El Maya Em1100

Do any of you know anything about El Maya guitars? I've been admiring the EM series for years and snagged one last night! I am wondering if any of you have personal experience with them? They appear to be out of the same factory that built Daion/Washburn. I wonder what the value on one of these even is? This is the first one I've ever seen state side come up for sale.

On the assumption that Maya and El Maya are essentially the same Manufacturer / Brand (which I think is probably the case), I would think that the El Maya 1100, 1200's were probably built by Chushin Gakki in Kobe.

My Bambu has a HUGE truss rod cover stating it was made by the Maya Musical Instrument Company

and a chunky bridge that they were so proud of that they put CHUSHIN on the front...

Not sure if they built any Washburns / Daions. Depending on the model and when made, I guess that a number of Japanese factories could have been responsible for them.

There are some fantastic Maya / El Maya instruments about, I just haven't found one that makes me feel I have snagged a bargain yet.

There was an EM 1100 on UK eBay very recently at £400, then £350. Here

I'm pretty sure that Chushin made soome Vantages as well, as I had one with Chushin cast into the jack plug socket,

and probably some or all of the Quest by Vantage range too.

According to one of the boyz at Matsumoku.org el Maya were produced by Chushin Gakki and distributed by Rokkoman.

Barry wrote:According to one of the boyz at Matsumoku.org el Maya were produced by Chushin Gakki and distributed by Rokkoman.

Well that confirms the Daion connection. I always had a feeling that Bambu came from the same factory as well. You can see that the Bambu and the EM1300 use the same pickups. Probably maxon I imagine. I'm pretty stoked that I found one!

Adey wrote:On the assumption that Maya and El Maya are essentially the same Manufacturer / Brand (which I think is probably the case), I would think that the El Maya 1100, 1200's were probably built by Chushin Gakki in Kobe.

My Bambu has a HUGE truss rod cover stating it was made by the Maya Musical Instrument Company

and a chunky bridge that they were so proud of that they put CHUSHIN on the front...

Not sure if they built any Washburns / Daions. Depending on the model and when made, I guess that a number of Japanese factories could have been responsible for them.

There are some fantastic Maya / El Maya instruments about, I just haven't found one that makes me feel I have snagged a bargain yet.

There was an EM 1100 on UK eBay very recently at £400, then £350. Here

Wow I'm shocked no one has bought it! Maybe I overestimated the desirability of them! I've been admiring them online for years.

That has gotta be the biggest flippin' TRC I have seen!
As for people not snapping these up, it's most likely they don't fall into the snob appeal category. Not many have heard of Choochoo  Chocolate  Chaka Khan Chushin!

Barry wrote:That has gotta be the biggest flippin' TRC I have seen!
As for people not snapping these up, it's most likely they don't fall into the snob appeal category. Not many have heard of Choochoo  Chocolate  Chaka Khan Chushin!  

I will have to spread the word to the cork sniffers!

Chushin made some fantastic instruments. Have a google search for pictures of an El Maya or Suntech neck thru strat...

Exquisite!

Suntech

I'm familiar with Suntech as well. I believe there is one on Reverb as we speak.

Yes, but looks a bit insipid with the lighter coloured body. The darker wings with the lighter laminations make it really stand out.

True. It appears to be gone anyway.

Barry wrote:That has gotta be the biggest flippin' TRC I have seen!
 

I think it had to be that big -

...they wanted to put their name, address and post code on it!

Also produced by Tahara. El Maya that is.