Tokai, one of many brands that operated out of this factory, produced a wonderful replica of the Fender Stratocaster – judging from the clip below, there really isn’t much of a difference between the two.įrom the ’60s up until the ’90s, Greco’s Fujigen and Matsumoku plants churned out some of the best Eastern copies on the market, many of which have attained a cult-like appreciation here in Australia. Located in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan, Matsumoku gained a reputation for their use of quality woods, impeccable attention to detail and fairly priced instruments. Enter Matsumoku, perhaps the most acclaimed guitar and bass factory of the ‘70s and ‘80s. This was mainly due to cost-cutting, and resulted in buyers looking elsewhere for quality instruments. Most musicians who were around throughout the ‘70s will tell you that Fender’s penchant for producing quality guitars took a temporary dip.
Never miss an update – sign up to our newsletter for all the latest news, reviews, features and giveaways. Many of these guitars can still be found in vintage shops around Australia today.A number of factories used to manufacture these instruments were later acquired by Fender to create the Fender Japan range.Japanese guitar manufacturers such as Tokai, Greco, Fernandes and Yamaha made a name for themselves in the ’60s and ’70s by producing high quality copies of top-tier American guitars.For reference, most of these models typically sit within the $500 – $1000 AUD price range. Were they original? Hell no, they were blatant copies. But this didn’t stop top musos from buying them, and today we’re going to show you six of the best vintage Japanese knock-off guitars still in circulation today. In fact, throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, Japan was responsible for some of the best-made guitars ever produced. Words by David Tomisich America hasn't always been the centre of electric guitar manufacturing.