Japanese guitars are pretty well regarded today, but at the start of the 1960s, manufacturers producing guitars in Japan were pretty much non-existent. The market was dominated by American and European makers, many with decades of experience, and producing very fine instruments. It is, then, a testament to Japanese skill and ingenuity that by the end of the decade these same makers were contracting a large part of their manufacture to companies in Japan, with the majority coming from one place, the Matsumoku factory in the city of Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.
Although Matsumoku were relatively new to guitar manufacture, the company were well regarded in cabinet building, for televisions, amplifiers, sewing machines and traditional Japanese furniture. The name Matsumoku derives from "Matsumoto Mokko" - translating to "Matsumoto Woodworking Company". Electric guitar production began in the mid 1960s, and continued through to 1986.
Initially, Matsumoku didn't build and market their own guitars - as was the case with their sewing machines, Matsumoku were subcontracted by other companies, the most important being Aria. Aria designed a series of instruments, some quite original, some clearly based on guitars by existing manufacturers; and although available with Aria branding, the same guitars were re-badged for different guitar distributors across the globe. The guitars were effectively identical, using many of the same parts (see Matsumoku guitar parts), but with plastic peghead logos pinned in place.
From around 1966 Merson/Unicord distributed Aria/Matsumoku guitars labelled Univox, with the best known-model, the Mosrite-styled Hi-Flier appearing in 1967/68. David Wexler of Chicago badged them as Conrad, C. Bruno as Ventura, L.D. Heater as Lyle, and Maurice Lipsky as Domino. In the United Kingdom many were imported branded as Eros (Rosetti), Angelica (Boosey & Hawkes), and Commodore. Over the next five or six years there were numerous other examples: Electra, Granada, Tempo (Merson), Toledo, Jedson (Dallas), Arbiter and Shaftesbury (Rose-Morris) to name just a few.
But the best known Matsumoku guitars of the early seventies were those branded Epiphone. Aria struck a deal with Gibson to start production of Epiphone guitars in Japan in late 1970. Whilst functionally the same instruments these guitars were a step up from the previous offerings, having Epiphone-style headstocks, with inlaid logos and branded scratchplates / truss rod covers. Initially the Epiphone models kept the original Aria model designations, but these were soon revised to differentiate these guitars from the numerous similar models out there. Perhaps one of the best known of these early Japanese Epiphones was the ET-270 solid body later wielded by Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
But Gibson was not the only Big American company to offer a Matsumoku-made 'entry level' version of its guitars. In 1973 Gretsch attempted the same approach, offering a very nice version of Epiphone's ET-270 solid body as the Dorado 5985.
In 1975 Aria guitars were sold as Aria Pro II. The brand had gained in confidence and there was a distinct move away from copies towards more original designs.
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