auchencrow

Yup, a lot of kids who lusted after a Gibson or Fender got one of those instead.
(For which reason these 60's Japanese guitars have a camp-collectability today)

supafast213

I know why. This guitar was pretty cheap. I think it has like ten ply's. I got it for 20 bucks at the flea market. I think I paid to much. Like all of my projects, I bought it cheap but it needed a lot of work. I love it the same. It pulls up the rear of my modest string collection. I'll get her running one of these days.

bigbossman 

Some of those Japanese guitars were very well built. Lookee here! They've got a forum!

https://www.matsumoku.org/ggboard/ind...016ba11fb628dd

auchencrow

Starting later in the 70's there were indeed some Japanese guitars that were well made, but back in the sixties, they were to Gibson & Fender what a gas-pipe Huffy is to your DeRosa.

Actually I am being too kind: The Huffy was at least functional, whereas most of these mutant mass-production 60's Japanese guitars were not. (Not without drawing blood from unfinished fret ends, strings alternately buzzing out or resembling the suspension cables on the GW bridge, dead delaminating plywood bodies, and pickups that buzzed more than a Van der Graaf machine.)

Kanegon

^^ I wouldn't go that far, but I'm sure they turned off as many wannabe rock heroes, as Huffy did with Hinault wannabes. As Chevy used to say, "more road hugging weight". MIJ guitars literally got too good in the mid 80s forcing US manufacturers to either sue or contract (as Fender did). Here's my 94 MIJ Strat, albeit just the woodwork... which was superb.

auchencrow

I was not exaggerating. ^ Lots of my young cohorts BITD ended up with those, and I can attest that those early guitars were nothing less than abominable.

Of course with so many sales going to Asia, Gibson and Fender, et al, were pressured to sign licensing agreements with Japanese manufacturers. Hence, we saw the advent of the low cost Japanese Epiphones and Squires.

The only "lawsuit" I ever heard of was the one threatened jointly by Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker and a few others around 1981, after they got hold of some Japanese clones. (cloned right down to the trademarks). With their legal eagles (the the help of US Customs), they forced Tokai Greco and Fernandes etc to desist at least from copying the logo's, and by '83 the whole thing was settled out of court (though the Japanese never did desist from making copies of the guitars).

By the 80's some Japanese makers were cranking out fully sanctioned branded and licensed copies under contract, of which your guitar is a primo example (cool color BTW). These were quality guitars that sold for much less than the US-made models, and were virtually identical, so they sold well. Today, most guitars are being made in Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, Malaysia and China.

Personally, I've always favored American-made instruments. I purchased my first electric guitar, the '65 Gibson ES125 below, from the proceeds of my paper route.

rootboy 

Gorgeous!

The Golden Boy 

I will provide "relicing" services- of course it'll take a few years.

And the results may not exactly blend with your idea of "taste."

bigbossman 

To be fair, anything that came out of Japan during that time was crap. During the 60's/ 1st half of the 70's, if it said Made In Japan on it, it was a cheap POS.

JanMM

At the risk of being denounced here: Recently sold a 70's Guild M-75 Bluesbird to the local Guitar Center and turned around and bought a new 'Hand Crafted in China' Epiphone Les Paul clone.
The Guild needed some work - it was already beat up when I bought it in the early 80's. The Epiphone meets my needs. Whoever ends up with the Guild will appreciate it more than I did.

fas2c

My Law Suit Era 80's Yamaha SBG200. Sorta at the bottom and not as fancy as the SB2000 that was being produced at the time. Solid mahogany body and neck.

rhm

When I started playing, in '79, I would sometimes encounter those cheap Japanese guitars in friends' houses, at yard sales, etc. And yes, they were pretty terrible. Like with a cheap bike, the problem was twofold; the equipment was bad and the user was clueless.

Since then I learned to play, fix, and set up guitars pretty well; and I have never again encountered those wretched Japanese guitars that couldn't be made to play well. I mean yes, I've seen them, but I've found with a little work they can be made into perfectly servicable but inelegant instruments. Dress the frets properly, set up the nut properly, figure out where the bridge should be, and you can get good action and good intonation out of just about any crappy guitar.

I have one of those cheap Japanese guitars I took out of a dumpster a couple years ago. If anyone wants it, send me a pm.

20grit

I will say, I have yet to encounter a vintage Yamaha acoustic that didn't have some nice quality about it. I've only ever sold one guitar, a small body Yamaha. I still miss it for playing by myself. I have plenty of others to fill the void, but at times I think back about that guitar.

auchencrow

A Bluesbird you say !?!?

auchencrow

I have to agree here. Yamaha (Nippon Gakki) started making decent utility instruments starting in the 70's with the FG red-label series.
Yeah, they were just plywood, but still could sound reasonably good and play OK. I would not however compare them to the (much more expensive) Martins or Gibsons from the same era -in spite of the fact that this period was the nadir in quality for these American makers.

20grit

True. I pretty much hold that after '63, Gibson's acoustic line became horrible. The double x braced tops with a giant chunk of plywood serving as a bridge plate are just terrible.

JanMM

More like the one on the right:

RavingManiac

Strat 001 by Chock ful o' Nuts, on Flickr

My 1966 Strat true relic I purchased from a friend for $100 back around 1970 when I was a young man. It was spray painted white when I got it so I sanded, stained it, brushed on some polyurethane. It was hideous. So I started sanding again but never finished and this is how it's looked for the last 40 years.


LP3 001 by Chock ful o' Nuts, on Flickr

My 1988 Les Paul Standard. Has a Bill Lawrence circuit board pickup in the neck and a Tim Shaw date code pickup at the bridge. This thing just oozes tone, I can't even express how I feel about this guitar, it means that much to me.

20grit

I'm checking out a 50's Kay Swingmaster Upright bass tomorrow night. Maybe I'll have some pictures of a new purchase for everyone.

Poguemahone

Sorry, guys. It's a bit beat up:

auchencrow

Geez, Poguemahone. - That's about as "bad" as Rory Gallagher's '61 !

(I think Raving maniac's is even more beat up though.)

Poguemahone

Darn you. I was trolling for some replies about how I needed to take better care of my guitars (of which I have none). No more zen bike searching advice for you!

The Golden Boy 

To be fair, Gibson's Kalamazoo brand guitars weren't much of a step up.

elmarjazz

Here's my custom shop Martin 000-18 175th anniversary

It would have been nice to have an 1927 000-12 fret but the next best thing… As close to the original as you can get with a new Martin guitar. With the only compromising being; no hide glue, 2-way adjustable truss rod, and the gloss finish

Beautiful Mahogany body, gorgeous Adirondack (Martin's top grade) premium top, Rosewood binding, Maple top edge and rosette inlay, Ebony bridge, Fossilized saddle, Black Ebony fingerboard, nut and heelcap Black Ebony, Abalone inlay dots, Bridge pins in Black Ebony, Adirondack 1/4" top braces - forward braced

Strightline long saddle, Bar Frets!, Waverly Brass tuners, Long scale 25.4" , Stamped Martin Logo on the back headplate and inside center strip along with the special 175th anniversary stamp. Rossette old style 18

RavingManiac

I was just looking at the pic of my Strat and noticed what appears to be an image of Jesus wih the crown of thorns on the upper left of the body, anyone else see it. On second thought, I don't want throngs of people showing up outside my house......never mind.


Strat 001 by Chock ful o' Nuts, on Flickr