As the Italian-based EKO guitar company was winding down, they were marketing EKO guitar copies built in Japan (although they may have been built by EKO). EKO offered a number of Marling acoustic models, as well as electric guitars. These guitar models were poor quality compared to the 1960s Italian EKOs. Source: Michael Wright, Guitar Stories, Volume One.
Instruments previously produced in Japan during the mid-1970s.

MARLING Electric Guitars Models