The hardshell case had a green or red silk lining. It also had a black veneered headstock (front and back) and a black inlay in the back of the neck. It was available with a “Snakehead” and had a shaped fingerboard extension. The soundhole had an additional thick white purfling ring. It was available in red, black or two-tone sunburst finish, fleur-de-lis under “The Gibson” Handel inlaid tuner buttons prior to 1916 (WWI) with a dotted “+” in each button. A-4įor a period of time, this was the top of the line. The centerline of the neck had the black inlay. The headstock had a black wood face veneer. The fretboard was bound but without extension and “The Gibson” was stamped into the tailpiece cover. The birch sides and back were stained red. The grade of top wood was tighter grained. It was bound on the top, back, sides and around the fretboard. A flourish inlay under “The Gibson” in the headstock. Similar to an A2 except for the top color: an orange top in the teens, and a white top (refrigerator-top) in the late teens and early twenties. A2-Zs were theoretically made during the Loar period of 1921-25, but only between 19. There are also examples of A-2Zs without the ‘Z’ on the lable but still sporting the black perfling line. There are a few examples of A-2Zs with black tops, though this was probably used to cover some imperfection in the selected tops. In 1923 it appears that Gibson began to assemble A-2s with left-over blonde tops from A-3s.
A-3’s had refrigerator white tops with a black perfling line, adjustable truss rods and adjustable bridges. Similar to A-2 but with snakehead headstock, blonde finish, b/w binding, and A2-Z on the label. There was a line of black inlay (or ebony layer) along the centerline of the back of the neck. The headstock face was veneered in black. It had a double ring of purfling around the soundhole, pearl dots on the fretboard, dark stained birch back and sides and “The Gibson” stamped on tailpiece cover. It had binding on front, back, soundhole and the fretboard “The Gibson” inlaid into the headstock and a better grade of spruce top. This was available in brown, black or blonde finish. “The Gibson” stamped on tailpiece cover and inlaid in headstock. Similar to A, but with double purfling on the soundhole. A (also known as the A-0)īrown or black finish, some binding only on the top and in the soundhole with one ring around the soundhole. It was available with a brown finish and came as a snakehead or paddle headstock. I've watched the prices on ebay and other sites for a fair few years now and the trend seems to be that there is no trend! Some days a Matsuoka can go for a pittance, but on a small number of occasions i've seen them go for more 1000 USD.(and actually sell at the price).In general, higher model numbers meant more binding and ornament.
If you're looking for an estimate of how much you could sell your Matsuoka for, I can't help much i'm afraid. Having spoken to another owner of a number of Matsuokas, his favourites were his M20 & his M60 which he said were pretty much on a par with each other. This shouldn't put you off buying a lower model number though! Personally, my favourite Matsuoka is one of the M20s I have. So if you see a D200 you can expect the guitar to have fancy inlays, more attention to bindings, deluxe tuning pegs, and striking wood grains. My belief is that this price relates to the quality of materials, rather than the build quality. Likewise for the flat tops - D40 = 40,000 Yen, D80 = 80,000 Yen etc. If you look at the 1970s Matsuoka & Aria catalogues you find that the model number corresponds to it's price in Yen.