There are only 3 models that are known to have come from Lotus/Morris: These guitars all are solid-bodied and were made in the same factory as Tokai.

The Moridaira-made Lotus guitars are the rarest and hardest to find as Lotus/Morris made them at most for only 2–3 years. While the quality of this guitar would not typically be considered to be on a professional level, it did provide an inexpensive platform for experimentation and upgrade (with non-Lotus parts), which resulted in a unique sounding instrument. While the low-end guitars have rightfully only experienced a minimal gain in value, the high-end models usually range from $100–$300 and are becoming quite collectible.Ĭhauntelle DuPree of the band Eisley used a Lotus Stratocaster copy for many years on tour and to record.

Lotus guitars are no longer in production. Like the Matsumoku guitars of that era, both the early Korean Cort and Japanese Morris-made Lotus guitars are of high quality. The top-of-the-line early 1980s models were made by both in Korea by Cort Guitars (early neck-though models) and in Japan by Morris / Moridaira (neck-through models, set-neck Washburn Eagle copies, and decent Gibson Les Paul copies). The most common and good quality Lotus guitars were usually manufactured by Samick and others in Korea and India. Mismanagement and, especially, the inability to market their initial superb-quality guitars soon had Lotus' owners scrambling for cheaper labor, ending in India with poor quality and eventually no takers for their product, as Chinese and Indonesian guitar producers stepped up with instruments of comparable quality at similar prices.įor a general description of the popular music market that gave rise to the host of brand names borne by good-quality Japanese music gear, see the Wikipedia article on Memphis Guitars. Ĭonstruction of Lotus- branded guitars started with the elite league of Japanese craftsmen and initially made excellent Morris-branded guitars, but trying to keep up with heavyweight makers such as Matsumoku and Fuji-Gen Gakki, or Hoshino was difficult. Lotus is a brand name put on the headstocks of a line of good-quality electric guitars made by at least one Japanese gakki. The quality of the instruments was very good for the price (usually around US$400–$900).

Lotus guitars were usually copies of better-known, up-market brand-name guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul and the Fender Stratocaster. Lotus was a house brand of certain guitars made in various Asian factories from the late 1970s until the late 1990s.

Morris guitars serial number