At the time, Guyatone was one of Japan’s leading musical instrument manufacturers. Shiro Arai founded Arai and Company in 1953 as an importer of classical guitars. In 1960, Arai contracted Guyatone to manufacture guitars. In 1979, Matsumoku began to market its own guitars under the Westone name.
Though the names above reflect Matsumoku’s involvement, many of the names were later sold to other companies, which made completely different guitars in quality and sound. Washburn Guitars contracted Matsumoku to build some of its electric guitars and basses from 1979 through 1984 (though Yamaki was the manufacturer for the early Wing series). Matsumoku built many early Greco guitars as well as Memphis, Vantage, Westbury, Westminster, Cutler, Lyle and Fell. Penney sold Matsumoku-built Skylark guitars through its catalog division. Louis Music Company imported Matsumoku built Electra Guitars. American owned Unicord contracted Matsumoku to build most of its Univox and Westbury guitars. Matsumoku produced guitars, or parts of guitars, for Vox, Guyatone, FujiGen Gakki, Kanda Shokai (Greco), Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez), Nippon Gakki (Yamaha), Aria and Norlin (parent company of Gibson). This machine-cut yet hand-worked process offered improved profit margins at lower unit prices and yielded high quality instruments with unique character. Even so, 60% of the construction process was still done by hand, including planing, fretting, joining, and assembly. This created a significant economy of scale, allowing the company to rely upon factory automation rather than skilled labor for rough shaping of components and basic assembly tasks. However, because it mainly manufactured guitars under contract, the role of Matsumoku was largely unknown outside of Japan’s guitar making circles until its name began appearing on neck bolt plates, headstocks, and sound hole labels in the late 1970s.īy the early 1970s, Matsumoku had begun using CNC (computer numerical controlled) mills, routers, and lathes, one of the first guitar makers to do so. Combined with its staff of skilled craftsmen, Matsumoku was able to realize the mass production of high quality guitars. By the early 1960s, Matsumoku had acquired new mills, lathes and specialized presses and began to increase musical instrument production. Several of Matsumoku’s early archtop guitars survive, most owing their basic designs to Hofner, Framus, and Gibson. However, as other Japanese companies were producing similar instruments, Matsumoku set out to distinguish itself by producing high quality acoustic and electric archtop guitars. Modest classical guitars, small steel stringed acoustic guitars, and violins were built and marketed in the mid-1960s. In the early-1960s (or mid-1950s), Matsumoku began to look into other woodworking markets because several subcontract work of the Singer had been moved into the Philippines and, as it had on its staff several skilled luthiers, finally ventured into guitar and violin production in 1963. Matsumoku also built amplifier cabinets and wooden cabinets for audio and television makers.
Matsumoku Industrial was contracted to build its sewing machine cabinets, and in 1951 Matsumoku became a partially owned subsidiary of Singer, Japan. On the other hand, 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. It was a family owned woodworking business that specialized in building tansu and butsudan. In 1951, Matsumoku was founded as “Matsumoto Mokko” (In English: Matsumoto Woodworking Company) by Mr. Matsumoku Industrial was a Japanese manufacturing company once existed in Matsumoto city, Japan, between 1951 – 1987. Established in 1951 as a woodworking manufacturer of various items but is best known as a manufacturer of high quality guitars and bass guitars including some Epiphone and Aria guitars. Please go to their site and donate, so they can keep up their good work.
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