Famous Japanese Musicmaster player

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thisisnickpaige
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Famous Japanese Musicmaster player

Post by thisisnickpaige » Thu May 30, 2019 9:58 am

I was talking to my Japanese friend today and was trying to tell her about this famous japanese guitar legend who was/is known for playing those 22.5" Musicmasters. I have been trying for a while now to find him online but i can not find this guys photo or name anywhere but i know he's there.

Anyone have an idea?
Jesus

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gringopig
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Re: Famous Japanese Musicmaster player

Post by gringopig » Sat Jun 01, 2019 2:26 pm

It's not Tomo Fujita is it? I've seen some great stuff by him on YouTube on a Duo-Sonic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pduj1nCnc8c

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Re: Famous Japanese Musicmaster player

Post by thisisnickpaige » Sun Jun 02, 2019 4:42 am

Nah, he was inspired by this guy too. Tomo Fujita is how i first found out about this guy in the first place.The dude is some old head from the 50's - think instrumental rock type stuff. Tomo posted something about the guy being his inspiration, but i can't seem to find the post or the guy any more.
Jesus

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Re: Famous Japanese Musicmaster player

Post by gringopig » Sun Jun 02, 2019 9:35 am

So is it Char?

https://playingforchange.com/musicians/char/
As a teenager, Tomo studied karate and guitar. Musically, he looked up to Char, a prolific Japanese rock guitarist, and as a student of karate, he found a hero in Bruce Lee. Tomo’s karate teacher was strict and intimidating to his students. One day after class, however, he inquired about Tomo’s life outside of karate.

“I told him I played guitar,” Tomo explained.

All of the sudden, this daunting martial arts master was smiling at Tomo.

“My teacher asked me who I listened to, and I said Char. He said, don’t listen to Char, listen to Kenny Burrell.”
Maybe he's a bit too young hmmm....

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Re: Famous Japanese Musicmaster player

Post by thisisnickpaige » Sun Jun 02, 2019 10:16 am

Dude that must be it!
Fender Mustang Phenomena in Japan -- Char

As you can see from all the Fender Japan reissues of the Fender Mustang, something caused a strong demand for these guitars in Japan. Char is a Japanese musician who's first album was released in 1976--and yes he was using a white or blue Fender Mustang. So, there was a high demand for the 1965-1967 white and blue Mustangs in Japan (just like Char) and also impacted the Mustang prices in the US as many of these guitars were exported to Japan. He never used a red one, so the demand for the red ones were weak and were priced several hundred dollars less than the white or the blue ones. Here's a You Tube video of Char playing his "signature song" SMOKY with a Mustang. The Mustang in this video is his white 1966 Mustang he is known for (he also used a blue one).
That’s so funny. When I told my Japanese friend about him, I said, “ his name is like Charo, or something “ only to find the singing lady. So I turned off that trail, but man I was so close. I must be remembering his image wrong and that it was actually a mustang. Thought it was musicmaster, maybe that’s why I couldn’t find him. Thanks dude, that was super helpful! Maybe I mixed the musicmaster from Tomo and the legend from Char?

So Kenny Burrell, huh?
Jesus

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