StraySinger Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 I'm not sure what category I'd post this in, but... I just bought a secondhand (maybe third- or fourth-hand) Memphis guitar, and I was trying to find some information online that might lead me to its origins. What I found was a spurious bunch of information connecting Memphis with Yamaha, and with a lawsuit by Gibson in the mid-1980s that basically forced Memphis to go away... Memphis Guitars is a defunct subsidiary of Yamaha that produced guitars during the late 1970s and early 1980s. ~Wikipedia Memphis guitars were produced from the 1970s to the middle of the 1980s and were largely based off the Gibson Les Paul and SG model of guitar. Yamaha Instruments owned Memphis guitars while it was still making instruments. ~eHow.com Does anybody know anything that could be used to confirm or deny this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Memphis was a maker in the mid 70's and 80's they made lower end guitars and flooded the mom and pop music stores that were everywhere back then. They were a low end build usually with bolt on necks and 70's level import electronics. I don't remember if they were part of Yamaha I thought they were part of the Kaman music company which imports all kinds of instruments there big with Ovation, Takamine and Hamer. I don't remember the connection with Yamaha but it wouldn't surprise me. I also don't remember a lawsuit with Yamaha on the Memphis brand specifically and Yamaha has made a lot of guitars that looked more like the LP than that one does check out a AES-820 the knobs are the only real difference in looks to the LP you can even swap the cases which is cool because Yamaha had some nice cases so the Memphis might have been involved in a lawsuit but more likely it went out of business because it was a crappy line like so many others. Now here's a Yamaha that looks like a LP same size and weight along with nice Dimarzio pickups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraySinger Posted March 12, 2010 Author Share Posted March 12, 2010 Thanks - I'd seen information connecting them with Kaman as well... My 'new' guitar isn't a Les Paul copy, but it is a Memphis guitar. The 1970s-80s date range seems about right, based on the pickups, which are "FIREPOWER BLADE PICKUPS" according to the very worn-off label underneath them. I can't find anything on those online, either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Hey, another fellow Marylander. Welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraySinger Posted March 12, 2010 Author Share Posted March 12, 2010 Hey, Saturn! :-) Where y'at in Maryland? I'm up in the Baltimore/Columbia area. And I completely agree with your signature. Zombies need brains. This morning, I am one, having had about 3-1/2 hours of sleep last night..... zzzzzzzzzzz... Caps game tonight, too, ugh. Have to pick up new strings for another of my guitars on lunch, and a #!@%$^!@ peg winder. I will NOT restring my 12-string without one, dammit!!! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Hey' date=' Saturn! :-) Where y'at in Maryland? I'm up in the Baltimore/Columbia area. And I completely agree with your signature. Zombies need brains. This morning, I am one, having had about 3-1/2 hours of sleep last night..... zzzzzzzzzzz... Caps game tonight, too, ugh. Have to pick up new strings for another of my guitars on lunch, and a #!@%$^!@ peg winder. I will NOT restring my 12-string without one, dammit!!! ;-)[/quote'] I'm not far down the road in Pasadena. Don't follow the Caps too much, but I do have my O's Opening Day 4 Pack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Sorta looks like a cross between a Strat and an Epi Wilshire, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraySinger Posted March 12, 2010 Author Share Posted March 12, 2010 @NeoConMan - Yeah it does... sortof. I can tell you that amplified, she has a nice, mellow tone to her. She's easy to play; the action isn't too high, and she isn't buzzing, though I'm a bit dubious about the electronics, and I think that I should have taken her all the way apart last night before I restrung her, just to give everything the once-over, but when I went to pull the tailpiece, half the screws were stripped out... I think there's a short somewhere, though, so next time I restring her, I'll do some internal poking around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraySinger Posted March 12, 2010 Author Share Posted March 12, 2010 @Saturn - Yeah, I know where Pasadena is. :-) I went to a couple of Orioles games last year; mostly for baseball, I tend to go for the minor leagues (Bowie Baysox), because my other avocation is photography, and I like being able to sit right behind the third base dugout to shoot... for $15 a seat. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 you got a few other Gibsons yet...........? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brundaddy Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Cool guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraySinger Posted March 16, 2010 Author Share Posted March 16, 2010 @blackie - No Gibsons in the collection yet. Got a Yamaha FG480S and a Seagull S12+ as my other two primary guitars, and just picked up a Strunal C870 classical, bringing the total number of guitars in the house to six... I don't have room for any more right now, not until I finish fixing up the 1/2-size cello I rescued from a junk shop and get it shipped off to my elementary school... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 StraySinger, I had one identical to your Memphis back around '86 or '87. I don't recall it having any name brand on it at all, which shouldn't be any surprise. If you need inspiration for your cello, check out the one I rebuilt: http://www.angelfire.com/me4/ksdaddy/kaycello.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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