Then I could install on top of my adapter a Tuneomatic-style bridge with fore and aft adjustment. I think I will make a bracket that I can screw to the body within the footprint of the lower part of the stock bridge. The other weird thing is how hard it is to turn the tuners. The bridge itself it a thin metal casting that has tiny notches for the strings. There is no adjustment at the bridge, other than vertically for string height. But what I can't figure out is how they ever intonated a guitar like this. The wiring is good, even the pickup selector switches work ok. They gave me the purchase order I required, and this was the beginning of the manufacturing of a standard high end instrument for Alembic and the entire music industry.I finally restrung this guitar and cleaned it up, fortunately only contact cleaner needed in the pots and on the jack. We negotiated an exclusive distribution agreement for a limited time. Norlin was based in Illinois and owned Gibson, Maestro, Epiphone and other music related companies. They wanted to discuss the possibility of Alembic making a more standardized form of instrument that they could distribute to their dealers.
#LYLE GUITARS 60S PRO#
Heater Music Company, read the article (about Pro Audio Gear) in Rolling Stone and it interested them enough to take a little trip to San Francisco. Heater Music Company.ġ973 A small music distribution company in Beaverton, Oregon, L. The history of Alembic instruments of Santa Rosa, California, shines some light on the history and business model of the L. Caveat emptor: because the ad states it is a "lawsuit" model, does not mean that it is.
Guitars can have an inflated price and sell for more than they are actually worth. There appears to be a lot of this in on-line auctions and on-line guitar advertisements. Too often it really isn't a lawsuit model at all. Often the term "lawsuit guitar" is used to raise the price of the copy, increase interest, or they have misunderstood what the "lawsuit" was all about. Most of the Japanese companies, as a precautionary move, turned away from close copies but many still offered their "version" of the classic American designs with at least minor departures in design and appearance. The lawsuit was not "won" by Norlin, but settled out of court. These guitars were metric and not an "exact" copy. It was not over the exact copying of body dimensions or construction.
The lawsuit was filed In 1977 by Norlin (Gibson's parent company) against Elger/Hoshino (Ibanez's American division) over the use of the "open book" headstock design which Norlin claimed as a Gibson Trademark. It is also commonly said it was over the exact copying of American designs. It is a common misconception that the famous Gibson/Norlin lawsuit was filed against a number of Japanese companies. Matsumoku, as a sub-contractor of Aria (Arai and Company) manufactured instruments including Gibson Epiphone, Skylark, Cutler, Aria, Aria Pro, Aria Diamond and Washburn from 1964 into the mid '80s. Heater Music Company was owned by Norlin. Matsumoku continued to manufacture instruments beyond 1972. Heater Music Company were not part of the lawsuit. This rumor stems from a Gibson (Norlin) lawsuit against manufacturers (specifically Elger the parent company of Ibanez) copying their copyrighted "Open Book" headstock design. In fact, Norlin never purchased Matsumoku, nor did they shut them down. It has been suggested that "the Matsumoku Company manufactured many Lyle branded guitars in Japan from (approximately) 1965 to 1972 until they were bought and shut down by Norlin, Gibson's parent company at the time". Heater Music Company of Beaverton, Oregon, USA. Lyle guitars were distributed in the US solely by the L.