About the Company
Masterwork was not a major electronics company like Akai, Revox, or TEAC — instead it was a brand name applied to consumer reel-to-reel tape recorders that were manufactured in Japan and marketed in the mid-1960s. These units were budget-oriented solid-state domestic recorders, aimed at the general home audio market rather than professional studios.
Market Focus: Consumer / domestic tape recording
Country of Manufacture: Japan
Era: 1964–1967
Electronics: Solid-state (transistor-based)
Production History
1964–1967 — Brand Activity
Masterwork produced a small range of reel-to-reel tape recorders over a short span of roughly three years, roughly 1964 through 1967. These recorders are documented as Japanese-made, solid-state machines mainly targeted at the entry-level consumer market for home recording and playback.
During this period, the open-reel format was still common in homes, but competition from cassette formats and other hi-fi brands was rapidly rising, and many small house brands like Masterwork appeared briefly to capitalize on that demand.
Key Models
Masterwork M-800
Category: Consumer reel-to-reel tape recorder
Electronics: Solid state (transistor)
Track Format: Half-track mono (½)
Tape Speeds: 1 7⁄8, 3 3⁄4, 7 1⁄2 ips
Reel Size: Up to 7″
Heads: Two permalloy heads
Features: Built-in speaker, simple controls (speed selector, counter, VU meter), mic and radio/phono inputs, monitor/external speaker outputs
Position: Budget family recorder with basic functionality. Rated modestly for sound quality and reliability by vintage collectors.
Masterwork M-812
Category: Consumer reel-to-reel deck
Electronics: Solid state
Track Format: ¼-track stereo
Tape Speeds: 3 3⁄4, 7 1⁄2 ips
Reel Size: Up to 7″
Features: Two heads, stereo playback/recording, basic RCA and headphone outputs; simple construction typical of consumer models.
There are also reports of other Masterwork variants (e.g., M-700 series) referenced among vintage collectors and forum discussions, though documentation is sparse.
Market Position
Masterwork recorders fit the budget-consumer niche of the mid-1960s:
Solid-state electronics made them more compact and affordable compared with earlier tube decks.
Japanese manufacture (likely outsourced OEMs) reflected broader industry practices: smaller brands often rebadged machines built by larger Japanese factories to sell under their own name.
They competed with other entry-level decks from brands like Soundesign, Lafayette, or department store house brands that filled the market before cassettes dominated.
However, they were not widely documented in manufacturer catalogs of the time and are relatively rare in surviving vintage tape collections.
End of Production & Legacy
By 1967, Masterwork’s reel-to-reel offerings appear to have ceased production — a consequence of:
Cassette recorders overtaking reel-to-reel in popularity by the late 1960s,
The dominance of larger audio brands with deeper engineering resources,
The limited market for entry-level open-reel machines.
Today, Masterwork reel-to-reel recorders are vintage curiosities for analog audio enthusiasts and collectors of odd or obscure tape decks — interesting more for their rarity and niche position than for standout performance.