The Electra Forums

I just posted this in response to a question in the Small Vintage Brands area, thought some of y'all might not see it there -- very informative list of Japanese manufacturers and their multitude of brands !! http://torchharrison.hubpages.com/hub/J ... 50-to-1980

Very informative article. thanks for the post.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

I read where Jead wrote the guy about Electra manufacturers 6 months ago and the guy did not update the info yet.

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"This is the way that pop ends, Not with a BANG but with a box set whose fourth disc you never get around to playing” - Simon Reynolds

"My guitar wants to kill your Mama" - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

I believe our own Tom P. said all the early and copy models were made by Kasuga and Fujigen,he would definitely be the one to know........

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"If it ain't been in the pawnshop,it can't play the blues" R.L.Burnside

I don't think Tom had been hired until the mid 70's.

There are so many asterisks in Japanese Guitar manufacturing that you have to be realistically skeptical about any origin claims.

For example, the Electra Tele's (2238, 2248) look identical to the Tele's in the Ibanez 1972 and 1973 catalogs, down to the output jack on the control plate and dot markers only to the 17th fret (the Ibanezs have a single coil in the Neck position though). I've been told the 'Butcher Block' body construction was a most likely Kasuga, as they were known for that kind of thing. Yet, all the 'experts' say that Ibanez's were all Fujigen, so who are you going to believe?

Bottom line is that none of these manufacturers were above farming out work, and many models no doubt were a product of multiple companies efforts. A neck could have been made by one firm, the Electronics by another, and final assembly could have taken place at a third factory.

I commend the guy for even trying to compile the information, and it certainly was an eye opener to see the sheer number of different companies listed. Good on him.

Somewhere in the text it says that the Golden Age of Japanese manufacturing is between the 60's and the 80's, but I personally feel that quality and consistency peaked from 1975 to about 1985. Before that you have hit-and-miss materials and construction, and the Electronics are fairly primitive, and after that I feel that there was a drop off again in materials and quality control... but you know what they say about opinions.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

Right - But that still a real comprehensive listing. Trying to compile all the badges and brands from the murky records must be really difficult and I'm sure there are many guitars that can't be categorized definitively. A tough job to take on for sure. I wish there were more references to substantiate many of his listings but I'm willing to take a lot of it on his word. When it comes down to it, you can usually tell a quality made instrument from a pretty cursory inspection.