Greco, Burny, Tokai & More: A Guide To Lawsuit-Era Japanese Guitars

Burny, Fernandes, Greco, Tokai, Guyatone, Ibanez… there are dozens of brands from '60s and '70s Japan that were eager participants in the so-called lawsuit era, building and selling quite a few copies of American guitars. In this video, John O'Brien from PTD Vintage & Joe show us some brands to look for and run through some of the best guitars at PTD Vintage.

#madeinjapan #fender #burny #greco #guyatone #lawsuit #japanese #guitar

[guyatone]

Thank you for speaking about our instruments! We would have been glad to do an interview. Guyatone was the first electric guitar manufacturer from Japan. We were making original instruments since the 1930's. Feel free to reach out to us for future information, or expert references.

[JCHaywire]

"I don't know if their trees grow different..."
Nice. I was living in Chiba, Japan and noticed, across a busy street--a Les Paul headstock sticking up out of the "sodai gomi" for that month. My wife says I ran across the lines of cars to grab it. Turned out to be a deeply-encrusted but serviceable '78 Les Paul Custom copy. Three pickups, the whole deal. I dubbed it "The Love Gun" and still play it today. Thank you, Japan, for giving me this amazing gift.

[Jeroen_K]

So there l was asking myself why you demonstrate these guitars through a bees hive like fuzz effect, making any instrument character dissapear, but apparently that was an advertisement 🤨

[jessegreco]

It’s a dream of mine to own a Greco Les Paul one day. Imagine playing a guitar with your last name on the headstock. Too cool.

[jkris]

I have an Aria Pro II ...it is a ts-400 model....I am 57 years old...I got this guitar when I was in 10th grade....it is absolutely beautiful...it is also very heavy !....a wide variety of tones....especially with the phase is legit for playing any country, rock.... I just finished filing down all of the saddle pieces because the strings had worn deep, wide notches in them over the past 40 years....this guitar is one of the most solid, well built things I have ever

[thecaveofthedead]

The information here is pretty good in general. It's worth also noting that all of these companies made many of the same models at different price-points - with the higher numbers (which reflected the MSRP in Yen) having fancier woods, higher quality electronics and hardware etc.. The other important note is that many top-notch copies of US designs are still being made today. Tokai, Navigator (an ESP brand), and Momose, all make very high end copies in addition to more affordable Japanese models, and very affordable models made more cheaply in other countries.

[johnw]

I like Japanese guitars. I have an early 90s Squier Strat that I'm proud to own.

[godfreydaniel]

I have two Tokai guitars - a Springy Sound strat and a Love Rock Les Paul Jr in solid mahogany - they are the equal of or better than any similar electric guitars ever made anywhere. The Springy Sound strats were made for the Japanese domestic market as replicas of '59 American Fenders, as the Japanese are wild for vintage electric guitars, and there just weren't enough of them in Japan to satisfy the demand. American servicemen (mostly Navy) ran into them, recognized their quality and insane bang for the buck and started bringing them home - and the brand took off from there. I also have a gorgeous Univox-branded hollow-bodied bass - manufactured by Matsumoku, which also made instruments (and still do) for Epiphone, Aria, Teisco, Burney, Kay - and at least a dozen other labels. The Japanese were making first-rate stringed instruments long before there was a United States, so the are nothing to sneeze at...

[Mr.Steve-O]

Great segment guys. I have seen many awesome Japanese guitars in my 25 years of on-and-off travel to Tokyo and Osaka. My favorite lawsuit-era guitar was the Ibanez Rickenbacker Bass Copy. Peter Hook used one in the early phase of Joy Division. I did buy a 1988/89 ST-57 MIJ Black Strat for about $365 with a case, I really love the neck and overall feel of the guitar.

[timfarney]

Turn off the damn fuzz tone and let us hear the guitars.

[sentforth]

I've got a '79 Greco GO 1500 and putting down one of my everyday guitars and picking the Greco up is like getting out of a Cadillac and stepping into a Rolls Royce. It's the finest guitar I've ever played.

[jamesosterberg]

Cool video !! Japanese Guitars are the best !! I love them all !!
(no mention of "Aria Pro II" made in the "Matsumoku Factory". I got a few ones, like a LP Standard from 77', wich is great !)

[ZeBubba]

I have 3 modern MIJ Tokais: 335, tele and a P-bass. Awesome stuff.
PS, That distorted tone is very fizzy, maybe a problem with the micing?

[johndoyle]

Lots of interesting instruments. I bought a Tokai Goldstar Sound S-style guitar in 1984 and still have it. I’ve never played an S-style guitar that felt or sounded better. I gotta say that nothing throws a blanket over a guitar’s tone and obscures how it really sounds like a fuzz.

[Earthshaker]

Alex Lifeson of Rush really likes Burny guitars. He mentioned them by name in a interview. I have a '79 Aria Pro II Les paul custom copy in cherry sunburst. I absolutely love it! Aria was never formally hit with a lawsuit, but Aria/Matsumoku was definitely on the radar.

[guitarandbeyondplus]

Very informative video. Great work. I just have one negative comment. Junk whatever distortion box you used.

[TobyKBTY]

I owned a Tokai LS-150 and now own an Edwards black beauty LP. I ended up trading the Tokai for a Gibson explorer (which I sold soon after), but in hindsight that was a bad move. The Tokai was one of the most spectacular guitars I've ever played and owned. Resonant, not a blemish, beautifully cut nut, flawless fretwork, stayed in tune, the whole deal. The worst part is just the pickups but that was an easy fix.

I'd love to have a Tokai again one day.

[ScottLaneMusic]

I have converted most of my guitar collection to MIJ 70-80's - Greco, Fugijen, Matsumoku, Fender Japan, Tokai - incredible value

[MarkTurner-vsuc]

My 1975 Ibanez les paul custom is really good. Great neck, solid. Plays beautifully. It sits among my Gibsons with no shame.

[filipedoria]

I would LOVE to have a Burny Custom LP Randy Rhoads 80's model! Andy Latimer, Steve Hackett and Robert Fripp used Burny guitar a lot and these sound HUGE! :D