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Memphis Guitars were guitars produced during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.
Overview
"Memphis"-branded guitars and signal processors were affordable music gear imported from Asia and distributed in the United States by C. Bruno and Sons from the mid '70's until the mid '90's. The product line included Fender- and Gibson-styled instruments. Many of their instruments were equipped with cheaply made copies of Bill Lawrence rail humbucker pickups.
Internet mythology suggests that in the early years, Memphis was a house brand manufactured by Matsumoku Industrial of Nagoya, Japan. There is however no evidence of this whatsoever. No examples of guitars, or existing catalogs have been shown or cited to support this theory. It is also often suggested that original designs were built by Yamaki [which also built guitars under its own Daion brand, as well as for Washburn and other guitar companies]. Confirming information is difficult or impossible to find. However, there is some consensus in the online guitar community, based upon the strong similarities between certain Memphis models and other guitars bearing the Washburn brand, that both brands were built at least for a time by Yamaki Gakki. This conclusion is quite debatable, as many of these models also closely resemble guitars built by the Korean manufacturer Cor-Tek (or Cort) down to the Bill Lawrence copy pickups called Fire Power that are utilized in other known Cort builds. Cort is known to have built Washburn copies for the Lotus brand that were long mistaken for Yamaki builds.
The Memphis name also appears on various guitar-effects pedals, including delays, reverbs, overdrives, and the Memphis Fuzz. One of the most common is the Memphis phase shifter, named "Roto Phase" [likely a hint that the pedal is aimed at guitarists who want the Leslie rotating-speaker effect without the bulky cabinet]. It is a simple-to-use stompbox featuring single monophonic input and output jacks, and a single knob that controls the speed of the rotating-speaker effect.