Hi guys!
I dunno much about who built this guitar, or when this was built, so I'll just give you a "low down" on the actual details that I see on this guitar. There's a decal inside the guitar, but it is in freakin' japanese, and the only "english" part of the decal are the words "Custom", "deluxe" and "matsomuko japan". If any of you have additional infos, shoot away, I'd love to "hear 'em". I got this guitar from one of my former neighbors. This wasn't actually "for sale" then, because this was his "souvenir" after he stayed in japan for half year back in 2000. His landlady happened to be a widow of a japanese jazz player, who died about a couple of years before he arrived in Japan. The landlady didn't want this around because it reminded her of her late husband, but she didn't have the heart to sell it either, and because she treated my neighbor "like a son", she gave this to him. I dunno if the story checks out, but frankly, I really don't care if the story was just B.S.,... being a guitar addict, the guitar just blew me away. Judging from the physical details of the guitar, I strongly feel that this was the japanese jazz player's "number 1" guitar. The paint on the neck, rims, and top exhibit player wear that could only be achieved if the guitar has been played countless times. My former neighbor wasn't much of a guitar player either, so this spent a lot of time in his "aparador". Again this was not "for sale" then, but I really wanted to have it, and I found out that he was into "motorcycles"....so I offered him a vintage Yamaha DT motorcycle that has been in our garage for decades. So, done deal. (Hell I don't like Yamaha DTs, ang pangit na hindi pa mapa register)
Anyways, here are the guitar details:
1.) There is no brand on the headstock, no serial number or anything, and what's more fascinating, it does not have screw marks for the truss rod cover, which means, it never had any. This somehow made me believe, that this guitar was not yet finished. According to my former neighbor,the Jap Jazz player was old (Beacuse the landlady was old? or maybe he saw pics), and the landlady told my neighbor that her husband's bestfriend "made" if for him (Maybe the luthier died before the aesthetic details were applied. Because the Jap player was old, I assumed his friend was old too....no justice in that tho
hehehe, naisip ko lang ganun.
).
2.) Notice the truss-rod, gibson style, not one of them regular jap truss rods.
3.) 1 piece mahogany neck. No joint between the headstock and neck.
4.) Ebony fingerboard. Yup ebony ,Not tinted rosewood.
5.) Solid Top and Back .Yup solid, definitely not ply. The "bindings" that you see aren't plastic bindings...those are the edges of the maple top (Similar to how PRS did their 'Binding")
6.) Solid Mahogany rim. yup solid, you can see it when you look closely at the "jack" hole, and judging from the thickness of the mahogany rim, i'd say that this was "carved" from a block of mahogany, not "bent" like in acoustics or usual archtops. The rim has shrunk a bit (Probably due to habitat temperature changes between japan and the phils) but has been in stable state for years.
7.) A chunky solid piece of flamey maple pickguard houses the control pots. some markings underneath.
8.) Gold Gotoh hardwear.
9.) I dunno what brand the pickup is, but i think it's one of them PAF pups, I never felt the need to change the pickup coz it sounds good as is.
10.) Knobs have "Sato japan" markings.
11.) Rosewood moveable bridge block
12.) The "blue burst" on this guitar is just awesome. It changes from blue burst, to emerald green with blue burst, to turquoise, to bottle green...depending on how the light hits it. The rim, neck, and headstock are in moss green.
13.) The dimensions of this Archtop is similar to a regular archtop, but the depth of the body is similar to a Gibson Byrdland.
How does it sound?
Sounds like a f*ckin' Grand Piano. Hands down.
Scott Chinery commisioned the "blue guitars" around 1998. Maybe he saw this one being played at a club (?)
Sadly, I can't keep too many guitars, and my landlady isn't as cool as my former neighbor's landlady, so I need to part with this one.
It needs a bit of TLC though already very playable.
Php 25,000.00
0917 374 63 40
