Maruha/F. Hashimoto Guitars

In investigating the Maruha badge, this is what I've found thus far:

Long ago in the 1960's in Japan was a small company known as Maruha Gakki (maybe).  Maruha made badged acoustic, archtop and parlor guitars (which are REALLY nice with great pearl inlays!).

Maruha parlor guitar...sweet!

 Jedistar quotes another source that says these guitars were made by another company:  Gakki Seizo.  I've not been able to figure out if Maruha Gakki really existed or if Maruha guitars were in fact, produced by Gakki Seizo which DOES exist.  It looks like the run they had was through the 1970's and some Maruha guitars were badged F. Hashimoto... although who he was or if it was just a name they picked is a mystery.  The F. Hashimoto badges seem to be valued by blues and folk players for the guitar's sound quality and are more valuable than the Maruha.  Here's a few examples:




Maruha cherryburst from Japan




Check out the scroll label...




Maruha Archtop




F. Hashimoto




F. Hashimoto



Updates, Updates, Updates

If you haven't checked out my Hubpages page of Made In Japan badged electric guitars from 1960-1980, you should.  I've made a lot of updates, adding guitar badges and a few overlooked manufacturers from the period.  If your guitar badge from this time isn't listed, tell me!  I'll be happy to add it.  I'll continue to do research into these 'lost' guitars...badges where we have no idea which manufacturer made them.

 To date, this is the list of unknown maker badges:

Alex, Andre, Aquarius, Aquila, Asco, Aztec, Bradley, Cameo, Capri, Cipher, CG Winner, Crown, Dorado, El Degas, Encore, Fandel, Feather, Goya, Granada, Intermark, Madeira, Maier, Marchis, Maruha, Matador, Melody, Moon, Norwood, S.G.C., Sigma, Yoshi, Zim-Gar

If you have any information on the maker of any of these guitars, PLEASE contact me!

May Queen, Correction

Well, shoot.  Sometimes Torch forgets a few things and I'll be gosh darned if it didn't happen during the the May Queen article. I neglected to mention (and thanks to all the readers who pointed it out) that some May Queens were badged "Kimberly".  Sorry for the oversight.

A Rare Jack....

Black Jack guitars are RARE. So rare, in fact, that I've never seen a picture of one. They seldom come up for sale and are a bit of a mystery.  Made in the 1960's, these hollowbody and semihollow electrics and basses have been attributed to Matsumoku, who made so many of these mystery badges.  Black Jack has been compared to examples from Univox, also a Matsumoku badge, although others believe it to be from another unknown manufacturer. Violin-shaped and a trifle old-fashioned, Black Jack is another lost page in the history of MIJ guitar lore.

Do you own a Black Jack?  Share it with us!  Send a pic!