Were the Japan made Alvarez banjos made in same factory as the goldstar Japan banjos? I see some similarities and was curious. Thanks Logan
I believe Goldstar was a product of Tokai Gakki, & Alvarez were made by Kasuga, 2 different factories.
There was a lot of cross pollination. Scott Zimmerman is the go-to on these questions.
Absolutely not, as Mike said Goldstars were involved with Tokai in the large manufcturing sense but the good ones the 100 flathead series were largely made in a few hand selected craft shops but in no way was Alvarez or Kasuga in any way related
To expand and help here there is a very good reason why banjos look similar, in Japan since the 1970s there has been ONE supplier of inlays binding purfling position dots etc that company is Daiwamark, they have held this position for all string instruments, they are still the primary supplier but not exclusive now, as well there are about three suppliers of banjo hardware, so add all this together and you can see why many banjos look similar but are distinctly different factorys.
Edited by - desert rose on 11/02/2025 05:22:05
