japanstrat
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2006
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Lots of Strange Brands pop up from time to time and some of them are great guitars.
If anyone can add any info then please do.
Matsumoku made Aria, Westone, Epiphone Japan (first series before Yamano), Westminster (distributed by Kanda Shokai), some Greco Fender and Gibson copies from the 1970's, Vantage, Univox, Westbury, Skylark, Lyle, Fell, Electra, Washburn.
Chushin made Jackson, Azumi.
Morris made Morris, Bill Lawrence, H.S.Anderson.
ESP made Navigator, Zep-II, Edwards.
Kasuga made Ganson, Heerby, Kasuga.
Guya made Guyatone and were distributed by Tokyo sound corp.
Tokai made Sigma and were distributed by Martin.
Chushin probably made Fresher and Camel guitars and they were distributed by Kyowa-Shokai (not Kanda Shokai) who also distributed some Jackson models in Japan.
Cimar were made by FujiGen and also in Korea. The Cimar guitars were produced by Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez).
CSL and Antoria were imported by various music shops in the UK and are basically the same as Ibanez and some Korean models were probably made.
Profile were distributed in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia and were made in Japan and Korea. The Made in Japan Profiles were probably made by Matsumoku.
The Japanese Profiles have Made in Japan stamped on the neckplate and the Profiles that don't have Made in Japan stamped on the neckplate are made in Korea with some having plywood bodies.
There are also Profile effect pedals from the same distributor.
Terada were made by Terada and distributed by Daion.
Harptone were imported from the US and distributed by Daion.
Chaki, Hamox, Mitsura Shinano, Tamura, G.J. Gould & Sons were distributed by Daion.
Joodee, Founder, Daion and Yamaki solid bodies were were made by Dyna Gakki and distributed by Daion and the Yamaki and Daion Acoustics were made by Yamaki and distributed by Daion.
Joodee, G.J. Gould & Sons, and others were built to specifications of small USA distributors (MCI Texas) and often had the same model numbers as their Yamaki counterparts.
Gaban distributed by Hukuhara musical instrument company and probably made by Tokai.
Gallan were distributed by Kyowa-Shokai (not Kanda Shokai) and probably made by Tokai.
Gession were made by Tokai.
Grandy were probably made by Tokai.
Gibbon were probably made by Tokai.
Maya and "El Maya" and Bambu were brand names used by a Japanese Trading Company from Kobe called Rokkoman. The Maya and "El Maya" and Bambu guitars were probably made by Chushin.
Pearl were distributed by the Pearl Drum Company. The Pearl logo font on the guitars is the same as the Pearl logo font that's on the drums.
The Pearl Les Pauls were made by Matsumoku and the Pearl Acoustics were made by Hayashi Gakki.
Cortez were made by Matsumoku and some have the same headstock inlays as the Pearls.
The Cortez name comes from Jack?Westheimer who founded Cort in Korea.
Rockin' Robin were an American brand and were made by Tokai at the start and then ESP and Chushin http://www.robinguitars.com/history.html.
After a while all these strange branded guitars follow a pattern.
Music shops, companies producing machinery or whatever or business people would choose a brand name often with a Spanish sounding name like Gonzales or Fernandes and contract someone to make them and then they would try to distribute them.
They could just distribute them in Japan and get along quite well because the Japanese market is pretty big and they could also try to distribute them to other countries which would have been harder and not many survived doing it but of course Hoshino/Ibanez did.
Only a few of these brands have survived and some brands have been brought back by other companies after buying the rights to the brand name.
Also some USA and UK distributors would have guitars made in Japan with their own brand name like CSL etc.
If anyone can add any info then please do.
Matsumoku made Aria, Westone, Epiphone Japan (first series before Yamano), Westminster (distributed by Kanda Shokai), some Greco Fender and Gibson copies from the 1970's, Vantage, Univox, Westbury, Skylark, Lyle, Fell, Electra, Washburn.
Chushin made Jackson, Azumi.
Morris made Morris, Bill Lawrence, H.S.Anderson.
ESP made Navigator, Zep-II, Edwards.
Kasuga made Ganson, Heerby, Kasuga.
Guya made Guyatone and were distributed by Tokyo sound corp.
Tokai made Sigma and were distributed by Martin.
Chushin probably made Fresher and Camel guitars and they were distributed by Kyowa-Shokai (not Kanda Shokai) who also distributed some Jackson models in Japan.
Cimar were made by FujiGen and also in Korea. The Cimar guitars were produced by Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez).
CSL and Antoria were imported by various music shops in the UK and are basically the same as Ibanez and some Korean models were probably made.
Profile were distributed in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia and were made in Japan and Korea. The Made in Japan Profiles were probably made by Matsumoku.
The Japanese Profiles have Made in Japan stamped on the neckplate and the Profiles that don't have Made in Japan stamped on the neckplate are made in Korea with some having plywood bodies.
There are also Profile effect pedals from the same distributor.
Terada were made by Terada and distributed by Daion.
Harptone were imported from the US and distributed by Daion.
Chaki, Hamox, Mitsura Shinano, Tamura, G.J. Gould & Sons were distributed by Daion.
Joodee, Founder, Daion and Yamaki solid bodies were were made by Dyna Gakki and distributed by Daion and the Yamaki and Daion Acoustics were made by Yamaki and distributed by Daion.
Joodee, G.J. Gould & Sons, and others were built to specifications of small USA distributors (MCI Texas) and often had the same model numbers as their Yamaki counterparts.
Gaban distributed by Hukuhara musical instrument company and probably made by Tokai.
Gallan were distributed by Kyowa-Shokai (not Kanda Shokai) and probably made by Tokai.
Gession were made by Tokai.
Grandy were probably made by Tokai.
Gibbon were probably made by Tokai.
Maya and "El Maya" and Bambu were brand names used by a Japanese Trading Company from Kobe called Rokkoman. The Maya and "El Maya" and Bambu guitars were probably made by Chushin.
Pearl were distributed by the Pearl Drum Company. The Pearl logo font on the guitars is the same as the Pearl logo font that's on the drums.
The Pearl Les Pauls were made by Matsumoku and the Pearl Acoustics were made by Hayashi Gakki.
Cortez were made by Matsumoku and some have the same headstock inlays as the Pearls.
The Cortez name comes from Jack?Westheimer who founded Cort in Korea.
Rockin' Robin were an American brand and were made by Tokai at the start and then ESP and Chushin http://www.robinguitars.com/history.html.
After a while all these strange branded guitars follow a pattern.
Music shops, companies producing machinery or whatever or business people would choose a brand name often with a Spanish sounding name like Gonzales or Fernandes and contract someone to make them and then they would try to distribute them.
They could just distribute them in Japan and get along quite well because the Japanese market is pretty big and they could also try to distribute them to other countries which would have been harder and not many survived doing it but of course Hoshino/Ibanez did.
Only a few of these brands have survived and some brands have been brought back by other companies after buying the rights to the brand name.
Also some USA and UK distributors would have guitars made in Japan with their own brand name like CSL etc.