Info on President Guitars please? And a story..

[Gone Troppo]

Hey folks, I picked up this hollowbody electric guitar in Cape Town on Friday morning. Japanese made with a bolt on neck and bigsby tremelo. It has a badge saying "President" on the headstock, so his name is Nelson in honour of the great Nelson Mandela.

I can't seem to find any info about it at all and would appreciate any help and/or info you can give! Here are some pics...

[VintAxe]

Hey Gone Troppo.

I do not know who built you guitar but I can tell you that tremolo dates it to the late 1960's. The bound f holes, three piece neck and adjustable bridge suggest a better than average build. Could it be Matsumoko?

BTW, I like your garden

[Gone Troppo]

[VintAxe]

Hey Gone Troppo.

Just to clarify, I do not think the guitar was built by matsumoko, but it appears to be matsumoko quality. During this time there were many small builders that used similar parts and even bought hardware, necks and bodies from the same suppliers. It will likely be very difficult to determine the specific manufacturer of your instrument. However, Frank at Drowning in Guitars has made a recent trip to Japan and is working on a book to sort out Japanese guitar production during this period of time. It promises to be the most definitive book in English concerning 1960's Japanese guitar production.

You can check out Frank's website here:

http://drowninginguitars.com/