Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Jan 1, 2021 14:49:34 GMT -6
In the late 1950s, Jack Westheimer formed Westheimer Sales Company. To cash in on a pop-music craze, they started importing bongos to the U.S. from Japan, and gave them the Pearl brand. These were tunable, and much superior to other drums flooding the market. Soon WSC expanded Pearl to full drum kits.
Though imported Japanese guitars of the '50s were remarkably bad -- often built with poorly cured wood -- Westheimer saw potential. He set and maintained standards for manufacturers, and demanded innovations such as trussrods or at least a steel T-channel for low-end models. In 1959 WSC started bringing in Kingston-branded acoustic guitars from Terada Trading Company. Kingston was getting into electrics by 1960, and soon joined in the WSC catalogue by the Teisco brand of another Japan manufacturer. (Oddly, Teisco Del Rey was a different line, imported starting 1965 by another company.)
Sometime around 1960, Westheimer contracted with yet another Japan factory, Hiyashi (or maybe Yashi) to build dreadnought-size acoustic guitars under the Cortez and Emperador brands (the latter becoming associated with The Everly Brothers). Eventually, some Cortez-branded electrics were sourced from Matsumoku, which seems to have always been a common way of doing business over there.
When the U.S. went off the gold standard in 1972, the Japanese yen shot up, signaling the end of the low-cost Japanese guitar. That led to Westheimer establishing a Korea manufacturer with local partner Yung Park. The Cortez brand was recast as Cort, and the company eventually took on the punning name Cor-Tek, reflecting both its roots and its nation of origin. Cor-Tek began as a factory operation, but established its own lines in the 1980s, as well as doing contract work for other brands such as Squier, Washburn, Kramer, and Ibanez.
Jack Westheimer continued to innovate. At one point he bought (or maybe had developed) a pressure-molding process to make plastic bodies for guitar and bass, and had it patented under his name as Luthite. He then commissioned boutique bass builder Greg Curbow to design an innovative bass to be made from Luthite. And somehow Westheimer also got Ibanez to use Luthite for the bodies of their Ergodyne bass and guitar line. (Whether the Vibracell used on Switch Music instruments was actually Luthite -- and whether it was properly licensed -- remains open to speculation.)
Somewhere along the line, Yung Park bought Cort outright. This appears to have been cordial, as Westheimer continued to import instruments as the Cort Musical Instrument Company. That relationship outlived Jack Westheimer, lasting until late 2014, and CMI cordially introduced Cort to a new U.S. distributor.
Though imported Japanese guitars of the '50s were remarkably bad -- often built with poorly cured wood -- Westheimer saw potential. He set and maintained standards for manufacturers, and demanded innovations such as trussrods or at least a steel T-channel for low-end models. In 1959 WSC started bringing in Kingston-branded acoustic guitars from Terada Trading Company. Kingston was getting into electrics by 1960, and soon joined in the WSC catalogue by the Teisco brand of another Japan manufacturer. (Oddly, Teisco Del Rey was a different line, imported starting 1965 by another company.)
Sometime around 1960, Westheimer contracted with yet another Japan factory, Hiyashi (or maybe Yashi) to build dreadnought-size acoustic guitars under the Cortez and Emperador brands (the latter becoming associated with The Everly Brothers). Eventually, some Cortez-branded electrics were sourced from Matsumoku, which seems to have always been a common way of doing business over there.
When the U.S. went off the gold standard in 1972, the Japanese yen shot up, signaling the end of the low-cost Japanese guitar. That led to Westheimer establishing a Korea manufacturer with local partner Yung Park. The Cortez brand was recast as Cort, and the company eventually took on the punning name Cor-Tek, reflecting both its roots and its nation of origin. Cor-Tek began as a factory operation, but established its own lines in the 1980s, as well as doing contract work for other brands such as Squier, Washburn, Kramer, and Ibanez.
Jack Westheimer continued to innovate. At one point he bought (or maybe had developed) a pressure-molding process to make plastic bodies for guitar and bass, and had it patented under his name as Luthite. He then commissioned boutique bass builder Greg Curbow to design an innovative bass to be made from Luthite. And somehow Westheimer also got Ibanez to use Luthite for the bodies of their Ergodyne bass and guitar line. (Whether the Vibracell used on Switch Music instruments was actually Luthite -- and whether it was properly licensed -- remains open to speculation.)
Somewhere along the line, Yung Park bought Cort outright. This appears to have been cordial, as Westheimer continued to import instruments as the Cort Musical Instrument Company. That relationship outlived Jack Westheimer, lasting until late 2014, and CMI cordially introduced Cort to a new U.S. distributor.