Concord III

Production

Matsumoku 1982-84 (approx)

Description

There are at least four (possibly five) versions of the Concord III—all were made by Matsumoku.

1982

As shown in the 1982 German catalogue:

25.5 inch scale, 21 frets
3 GS450 pickups (White covers)
front of headstock matches the body colour. Script logo on headstock
available in metallic red or blue
12 screws on the scratchplate
truss rod adjustment at the body end of the neck
Rosewood fingerboard
jack socket mounted on the side

Version 2 (1982-3)

As shown in the 1982/3 catalogue:

solid Alder body, one piece Maple neck and fingerboard (Skunk stripe on the back)
bone nut.
25.5 inch scale
21 frets
3 SF480 single coil pickups (White covers)
controls—master volume, two tone, 5 way pickup selector
brass trem system
brass knobs
gold hardware
available in Purple Red and Pearl White, both finishes with a white scratchplate (9 screws, different shape to the earlier version)
front of headstock matches the body colour
script logo on headstock
truss rod adjustment at the headstock

1983-4

As shown in the 1983 catalogue. Differences from version 2:

fingerboard is Rosewood on models with a black finish, Maple on the rest
3 Super II single coil pickups
available in Purple Red, Pearl White (Both with a white scratchplate) or Black with a black scratchplate
scratchplate has 12 screws
front of headstock has a natural finish, W ‘bird’ logo on headstock
jack socket mounted on the scratchplate

1984

As shown in the 1984 catalogue. Differences from version 3:

same scale, but now has 22 frets
H/S/S pickups – 1 x Hammer I and 2 x Super I
available in Onyx or Candy Apple Red, both with a black scratchplate.
front of headstock is the same colour as the body

Unknown

It’s not sure where the one pictured below fits. There are some similarities to versions 1, 2 and 3, so it may fit somewhere between them, but there are also parts that do not match any other version. The neck plate is an early design that seems to have been phased out in 1983, so we suspect it dates from 1982/3. It may be either a transitional model between other versions or a regional variation (It was bought in the US). It’s possible that it is a prototype / pre-production model (There is no obvious serial number).

Similarities to other versions

side mounted jack (Versions 1 and 2)
scratchplate —same shape and number of screws as version 3
Rosewood fingerboard – (Versions 1 and 3)
the logo is different to any other version
brass saddles, but the bridge is steel
truss rod cover and the hole in the end of the scratchplate by the neck are not original.