Matsumoku was founded as a family owned wood-working company (Matsumoto Mokko) in 1951 by Mr. Tsukada in Matsumoto, Japan. Soon the company was contracted to make sewing machine cabinets by Singer and became part owned by that company. Matsumoku also made wooden cabinets for amplifiers and other audio and television equipment. By the mid 1950s Matsumoku lost much of the sewing machine cabinet business and so looked for new manufacturing opportunities by hiring luthiers and eventually starting guitar and violin making in 1963. Matsumoku initially concentrated on high quality archtop guitars. The company made instruments under contract for other brands - although its name started appearing on neck plates & sound hole labels from the late 1970s onwards.

Matsumoku were early adopters of CNC technology - allowing them to automate initial stages of instrument manufacture and use hand craft to later stages of construction. This allowed them to make consistent quality but affordable instruments. Although they typically made instruments for other brands in 1979 they introduced their own Westone brand. Matsumoku stopped production in 1987 due to a combination of cheaper guitar production in Korea and financial problems for their parent company Singer caused by a decline in sewing machine sales.

Source: Unofficial Matsumoku site (25 February 2018)