Matsumoku クーパー

Price

£2,099 GBP | SOLD

Missed out on this model? Talk to us for a rebuild!

This is another superb example of a pre-serial number Matsumoku built Strat clone - it features the slightly more substantial neck profile than the later Fujigen and Aria products. This one arrived in decent condition but had worn its frets beyond the absolute limit. It has now been re-fretted with Jescar 55090 (similar to a vintage Gibson feel), and so favoured by guitarists in the 1970s who had worn their skinny vintage Fender frets down. The body has been sensitively modified to accept a modern pick-up, and now has a set of custom wound Clausens fitted with a new 5-way switch and potentiometers. The neck and bridge pick-ups are tapped units have 2 outputs selected by an S-1 switch on the master volume control. This offers everything from Gilmour to Trout and more beyond. Keeping the pick-ups in lower output mode calms the tone down if a super clean sound is desired, and switching to the higher output gets the very best out of a valve amp. It's all there, but most importantly we think, there is enough aggression and power in that bridge pick-up to get a nod of respect from the guy with the Les Paul. The in between settings are very wide and scooped - Knopfler to funk catered for. Engaging the higher output mode will give you more presence in the parallel settings. In the middle you can slip on a bottleneck and be Bonnie Raitt. A Master Tone control tames the higher frequencies with a SoZo PIO capacitor.

The lower Tone control is a blender function to fade in the neck pick-up when the bridge pick-up, or middle and bridge pick-ups in parallel are in play; and which fades in the bridge pick-up when in the neck pick-up, or middle and neck pick-ups in parallel are in play. When in the higher output mode, the tone of the neck and bridge pick-ups together reminds us of the middle position on a Tele Deluxe. There are so many tones to get hold of with this configuration, and while the controls will require a little familiarization to seasoned Strat players, we wouldn’t change anything unless it offered an improvement. Once you are familiar with this control layout, this guitar adopts the character of a Swiss Army Knife. And all with the traditional look. The bridge and tuners are original Gotoh units - a (very) narrow string spacing (10mm saddles) and 2 1/16 E to E. We have upgraded the string trees. To the customer's specific request, we have refinished this guitar in Mercury-burst - the older darker version as seen in the 70s. The cream pick-up covers, controls and the black scratchplate complete the desired look. It tips the scales at 3.68kg (8lbs 2oz).