Duck
First Lieutenant   Posts: 5 Registered: 9/21/2004 Status: Offline
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 posted on 9/21/2004 at 15:19 |
Can anyone give me any info on Bradley Guitars that were made in Japan? I
recently got one at a very good price at a local thrift store it looks like
an old gibson explorer.....I have heard that gibson sued the parent
japanese company that was making these things many years ago....any info
would be helpful.
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brian
Moderator   Posts: 1075 Registered: 12/22/2003 Status: Offline |
posted on 9/21/2004 at 17:37, Reply 1 |
You just answered your own question. Just another rip off guitar company.
The good thing is most Japanese guitar makers make some good guitars. if it
sounds good it's good hold on to it.
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Duck
First Lieutenant Posts: 5 Registered: 9/21/2004 Status: Offline |
 posted on 9/22/2004 at 09:25, Reply 2 |
Thanks for the reply Brian, I could not find any info on Bradley Guitars on
the net. Ebay presently only has one listed. So I did my research the old
fashioned way, (piece at a time)....Here is what I found.
According to an interview with vintage guitar magazine Ted McCarty the old
CEO of Gibson took some comments made by Fenders Representatives about the
folks at gibson being "old fuddie duddies" rather personal and then ordered
the the designers at gibson to come up with some exoctic designs such as
the flying V, the explorer, and the Moderne. All of these guitars appeared
on the scene in 1958.
However as any reasonable person knows the design of new guitars in a
company such as Gibson takes about 2 to 3 years from the drawing board to
the manufacturing process. So I then began to research executive trade
journals on Ted McCarty, who after all was a corporate executive and not a
musician.
I found an interview in a trade magazine called "Executive Decision"
published in 1955. In which McCarty lamented how the retooling costs for
Gibson's exotic line was so cost prohibitive that Gibson farmed the whole
manufacturing process out to Tokia in Japan. This was a common process for
US companies at the time.
Tokia while manufacturing the Gibson exotic line began to manufacture
"house guitars" under the name of "Bradley" that they inported through a
licensing agreement with mitsubishi, from 1959 through 1963.
The Gibson Moderne disappeared almost immediately and the explorer fared
almost as well. Gibson turned somewhat of a blind eye to what Tokia was
doing until Tokia began to import a house version of the flying V at which
point Gibson sued and the relationship desolved.
In 1976 Gibson reissued both the Moderne and the Explorer, since modern
re-tooling had made it less cost effective.
At any rate the Bradley's were made with all of the same components and
specifications as the Gibsons with the only difference being the
Headstock....And Gibson did indeed contrary to all of their claims
otherwise import foriegn made guitars for a few short years.
God, I love historical research.
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brian
Moderator Posts: 1075 Registered: 12/22/2003 Status: Offline |
posted on 9/22/2004 at 10:53, Reply 3 |
Pretty Interesting. They should do what OLP Guitars are doing.
Buy a licence from the original manufacturer and no problems will arise.
PRS just got sued by Gibson and Dillion Guitars is always having problems
with Gibson and Fender.
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Duck
First Lieutenant Posts: 5 Registered: 9/21/2004 Status: Offline |
 posted on 9/22/2004 at 11:42, Reply 4 |
When all of this activity tween Gibson and Tokia was on I suspect licensing
agreements did not even exsist. It was after all before the beatles
arrivedThe "Uniform Code of Interstate Commerce" was not ratified until
1967. So International trade was liked the wild west. It was the embroynic
stage of the wold community....
At any rate my Bradley sounds excellent, (I play OK for a girl  ... ). I have
decided to add it to my personal collection which is now 23 guitars strong.
It has historical significance, since a search of the west "key" law review
shows that it was
the first lawsuit for product infringement that Gibson filed. Which they
filed in 1960.
Looks sweet, sounds sweet, and is a small piece of history. Collectible by
any standard.
[Edited on 9/22/2004 by Duck]
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Jdx
First Lieutenant Posts: 6 Registered: 9/6/2004 Status: Offline |
posted on 9/23/2004 at 17:56, Reply 5 |
There were quite a few Japanese guitar makers involved in those lawsuits
the most well known being Ibanez. The "lawsuit" Ibanez guitars usually
bring a suprising amount especially the Flying V(I believe it's called a
Rocket) which seems to be rarer than other models.
Electra is one of the other brands which was sued, but I can't remember
the parent company that owned them.
Another side note. Ted McCarty, as well as being the President of
Gibson, is also who the PRS McCarty model is named after.
As far as I know this is all more or less the truth.
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Guitar101
Moderator  Posts: 481 Registered: 12/22/2003 Status: Offline |
posted on 9/23/2004 at 18:22, Reply 6 |
Tokia is one of the companies
Here's the file
http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile399.html ____________________
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willy
First Lieutenant Posts: 18 Registered: 9/12/2004 Status: Offline |
posted on 9/23/2004 at 18:43, Reply 7 |
As a former History major (yuck!), I found this thread to be really
interesting. Excellent research Duck! Fun, isn't it? Anyway, as a side
note, I can tell you that the guitar shop nearest me has 2 Tokai "Gibson"
ES-335 knock offs (1 new, 1 used) hanging on the wall, and the sound,
quality, and overall workmanship is not to be believed. Yeah, I'll say it:
at 1/3rd the price!
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Guitar101
Moderator Posts: 481 Registered: 12/22/2003 Status: Offline |
posted on 9/23/2004 at 18:47, Reply 8 |
| Willy there great guitars just alot of people have to have the name too. To
bad there's alot of people missing out on a great guitar for less money. ____________________
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willy
First Lieutenant Posts: 18 Registered: 9/12/2004 Status: Offline |
posted on 9/23/2004 at 18:58, Reply 9 |
You're right. If people would only get over the Gibson/Fender (great
guitars) syndrome as I call it, they'd see that there's a lot of really
cool stuff out there. Oh well...
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