SHOJI: New Steel Guitar Brand from Japan

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

That’s definitely a great idea!
Thank you!

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CFEPo ... tid=wwXIfr

I’ve uploaded several photos on Facebook showcasing different option variations — please have a look if you’d like.

https://youtu.be/VIwrXhagm_w

I also made a video explaining how to change the strings. I’d be happy if it helps anyone out there!
I believe this will also be helpful for those using an Excel with the same design as the SHOJI.

[Steve Lipsey]

Toshiyuki has a new Facebook page where he posts stuff......check it out and "Follow":
https://www.facebook.com/shojiworkshop

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

I really appreciate it, Steve.

[Steve Lipsey]

THIS IS A REPEAT OF A NEW TOPIC POST I MADE, FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T BEEN FOLLOWING THIS LONG SHOJI THREAD...It isn''t about the development process any more, it is about me getting production model Shoji #1, and deserves a new thread....here is the text of that post, FYI:

New Shoji guitar has arrived!!
Post by Steve Lipsey » 22 Jul 2025 5:40pm

I'm just blown away by my new S10 Shoji...here's a few of my initial impressions...I've played and owned a lot of different brands, and bottom line, I am truly blown away by this unique instrument, and overjoyed that I was able to get Shoji Number 1!

-Before talking about the guitar, I want to tell you that working with Toshiyuki Shoji has easily been the best product design and purchase experience of my (all too long) life. He is conscientious, knowledgable, eager to please, a great listener, responsive to any and all design questions, capable of excellent workmanship, and a perfectionist. He won't rest until your every wish is granted, as much as humanly possible, and will offer alternatives you wouldn't have thought of. I don't think he ever sleeps - my emails usually resulted in a relatively immediate response, often including very helpful and understandable CAD diagrams of what we were talking about. Other makers can be responsive to customers, but this is a whole other level.

-It sounds great!! Initial bedroom impressions are pretty comparable to my Williams S10 with Telonics pickup, which has great tone. I can play up the neck all the way to the 24th fret and still get usable tone. More on that after my gig this weekend...I suspect that the metal body provides tonal advantages over metal plates screwed to a wooden body like my Williams...if you've ever played a solid metal frypan lap steel you know what I'm talking about...they have amazing sustain and tone.

-The design is an advance on typical keyless pedal steel design, that hasn't changed much in a very long time. It keeps all the good parts of traditional design, and of Excel's unique features, and adds some really nice new stuff. Toshiyuki's 13 years working at Excel, and doing Excel repairs, before starting Shoji made it possible for him to design it to just not break, and not break strings.

-I've been a Williams guy for a decade or so. The Williams is very light, compared to most others, but weighs almost 50% more than my Shoji, and the Shoji comes with a very light 4-wheel upright rolling case. I opted for the carbon fiber legs, pedal bar, pedals, and levers. Having Long Covid weakness for the past year, this makes it light enough for me to carry it and keep gigging. (I also finally gave up my 50 years of tube amps and switched to a Milkman "The Amp", which does have a Fender style tube preamp, and sounds great, and weighs only 2 ½ lbs.)

-Tuning is done with little thumbwheels (like the Sierra), not a wrench. It is much quicker and easier than my Williams - it has all the "staying in tune" advantages of keyless changers without the hassle. Levers and pedals are tuned with traditional nylon nuts at the changer end...that works great and didn't need updating.

-Another advance is the 2nd string half-stop. I spent a lot of time on my Williams syncing up the 9th and 2nd string bellcrank/changer positions to make the half stop work with my copedent. And now changing it would be another serious project. The Shoji has a little 2nd string device with a thumbwheel you can adjust from playing position that sets the half-stop position and feel, independent of everything else!

-I went for 10 strings to keep it light and small, but he can make 12, 12 with a locking lever to shift copedent, and double neck. He can make a clever double direction lever to use on a double neck.

-Action of pedals and levers is very smooth.

