musical instrument production such as violins and classical guitars (The Unique Guitar Blog, 2010).
Matsumoku Industrial produced variations of classical guitars under contract with Fuji Stringed instruments and was in full production by 1961. The earliest guitars produced under this relationship were branded "Demian" in homage to a Herman Hesse novel. By 1962, classical guitar production was ramped up and a new, larger factory was built in Matsumoto to expand operations (Fujijen’s Early Years, 2013).
Compared to the guitars being manufactured by Gibson and Fender in the United States, the early Japanese imports were far inferior in quality. While the price point was considerably more accessible for most US consumers, there was a big difference in the quality at that time (Fujijen’s Early Years, 2013). The initial Japanese-made pickups were derived from dis-assembling Gibson and Fender pickups and attempts were made to replicate their sound. However, the materials available in Japan were simply not quality enough to reproduce the desired effects. Instead, in mid-1962 Fuji Stringed Instruments developed their own method to produce pickups. The head of R&D for Fuji Stringed Instruments developed a method to produce pickups using a handmade machine tool that used a washing machine motor, a belt, and a jig, and cut ceramic baked with carbon (with the desired resistance properties) in place of resistors like the type used by Gibson and Fender. The result was a more efficient and cheaper process with effective results. However, the coils were still hand-wound on these guitars from 1962-1964 (Fujijen’s Early Years, 2013).
(Side note: The man who developed the pickup manufacturing process at Fuji Stringed Instruments later started his own company in 1966 which further improved the process and quality of Japanese-made pickups (Fujijen’s Early Years, 2013). The company was called Maxon, and these pickups were used in Matsumoku-produced guitars throughout the "golden age" of Japanese guitar production. Vintage guitars with these pickups are still coveted by collectors today.)
Around that same time in 1962, the Beatles were becoming popular and demand for electric guitars was building in the wake of the global rock & roll boom. Fuji Stringed Instruments received an order for 1000 electric guitars from their US partner and developed the first Matsumoku-produced electric guitar. These first 1000 guitars were branded "RODEO" and exported to the US. These were the very first Japanese-made electric guitars (Fujijen’s Early Years, 2013).
In 1962, Fuji Stringed Instruments had secured the deal to produce 1000 guitars for export to the US and were beginning to look at domestic markets for their guitars. They were contacted by Teisco, a Japanese electronics manufacturer and were subcontracted to produce electric guitars and basses under the Teisco name. Teisco was unsatisfied with the quality of the production, and soon took over the oversight of its guitar brand from Fuji by formally establishing Teisco Stringed Instruments in 1963 (Fujijen’s Early Years, 2013). The wood components for these instruments were still manufactured by Matsumoku, with Teisco electronics.
By 1965, Matsumoku began manufacturing guitars for several brands under contract. These included Arai, Columbia, and Victor, as well as making their own guitars (Benedittini, 2024). By the mid 1970's the Matsumoku factory was building guitars for numerous brands including Aria, Electra, Epiphone, Phantom, Greco, Ibanez, Skylark, Vantage, Washburn, Westone, and Univox (Benedittini, 2024). This production continued up through the 1980's.
In 1970, the Matsumoku factory began producing close copies of the Gibson Les Paul, which were sold under the brand "Greco EG" series (Benedittini, 2024). By 1975, the factory also produced the Aria Pro II model, which (along with the Greco) dominated the domestic Japanese market for electric guitar sales at that time.
Research on Matsumoku-made guitars is ongoing, please stay tuned for updates on this page!
1960's Matsumoku-made (unbranded) SG style guitar.
Photo credit: (Black Sheep Music Equipment, 2024)