Mushroom is perhaps the rarest and short-lived Japanese brands producing very high grade guitars in the early 1990’s. Little is known about the brand which was one of the brands created by Hidesato Shiino. Whenever a Mushroom guitar has come up for sale the description often mentions that the brand was very expensive and mainly focused on use by professionals. Additionally, guitars would only be made when the best woods were available and were sold from Mr. Shiino’s store / studio PACO. I’ve only been able to find examples of three Mushroom Les Paul’s and three Mushroom Strats.

We do know the history of this guitar as it appears in the Yoshio Nomura Guitar Collection book, which showcases 300 of the guitars in the musician’s collection. This guitar was custom made for him in 1994 based on a 1959 LP and has his name on the headstock.

The guitar itself is exceptional, with a striking quilt top, ebony fretboard with elaborate inlay done in abalone and finished in lacquer. Pickups are Van Zandt humbuckers and all hardware is gold. The guitar appears to be all original.