-Position of everything is infinitely adjustable - not just angle, like the Williams, but e.g., the space between the lever mounts can be set to your specs by Toshiyuki. This is truly a lovely custom-made guitar, not an "off the rack" one where only leg length is your choice. This is totally unique. We learn to live with standard models on other brands, but it sure is nice to have EVERYTHING set to your body and style...as they say, you only live once, and this is the way to do it...

-I thought that I'd miss the traditional look of my Williams, but actually, it is a lot of fun to play a space-age rocket that looks quite advanced.

-My price was a little higher than some other models, mostly because of all the optional carbon fiber. He has secured very reasonable shipping charges, and it arrived very quickly.

Here's a few pictures...check out the the Shoji website (https://www.shoji-workshop.com/en/) and the long Shoji thread here on the Forum for the whole story (viewtopic.php?t=403550), or, even better, start a conversation with Toshiyuki...you won't regret it (contact@shoji-workshop.com).

[Tommy Shown]

Shoji, like how you have taken ergonomics into being . Alot of us,me included don't really sit right behind our guitars. You have taken time to show us. Alot are also concerned, me included about the price of guitars. Is Fuzzy retiring?
Tommy Shown

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

I believe that forcing yourself to play a guitar that is difficult to handle, or carrying an excessively heavy guitar, can put a strain on your back and legs.

Mitsuo is still building guitars. I believe he is 89 or 90 years old, but when he will retire is entirely up to him, so I cannot say for certain.

[Jared Ruari]

I'd like to put in my best possible word for Toshiyuki and the Shoji guitar.

I'm the proud owner of this guitar: https://www.shoji-workshop.com/pedal-st ... 2-model-2/

It is Shoji #4, and the first production 12 string.

Here's what I shared with one of the steel groups over on facebook:

I wanted to give a bit more comprehensive review of my Shoji now that I've had a chance to do some ergonomic fine-tuning and log some seat time.

To give you an idea of how attentive and detail-oriented Toshiyuki is, I looked in my inbox and we probably exchanged upwards of 100 emails as part of the process. You can specify whatever level of detail you like with your build: the exact height, pedal height and pedal travel, the spacing of your knee levers and how they're aligned relative to the rest of the guitar. I'm not especially picky so I left a number of things to his best judgment. But to the extent that you have particular set-up preferences he's very keen to get them just right.

The guitar is less than 28 pounds even as it is loaded up with 8 pedals and 6 knee levers. Nothing is any bigger than it needs to be and yet it all feels incredibly solid. The pedals are a bit skinnier than on most steels, but I've found that to be an easy adjustment.

The steel can handle pretty much anything you'd want to throw at it in terms of a copedent. Three of my knee levers have half stops, and they all act on two strings. Toshiyuki has it set up so that I can tune the half-stop with one rod and the full stop with another. It's a lot of rods, but it all works perfectly.

He's made a bunch of other mechanical innovations that I didn't have need for given my setup, but they're showcased on his youtube channel. Incredible stuff! An E9/C6 crossover system, knee levers that can operate one way moving left and another way when moving right.

I observe only about 3 cents of cabinet drop, even though my guitar features a lot of the things typically thought to contribute to cabinet drop: 12 strings, lots of changes, Day set-up.

I love this guitar! It seems incredible that it exists at all, let alone that I should get to own it. Glad to answer any questions because I think Toshiyuki is a real treasure in the steel world and I want to see this venture succeed.

[Steve Lipsey]

Congratulations, Jared! And welcome to "The Cult of Shoji"...we know that once you own one, you'll never go back...

And the skinny pedals actually help - you can hit one without having to tilt your foot to avoid the others...no accidentally pressing two when you wanted one...

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

I’m truly happy to hear that you like your SHOJI guitar.
It feels almost like fate that both the #1 and #4 guitars are in Oregon.

[Chris Templeton]

あなたのギターは素晴らしいですね！

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

ありがとうございます！
Thank you!

[Corbin Pratt]

That "gig bag" style case is fantastic. Do you sell those?

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

It is possible to purchase the SHOJI four-wheel suitcase-type guitar case separately.
However, please note that if the total length of your guitar exceeds 700 mm (approximately 27.6 inches), it will not fit inside the case.

This case is sized to be a perfect fit specifically for SHOJI guitars.