I've made a bit of a study of those hollowbody Matsumoku basses. That factory cranked out Epiphone, Lyle, and a number of other lines name-badged by the factory. They had common visual indicators such as the type of pickups - really interchangeable between brands - the frequent use of pickguard material on headstocks - the font on the neck plates - the type of floating bridge, and the tailpieces, whether or not they had a wood insert. They also had some common characteristics in the neck and body binding.
The tailpiece on Jumbodbassman's red Epi above is a perfect example of a Matsumoku tailpiece. I have a match to it that I bought for my Lyle hollowbody after months of searching on Ebay.
The story I've picked up is that Gibson sent some of their techs over to the Matsumoku factory to train the workers on making those instruments, and that as a result, the Lyles, Epiphones and other lines were all built to decent standards. I'm not sure whether it's true, but it makes an interesting story. Certainly there is a decent level of regard on the used market for Matsumoku instruments.
