Description
Roadhouse USA location:
H.S. Anderson Madcat Tele-Prince Guitar-Mint Condition-COA with hardcase.
To say that this guitar is hard to find would be a massive understatement.
This guitar was bought as a collector, and as such, is unplayed.
Comes as pictured with TSA hard case, COA, and even the spec sheet rating the pickups etc.
If you have been looking for one of these, don’t pass this up. It is doubtful that you will find another, much less one in mint condition.
A bit about the evolution of these guitars:
Moridaira History
“The Moridaira Guitar company has been building quality handcrafted instruments in Nagano, Japan for a long time. Mr. Toshio Moridaira, the founder, was the first distributor in Japan to carry both Fender and Gibson lines. In 1964, due to his working relationship with Gibson, Mr. Moridaira was able to visit the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. An employee at Gibson nicknamed him “Mori” at that time. In 1967, he founded the Morris Guitars company. He named it Morris, taken from the nickname given to him a while back. Morris produced copies of dreadnought and small jumbo models based on Martin and Gibson designs. To this day, Moridaira’s main production are Morris acoustic guitars.
Moridaira’s philosophy has always been to keep a continuing dialogue with musicians, and combined with the company’s expertise in acoustic sound technology, know-how in woods and electronics to produce instruments which push the boundaries.
Moridaira has been a leader in development with its fresh ideas and will continue pursuing the possibilities of creating new sounds with our superior technology and close contact to the artists, hereby contributing to the creation and the development of music.”
Mad Cat History
In 1973, the H.S. Anderson brand was launched by Moridaira, and one of the employees Mr. Shiino Hidesato (HS) designed what would become an iconic guitar, the Mad Cat.
While most Japanese companies in the ‘70s produced copies from famous US-models, the Mad Cat was something completely unique. The body construction was based around a walnut center strip, with sen ash sides and tiger maple top and bottom.
The hardware and pickups were not what people would normally associate with a tele-type guitar, but is more similar to a hardtail strat-style guitar, and the unique leopard-style pickguards further distinguished the Mad Cat.
A little over 500 Mad Cats were made during the ‘70s, including a small batch made OEM for Hohner USA with a Hohner logo in the H.S. Anderson style.
Pop artist Prince discovered one of these rare guitars early on in his career, and used it live and on countless hit-records like Purple Rain, 1999, Controversy, etc. for over 30 years now.
Original vintage ‘70s Mad Cats are very rare and hard to find guitars, sought after by numerous collectors.”
“In addition to his sheer musical genius, Prince has always had an eye for style. And as any experienced axe-spotter knows, it didn’t stop with the Purple Dandy’s amazing suits. His Dave Husain-built cloud guitar and Jerry Auerswald-built symbol guitars became some of Prince’s most identifiable style trademarks. But though those larger-than-life guitars were among the flashiest of his accoutrements, Prince will probably always be most associated with his comparatively pedestrian H.S. Anderson-designed Hohner T-style that he used on albums like Purple Rain, 1999, and Musicology.
The Hohner’s subdued style had a way of enhancing the mystery around it. It wasn’t a vintage Fender, and yet one of the most inventive and ripping guitarists of the day was doing major damage with the thing—there had to be more going on than meets the eye. Indeed, Prince’s Hohner was more than just another cheap Fender knock-off. In fact, Prince’s Hohner is a Japanese version of the H.S. Anderson Mad Cat, which was released in 1973 by the Morris company. The über-rare originals (there were only a little more than 500 produced) fetch top dollar whenever they pop up, but there have been quasi copycats under various brands over the years, too.
Over the years, Hohner released several versions of the guitar—Prince’s Japanese version and a Korean incarnation made by Cort. In 2008, Morris got back into the action and released a limited run of the Mad Cat to commemorate the company’s 45th anniversary.”
