Lesser-Known Greats From The Golden Age of Japanese Acoustics

Guildedagain

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Pretty good article covering the more unknowns like Yamaki, which is probably why yours wasn't covered.

Guitars not covered would include Takamine copies of Guild like the all solid woods F365.
 
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dougdnh

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Also - Conn & Sekova. I have a Conn very basic 'folk' guitar from the '70's. It plays and sounds amazing for a cheap little acoustic. I wish I knew who made them. I was given a Sekova acoustic back in the '70s' . It's a nice looking guitar with an adjustable bridge. it plays great, sounds ok. I gave it to my daughter many years ago, it's still going strong.
 

Brad Little

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Also - Conn & Sekova. I have a Conn very basic 'folk' guitar from the '70's. ....
Had a Conn classical from that era, solid top, nice little axe, I think it was around $75 when I got it, maybe 10 years ago. Dorado guitars, made for Gretsch, are other gems from that era. Every one I"ve seen had a solid top and was well made. Their 12 strings were outstanding, I've had two of them over the years and would recommend them to anyone looking for an inexpensive entry into 12 strings.
 
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Brad Little

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Yamaha made an effort to break into the professional market on several instruments. There were lawsuit rumors about their saxophones, for example, because of violating Selmer patents. Not sure if these rumors are any more verifiable than the lawsuit era guitar rumors. The succeeded a little bit with classicals, here is a picture of Konrad Ragossnig playing a concert Yamaha, not too clear in this image, but I have the LP and it's definitely the Yamaha symbol.
Fl9eMO.jpg
 

dreadnut

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My buddy has a beautiful MIJ Hohner copy of a Martin D-45, it's really sweet. He claims it's Braz, but I have my doubts, it's about a '76 model. I believe it is an HG-320.

Gj3uHrh.jpg
 

merlin6666

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Suzuki was considered the top brand when I started playing. Still have two of them, though they very rarely get played ....

get-photo.asp
 

wileypickett

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Thanks for posting.

S. Yairis aren't nearly as common as K Yairis, but here's one for sale in NYC:

https://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/msg/d/farmingville-syairi-1973-acoustic/6860994951.html

I owned a Yairi / Bozo 12-string for a while, mentioned in the article.

I also have a Suzuki -- a "3-S" 12-string with a slotted headstock.

Neither had anything on Guild 12-strings, but the Suzuki is nice enough that I've hung onto it. The Yairi / Bozo had a lot going for it (loud!), but it was pretty muddy in the mids, which is why I eventually sold it.

Glenn
 

adorshki

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And there's this, the hype for which may amuse some of us Guild 12-string enthusiasts! (I own one of these too, got it on Whidbey Island in Washington some years ago -- for 1/13 what this seller is asking.)

https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/msg/d/philadelphia-1977-takamine-f395ms/6846781618.html
Just of curiosity is the Tak's back actually solid?
I seriously doubt any F412's back is actually 1/4" thick as that seller states, but that got me to wondering if he simply preferred that flatback sound, which in turn got me to wondering if it was actually a solid back since that's far less relevant to tone in a back and sides.
Suspect it ain't got our famous dual rods, either.
Is the neck still straight on yours?
 

Grassdog

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And there's this, the hype for which may amuse some of us Guild 12-string enthusiasts! (I own one of these too, got it on Whidbey Island in Washington some years ago -- for 1/13 what this seller is asking.)

https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/msg/d/philadelphia-1977-takamine-f395ms/6846781618.html

When a seller goes on and on like this, I always get suspicious. It reeks of BS on a number of levels. One thing I know, I've played one of these and it was not even close to an F-412, at least to my ears.
 

dreadnut

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And there's this, the hype for which may amuse some of us Guild 12-string enthusiasts! (I own one of these too, got it on Whidbey Island in Washington some years ago -- for 1/13 what this seller is asking.)

https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/msg/d/philadelphia-1977-takamine-f395ms/6846781618.html

When reading the ad, I thought "yada, yada, yada. Way overpriced.

Wiley, my 12-String Epiphone was stolen out of the barracks at Whidbey Island NAS back in '73. I decided not to invest in another guitar until I got out of the Navy, as it would probably be stolen as well. When I came home, I bought my new '76 D-25M and the rest is history.
 

beecee

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I've been pretty happy with my two MIJ guitars that I've owned for over 40 years...(uuughhh getting OLD).

Frono said something to the effect in a post I started a while back about there being stellar examples of even the most mundane brands.

Guess I either got lucky or had a good ear back then!
 

kakerlak

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I have a cool old Yamaki slothead 12 string. Rosewood and Cedar with a fair bit of abalone and binding. Its top is a wavy mess, all torqued up around the soundhole and bridge, but somebody did a neck reset on it and it actually plays easily and is an absolute cannon. A fun beater with a cool set of gold open-back strip tuners with tulip buttons.
 

lbrous2

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I also have a Suzuki Nagoya '3-S' #250 and it is the equal of my Hoboken Guild 212XL in almost every way except bottom end. I also own a 68 S Yairi and 5 AY Yairi's. They are the most under-rated guitars out there IMHO.
The #250 was their best 12 string
 
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Brucebubs

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About Morris

The Morris Guitars company has been building quality handcrafted instruments in Nagano, Japan for a long time. Mr. Toshio Moridaira, the founder, was the first distributor in Japan to carry both Fender and Gibson lines. In 1964, due to his working relationship with Gibson, Mr. Moridaira was able to visit the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. An employee at Gibson nicknamed him “Mori” at that time.

In 1967, he founded the Morris Guitars company. He named it Morris, taken from the nickname given to him a while back. Morris produced copies of dreadnought and small jumbo models based on Martin and Gibson designs. Since then, Morris Guitars have enjoyed an outstanding reputation in Japan and other countries for making high quality guitars.

In 1974, Morris introduced their guitars at the NAMM show. In 1978, Morris introduced the Tornado line, thin body acoustic-electric guitars inspired by the Ovation design. Up until the early 80s, the U.S. market saw a variety of guitars that Morris imported from Japan.
 

wileypickett

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I also have a Suzuki Nagoya '3-S' #250 and it is the equal of my Hoboken Guild 212XL in almost every way except bottom end. The #250 was their best 12 string

That's the one! And I agree, it's almost -- but not quite -- in Guild territory. (We should start a "Let's Talk Suzuki" chat group!) And when they turn up, the're cheap.
 
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