In the early 80’s, I had a customer that owned a mid 60’s Gibson SG. Detonator pick ups and the active mid range control

Now, before I go any further I want to back up a bit. Now I was curious….(let’s see… hmmm… thousand’s instead of tens… my name perhaps in a nationally distributed catalog….) OK! Eventually, I was put in contact with the Westone product manager at SLM. Expressing curious interest in the product he asked if I ever thought of producing the product nationally. All designed by myself and sold exclusively at my shop. I explained that the instruments in my shop had Detonator pickups and an active mid range control installed in them for sales demonstration purposes. That sparkle was not audible from those amplifiers when demoed with the same model instruments in other stores. He would often comment on how the tone of the Crate amplifiers had “sparkle” when they were demoed in my shop. some sample settings that he could use when presenting the product to his customers. My staff and I would demo the products and show the rep. He also would bring in the latest and greatest of his Crate amplifier samples. In 1986, a sales representative of SLM began bringing his string instrument samples into my guitar shop for basic set-ups prior to showing them to his customers. The beginning of the SLM/Dana relationship

A park now exists on these sites and a marble sculpture in the shape of a guitar marks the place where the entrance of the factory stood (see picture below).Due to the exposure of several Dana Westone custom guitars on Ebay, I think it is time to tell the story of how my relationship with Westone and St. The factory closed in 1987 and was demolished a few years later. Matsumoku was responsible for production in the ’70s and’ 80s for many brands of electric guitars such as Aria, Electra, Epiphone, Fantom, Greco, Ibanez, Skylark, Vantage, Washburn, Westone and Univox.

He learned the art of carpentry with Harayama and he was the one who projected most of Matsumoto Mokkou / Matsumoku’s electric guitars in the 60s and 70s. At first, he was hired as a guitar designer. Another key Matsumoto Mokkou / Matsumoku employee was Mr. Harayama also made and distributed guitar necks under his own brand called Jaramer. He was a master craftsman also known for having been responsible for producing guitar bodies and necks for the ESP, Kramer, Schecter and Moon brands. One of them was Norikatsu Harayama, chief engineer in the 1960s. Matsumoto Mokkou has employed excellent engineers, designers and craftsmen. Matsumoto Mokkou also started making his own guitars for export. In 1965, Matsumoto Mokkou started making guitars for various brands like Arai, Colombia and Victor. This commercial relationship between Fujigen and Matsumoto Mokkou, both based in Matsumoto, will last for a few years. All conditions were in place for Matsumoto Mokkou to start making guitars, and in 1962, Fujigen’s founder, Yuichiro Yokouchi, set up a partnership with Matsumoto Mokkou to make electric guitars. But Matsumoto Mokkou was a modern factory with good financial management, a real commercial vision and it had excellent wood drying facilities. In the early 1960s, Matsumoto Mokkou lost competitiveness in foreign markets and Singer Company decided to end their collaboration. As a subsidiary of Singer Sewing Machine Company, Matsumoto Mokkou’s core business was the manufacture of wooden cabinets, tables and accessories for sewing machines. This company specialized in carpentry and was working in its early days for Singer Japan.īeing one of the best carpentry companies in Japan, Matsumoto Mokkou / Matsumoku will soon have an important role in the history of Japanese guitars. Located in Matsumoto, the name of the factory comes indeed from the combination of the words “Matsumoto Mokkou-jo” (carpentry). Tsukada, in the city of Matsumoto, Japan, and his name was at the time Matsumoto Mokkou until 1971.

Westone guitar pickups