eldegas.com

Some of you may know that in addition to an interest in El Degas instruments I also have a (growing) collection of Japanese guitars made by the famous Matsumoku factory in the 80's. They made a lot of well known labels as well as some "white labels" including El Degas at some point.

One of the men, um, instrumental, in the design of some of the most innovative and highest quality production guitars and basses ever built, was Tom Presley, a living legend in guitar design circles. I am delighted to report that he has just come out of self-imposed exile and is now entering into a fascinating dialogue with the members on the Westone guitar forum. You don't have to register of course to read the posts, but if you happen to own a Mats built guitar you may have some questions of your own and want to join up for the opportunity of a lifetime to talk to him!
http://forum.westoneguitars.net/general ... 1.htm#7627

Some of the more well known labels Tom was involved in include Westone, Kasuga, Electra, SLM, and Alvarez. He's a fountain of knowledge. Come and get some!

Very cool - I will have to do some lurking and see what he has to say.

Charles, it's amazing, his appearance has hit like a bombshell!
Most of the material so far relates mainly to the Westone line and Matsumoku, but he's also talking about interesting technical details of design and production, the importance of wood handling, and the outright accidents that spawned some amazing innovations, like the unbalanced coils for example.
Fascinating stuff, especially if you're a fan of the Mats line.

Great information presented thus far. I am a philistine when it comes to the Westone/Mats stuff so it's a very new and interesting tale to read.