they were bought by the Hatton Corp - parent company of Gibson, Epiphone, Kalamazoo and some other brands. In the 60s there was a musical instrument distribution warehouse in Beaverton OR - L.D. we all know the real story of Lyle Guitars. Having come from Portland Oregon and growing up in the 60s. Any info on models with zero fret would be helpful? Regards to all lucky owners of these lovely guitars. Don't think the person selling it off as a Suzuki realised how rare it was. Only difference is that mine has a zero fret and a slightly different shape bridge with an adjustable saddle. I have tried to determine which model it is and came up with W460 as this was the nearest similar I could get an image of. A trip to Jim Fleeting a luthier in Ripon has removed just about all of the wave and the guitar plays wonderfully. The repairs required involved removing a wave shape in the table centred on the bridge saddle. Careful removal of the paint revealed Lyle in inlaid mother of pearl. Ta dah! No Suzuki makers mark! Faint lines in what was obviously a new coat of black paint which looked like Lyle. It duly arrived through the mail with a Gibson headstock sticker and a Suzuki label on the inside! Since I was expecting a Suzuki I peeled off the sticker. Information presented here has been gathered from multiple sources and anthologized here.Two years ago I purchased what was supposed to be a Suzuki Hummingbird copy for spaces or repair from eBay. Please note, information about Lyle guitars and their history is limited to personal recollection and copy/paste jobs from brochures. 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." We negotiated an exclusive distribution agreement for a limited time.
Norlin was based in Illinois and owned Gibson, Ampeg, Epiphone and other music related companies. They wanted to discuss the possibility of Alembic making a more standardized form of instrument that they could distribute to their dealers. Heater Music Company, read the article in Rolling Stone and it interested them enough to take a little trip to San Francisco. "1973 A small music distribution company in Beaverton, Oregon called L. The history of Alembic instruments shines some insight into the history of the L.D. Matsumoku continued to manufacture instruments beyond 1972. Heater Music Company were not part of the lawsuit. This rumor comes from the Gibson lawsuit against copying the "Open Book" headstock design, however, the guitars distributed by the L.D. In fact, Norlin never purchased Matsumoku, nor did they shut them down. These guitars were distributed out of Beaverton, Oregon, USA by the L.D. It has been suggested that the Matsumoku Company in Japan from 1965 to 1972 until they were bought and shut down by Norlin, Gibson's parent company at the time.
Lyle guitars were made in Japan somewhere between 1960 to the late 1970's out of the Matsumoku guitar factory that produced Univox, Arai, and other guitars.