An art-deco body style and pickup enclosure, plus multicolored fretboard dots, add pizzazz to this humble lap steel.
So, why am I bringing a hip-hop group into a guitar column? Well, because of a scene in one of the last episodes. The idea of the Wu-Tang Clan was primarily the vision of RZA, who produced most of the music and came up with so many of those raw beats. As RZA was thinking about a new direction for the group’s second album, he was shopping at a music store and stumbled upon a lap-steel guitar—a vintage Japanese Guyatone model. That scene highlights how RZA wanted to use more live instruments, and how he wanted to experiment with different sounds. I just love the idea that something like a vintage lap steel caught the imagination of RZA.
Lap steels had a relatively short run but were incredibly popular from the 1930s into the early 1950s, when larger, more sophisticated pedal-steel guitars became the rage. When you think about that era, the 1930s was the dawn of electrical amplification. With this came lap steels and (often) amplifier combos. This was also the same time Hawaiian music became incredibly popular. Soon, lap steels were found across a variety of genres, such as country, blues, gospel, and Western swing music.
“I just love the idea that something like a vintage lap steel caught the imagination of RZA.”
In the early days, there were so many models with interesting designs, flashy colors, and chrome galore. American manufacturers like Fender, Rickenbacker, and Gibson had fine lap-steel guitars. Japanese builders, mainly Teisco and Guyatone, were really cranking out varied and interesting lap steels and amps, and the two companies were primarily selling them to American service members stationed in Japan after World War II.
One of the very first Japanese lap steels, and one of the first products ever made by Teisco, is this one pictured here, built sometime around the late 1940s. I found this unnamed model in a super cool shop named the Tinicum Guitar Barn here in Pennsylvania. (The owner of the guitar barn is one of us—those who do the weird and interesting.)
And at the headstock, a logo fit for a baseball jersey.
During one of my trips to Japan, I met with some of the original Teisco employees and they remembered this model and, in particular, the logo. This original Teisco logo was also the same logo used on the uniforms of the Teisco baseball team. If you think about it, lap steels are kind of like a dressed-up 2"x4". But I’ve always marveled at how creative some of these instruments can get, often featuring art-deco touches and elaborate pickup covers. This Teisco represents some of the simple artistic touches that make lap steels just way cool. The pickup has some sort of “built-in” echo that makes for a wonderfully eerie sound. Paired with a boost or mild distortion, you can get sounds like you’d never get anywhere else.
Lap-steel guitars totally have a level of comfortability with us “regular” guitar players. These lap steels are flattened out like a flounder, but it’s a relatively easy instrument to play, and once you get the hang of the sliding steel bar in your left hand, you can create some strange and ethereal sounds straight out of Hawaii. Tune these darn things to just about any open chord and you’re halfway there.
I’m always talking about different guitars and how they can act as a new palette or a new brush to create music, and lap steels can act as that springboard to creative heights for all kinds of artists, like RZA and Wu-Tang. “Protect ya neck”!
Back around 2010, I began researching Japanese guitars in earnest, simply because I was discovering that there was too much speculation, misinformation, and plain-old ignorance floating around, and I found the fire to uncover the truth burning inside me. I started by reaching out to some Japanese internet connections via email, with the hope that we could communicate and that I'd make more contacts.
This Firstman Liverpool Deluxe may look like a battle axe, but it's chock full of warm, surfy clean tones.
Eventually, I found my way to a blog that was operated by a fellow named Kazy. He wrote in Japanese and English, and much of the content related to Mosrite guitars and his connections to Semie Mosely and Nokie Edwards. It turned out that Kazy was the nickname of Kazuo Morioka, and he became one of the most amazing sources I've ever encountered.
The guy was an excellent pianist, and was an early player of electrified pianos and organs. He shunned a cushy job with his family-owned pharmaceutical business to work for Kawai as a demo player, and went on to own a chain of music stores across Japan. He worked with all the early Japanese guitar companies and seemed to know all their employees and histories. After talking with Kazy, I developed a notebook full of numbers, emails, and connections all over Japan.
Mihara preferred a clean but strong sound, so that's what you'll find with one of these old Liverpool guitars.
Kazy spoke perfect English and had even lived in the U.S., near Seattle, for many years. He was friends with Semie Mosely, and together they produced a line of guitars in Japan that were called Mosrite Avengers. Kazy was also great friends with Nokie Edwards, who I missed meeting in person by one day while we were both visiting Kazy in Japan.
This month, I'll highlight one of Kazy's most extreme guitar designs. Kazy started electric guitar production in the late '60s using the brand name Firstman. He had the stellar idea to connect with popular Japanese bands and make custom guitars that would give them a signature look onstage. I suppose it was similar to groups wearing matching outfits in that era.
This Firstman Liverpool was the first, made in collaboration with Tsunaki Mihara of the Blue Comets. In the late '60s, the band had a huge hit called "Blue Chateau." They even played on The Ed Sullivan Show! Kazy and Mihara collaborated over every detail and put all kinds of considerations into the pickup frequency, attack and decay, coil winds, etc. Even the violin body shape was chosen because of its inherent resonance and projection, but, of course, with a more extreme Japanese design aesthetic. The deep, lightweight hollowbody is a rather large 15" across the lower bout, and came with some resplendent details, such as full-body binding and chrome accents. Plus, there was a totally posh scroll headstock.
Columnist Frank Meyers interviews Firstman founder and guitar designer Kazuo Morioka.
Mihara preferred a clean but strong sound, so that's what you'll find with one of these old Liverpool guitars. This guitar projects like a vintage Gibson hollowbody and has simple tone/volume knobs and a 3-way switch. I suppose these shapely black beauties present a menacing first impression, but they have a sweet sound that matches well with surf music and instrumentals.
Two Liverpool guitars were produced as prototypes, and a lot of handiwork went into them. According to Kazy, everything was carved and shaped by hand, from the arched tops and backs to the necks to the scroll headstocks. Kazy and Mihara received these guitars, and then, after the Blue Comets would play shows, there would be orders placed to make regular factory production runs.
A few variations on this guitar were produced, including a Liverpool Junior and a Liverpool Special, and they all came in black. Alas, Firstman guitar production didn't last long, ceasing in 1970. Once again, we're left with these interesting examples of ingenuity and effort, like time capsules waiting to be discovered again by future generations.
Blue Comets "Blue Chateau" (Ed Sullivan Show in 1968)
Tsunaki Mihara plays his Liverpool Deluxe with the Blue Comets as they perform "Blue Chateau" on The Ed Sullivan Show.