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It was later changed to Guya Company Ltd., but later was changed back to Tokyo Sound Company.īy July 1956 the Tokyo Sound Factory began large scale production. In the early to mid 1950’s the company’s name was changed to Tokyo Sound Company (which also leads to some confusion with Teisco). Guyatone was manufacturing a lot of record player cartridges and this market was boosted after their products were being used by NHK, a government owned broadcasting station.
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So let us get back to the Guyatone story: In fact Chet Atkins and Les Paul both took apart old phonographs to use the cartridges as pickups on their first acoustic guitars. The cartridge essentially worked like a guitar pickup. These vibration were turned into electrical signals and sent it to the amplifier. The needle was attached to an electronic cartridge, which was an electro-mechanical transducer that picked up the signal from the grooves. The grooves on the vinyl disk were read by a needle on the end of an arm or aperture. By the late 1940’s these “record players” contained an amplifier. Record players were originally called phonographs, and played vinyl records on a turntable. This company not only made electric guitars, but also built amplifiers, and cartridges used for record players.įor those unfamiliar with “record players”, may I digress for a moment. This would explain the departure of Atsuo Kaneko, who had become involved with Teisco during the ensuing years.Īfter the war, Matsuki production restarted and the Guyatone name was used on the companies instruments and products. Upon returning Matsuki formed his own business and called it Matsuki Denki Onkyo Kenkyujo or Matsuki Electric Sound Laboratory. In 1940 the company had to halt production since Matsuki was drafted into the Japanese Army to fight in the war between Japan and China. These early instruments sold under the Guya brand name. They began by building electric lap steel guitars in the style of that era’s Rickenbacker guitars for domestic use. The name translates to the Matsuki Joiner Company. So by the late 1930’s the Matsuki Seisakujo (company) was set up. Kaneko was a friend of Matsuki, and he suggested that they build electric Hawaiian guitars. Kaneko got his start playing Hawaiian music in Japan, which was popular at the time. Matsuki was an apprentice at a cabinetry firm, and enrolled in night classes to study electronics. However, Guyatone was in business over a decade, before Teisco. If you read my previous article on Teisco guitars, it will become evident that Atsuo Kaneko was also the partner of Doryu Matsuda, and one of the principle founders that started Teisco Guitars in 1946. Matsuki Seisakujo, the name of the original company, was founded by a cabinet maker’s apprentice Mr. One of the earliest guitar manufacturers in Japan, Guyatone, began production in 1933. The Japanese guitar industry has a very interwoven history.