Matsumoku Myths

3) All early to mid ‘70s guitars can be dated by Maxon pickups.

This repetitive gaslighting goes something like: ‘Your early to mid ‘70s [insert any Matsumoku badge name, or even any other random factory or random badge name] has Maxon made pickups with number codes on the bottom that will date the guitar.’ Maxon was a brand name, not a maker. The maker was Nisshin Onpa. Nisshin Onpa wasn't the only maker of pickups. Keiyo and Gotoh Pickups have been identified as pickup makers supplying early Matsumoku, and Tokiwa as a later additional supplier [4, 10]. These companies presumably supplied many other guitar makers as well. Not every pickup made by Nisshin Onpa was necessarily stamped Maxon. If it's not stamped Maxon, how can the claim even be made, knowing that there were other makers and suppliers? If you do have one with a date code (stamped Maxon or not), it tells you when the pickup was made, not exactly when the whole guitar was made, or when it was put in a catalog, or when it was shipped and in a store. Date codes also don't seem to exist for earlier than 1972.

4) Domestic versus export meant different features and models existed for each market.

There might be some truth buried in this somewhere, but the many unanswered questions and few points of actual evidence probably balance this the other way. The trope goes: ‘This feature and this model were for the Japanese domestic market only, and that feature and that model were for the export market only’. It’s never too clear how people come up with this stuff but maybe some think ‘This is in Japanese catalogs only and that’s in English catalogs only’…not to mention other languages. It would be a rabbit hole to document everything that might actually be different between catalogs and all other literature, and then in turn to document somehow what went to what country and why. It probably can’t actually be done. There were over 20 worldwide distributors of Aria guitars specifically, never mind all the other Matsumoku badges [43, 44], and exports to over 60 countries as of 1977 [82]. The common example of this myth is the open book headstock assertion, which goes: ‘There were no open book headstocks on copy models for export from 1977 on’ or ‘Post lawsuit guitars always have different headstocks because of the lawsuit’ (apologies for using the word lawsuit, not once but twice). This isn’t correct, applied specifically for example to Aria Pro II. Look at the headstock edge shape literature summary in the LS & LC Identification Guide. Open book in ‘77, ‘78, '79, and ‘80, in German and English references [33, 34, 36, 43]. Open book every year from ‘76 to ‘81 in Japanese references [32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 43], and who’s to say the English text headstock guitars in the Japanese references never left Japan? Orders had to be filled, pack them and ship them. Arai Trading was also Gibson’s confirmed distributor in Japan by ‘76 and into the '80s [4, 10], so there was seemingly no bad blood between the two at the time. Wouldn’t Gibson object to Japan only open book Arias in the same market Aria was promoting Gibson? There’s no documentation that they ever objected, domestically or export wise. Folks regularly assert that single bump headstocks supposedly replaced open book as of ‘77. Single bump in fact may have actually first appeared on some Aria models in the assumed 1973 catalog [69]. They carry on to no later than 1978 on only some but not all LP copies (later on other non LP models), per literature references and as further confirmed by serial numbers. LP copies carried on until 1981 however. As a result, regardless of catalog or market, there are the guaranteed years of ’79-81 where nothing but open book seems to have existed on all Aria Pro II LP copies.  

🔺 Chronology of Aria & Aria Pro II Les Paul specific variations, with the single bump headstock design. Pictures from catalogs, advertisements, and magazine articles. There is no literature documentation of the single bump after 1978 [31, 32, 33, 34, 43, 69, 79].

🔺 Excerpts from the Aria Pro II Les Paul Copy LS & LC 1976 to 1981 Identification Guide poster showing the specific LS and LC examples with the single bump headstock. There are no single bump examples with serial numbers after 1978.

5) Matsumoku made all the Electra badged electric guitars.

Maybe a few, but mostly no. Direct testimonial from Tom Presley, SLM Product Manager (‘70s and ‘80s), implies a couple models were made by Matsumoku followed by the short lived combined badges of Electra Phoenix (‘83) and Electra Westone (‘84) [58]. Otherwise, the majority of Electra badged electric production through the ‘70s and early ‘80s was reportedly by Kasuga, and some by Terada (presumably semis). With enough searching, a few models total do however show up with Matsumoku style neckplates. The full Electra story identifies that there was a second and concurrent distributor on the U.S. West Coast also using the name. The specific Electra badge style seen on LPC Black Beauty copies, for example, is known to be from the Matsumoto Musical Instrument Manufacturing Cooperative.

6) The nickname for the Matsumoku factory is Uncle Matt or Matts or Matty or whatever.

More weirdness than myth, but there is no official or unofficial nickname. Why would anyone call a factory their uncle, by choice? This is just weird. Somehow, somewhere, it nonetheless got started and yet again ‘nothing dies on the internet’.

7) Arai Trading had multiple production facilities.

Third Draft on this one. A slightly better version of one of the original vague reference pieces has been found, suggested as 1984 and being a page from a classical guitars specific catalog, plus the original source of some secondary info has surfaced, and a third source has also emerged [74, 76, 82]. This might be more like embellished non-fiction, than actual myth, but it’s suggested that Arai Trading directly owned and controlled a network of facilities beyond contracting with Matsumoku. This is not to be confused with the subcontract work done for a few electric models from Kasuga and Fujigen, in whole or in part, which has come to be well understood over time. The reference information suggests that Arai Trading had two self run independent guitar making facilities, a case making shop, and no less than three string making facilities, with full clarity on dating still not determined. One reference suggests case and string making facilities as early as 1970 [45]. The USA based Music Trades publication specifically notes "subsidiary companies" as: Aria Musical Instruments Mfg. Co. (Nagoya) Ltd., Aria Musical Instruments Mfg. Co. (Tatsuno) Ltd., Aria Case Mfg. Co. Ltd., and Aria String Mfg, Co. Inc., referenced in the span of 1977-80 [82]. The current head office location, in Nagoya, which is the same as the ‘70s-‘80s period, is known to have had a service room and still has a small shipping-receiving bay, thus being a historic facility in context (note, see the address change/anomaly for the head office as of 1980, described in the Aria Timeline).Three other service rooms are known at former branch office locations, but these were not production facilities [47]. It’s also known that many Matsumoku period guitars were sold in cases marked Toyo Gakki, who are still in business today making classical instrument cases, which undercuts the idea of having a case making factory. Nonetheless, there was of course a large range of case types needed over the years and a separate case making shop is still plausible. Two locations associated with classical guitars, are identified specifically on inside paper labels as Tatsuno and Nagoya. These locations are corroborated by the reference info. There is however seemingly no clear information regarding what occurred at these locations; 'production' is noted, but purchasing from another maker, or simply office sites, are also possible. Speculating, these facilities possibly handled everything but electric guitars and most folk acoustic guitars, e.g. classical guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, etc. Nagoya, being the location of the head office, might also speculatively be crossover labelling. This said, it is also known however that some regular production and custom order Aria dreadnaught acoustic guitars are associated with a separate address in Nagoya. Referred to in sparse advertising info as Matsuoka Musical Instruments Nagoya Co. Ltd. per luthier Ryoji Matsuoka, there does not seem to be connection to electric guitars for this location [83]. No corroborating evidence seems to exist for string making facilities, but three 'plants' are noted as Samegai, Yaizu, and Taga [76]. Whatever the case, the following photo excerpts from the reference info [74], colorized and enhanced, show the locations suggested as Nagoya, Tatsuno, and a case making and a string making facility (from top L – R). More research required perhaps.