- Lyle guitars
Lyle guitars were made in Japan somewhere between 1960 to the late 1970's out of the
Matsumoku guitar factory that producedUnivox ,Arai , and other guitars.History
It has been suggested that the Matsumoku Company in Japan was contracted from 1965 to 1972 to make these instruments for
Norlin ,Gibson 's parent company at the time, and that Gibson sent a team of luthiers to Japan to oversee the production. These guitars were distributed out of Beaverton, Oregon, USA by theL.D. Heater Music Company .Models
Lyle 335 Copy
Lyle 585
Lyle 630L
Lyle 680
Lyle 690-DL
Lyle C-630
Lyle C610
Lyle F-500
Lyle F520
Lyle G-640
Lyle L-2O
Lyle L-5 Copy
Lyle L-15
Lyle LEA40
Lyle Les Paul Copy
Lyle S-726
Lyle SG Copy
Lyle Strat
Lyle W-400
Lyle W-415 Dove
Lyle W-420-12
Lyle W-430
Lyle W-445
Lyle W-460 Hummingbird
Lyle W-470 12-String
Lyle W41
Lyle W-710
Lyle Z-535
Lyle l-260L.D. Heater Music Company
The history of Alembic instruments shines some insight into the history of the L.D. Heater Music Company. [http://www.alembic.com/family/history.html]
"1973 A small music distribution company in Beaverton, Oregon called L. D. Heater Music Company, read the article in Rolling Stone and it interested them enough to take a little trip to San Francisco. They wanted to discuss the possibility of Alembic making a more standardized form of instrument that they could distribute to their dealers. L. D. Heater Music was owned by Norlin Inc. Norlin was based in Illinois and owned Gibson, Ampeg, Epiphone and other music related companies. We negotiated an exclusive distribution agreement for a limited time. They gave me the purchase order I required, and this was the beginning of the manufacturing of a standard high end instrument for Alembic and the entire music industry."
References
Please note, information about Lyle guitars and their history is limited to personal recollection and copy/paste jobs from brochures. Information presented here has been gathered from multiple sources and anthologized here.
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Lyle
http://www.matsumoku.org/arai_matsumoku.html
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/archive/index.php/t-1854954.html
http://www.portlandground.com/archives/2005/10/ld_heater_and_o_1.php
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