Below are some of the top manufacturers of vintage japanese guitars. Find the current blue book value and worth of your new and used guitars, both acoustic, electric and amplifier. Just be wary of sellers using the word lawsuit to drive up the asking price of their vintage japanese instruments, and try to ask a lot of. Gibsons golden period was between the late 1950s and mid 1960s, these are outstanding instruments, but generally any guitar built at the legendary kalamazoo plant, especially during the cmiperiod pre1970 will be very wellmade indeed. You can also order direct from my publisher centerstream. Mid 1960 s japanese guitars from 1962 to 1967 the u. See more ideas about guitar, vintage guitars and cool guitar. Because there arent any factory ledgers prior to the 1980s for epiphone, these stamps will give you the closest approximation to their manufacturing date. The japanese were for many years the masters of replicating everything from cars to guitars.
Tracking down a vintage japanese guitars manufacturer can get confusing fast. For anyone in the market for a vintage instrument, the japanese guitars from the 70s and 80s are great choices that dont command the outrageous price tags of their american counterparts. It lists all of the used stock currently available from all of our stores around. Details about rare 1960s teisco gen gakki sunburst idol honey. This is a 17 inch guitar with carved european spruce top, xbraced. Includes hundreds of fantastic color photographs, a chapter on pickups, and a chapter on collecting vintage japanese guitars. Its a great time to upgrade your home music studio gear with the largest selection at. Up for sale, a 1960 s teisco model 8n lap steel in excellent condition and in perfect working order. Japanese classical guitars continue to be built to this day, but these are largely highend guitars bearing the luthiers nameand a correspondingly high price tag. Electric guitar volume and tone knobs electric guitar music books for. From this moment, he had been inspired by the sound of. These japanese lawsuit guitars are of legendary quality and are highly sought after. Established in 1951 as a woodworking manufacturer of various items but is best known as a manufacturer of high quality guitars and bass guitars including some epiphone and aria guitars.
Vintage 1960s teisco electric guitar model unknown. Here is a really nice vintage, 1960s, alamo fiesta electric guitar. In addition to the models commonly available in the usa, there were japanese guitars that rarely made it to this country. Product cover for history of japanese electric guitars. Jedson thinline jazz guitar 1960s teisco made in japan. Once these guitars arrived in the united states, the kent brand name, or another brand, was added to the guitars headstock. With over 350 brand names used on vintage japanese guitars, we had to draw a line somewhere. Jan 18, 2016 1960s japanese guitar brand name game posted on february 12, 2012. Rare 50s vintage kay pro electric bass guitar ebay. History of japanese electric guitars book drowning in guitars.
Just be wary of sellers using the word lawsuit to drive up the asking price of their vintage japanese. This book is easily the best reference book on japanese guitars that has appeared in the last 30 years. In the 60s, japanese manufacturers birthed some of the most bizarre guitars. Vintage 1960s alamo fiesta 6 string 2 pickup electric. That explains the beautiful sparkle red wrap finish. Vintage japanesemade guitars exude some of the most unique designs. An appreciation of bizarre japanese guitars from the 60s happy mag. A collection of vintage guitars and other instruments. When someone posts a picture on a forum of a vintage japanese guitar that hes trying to identify, five people will immediately shout out teisco. Maybe in years to come, we can expand on the current list, but for the moment this is more than we can handle. How to use epiphone serial numbers to date your guitar. Japanese guitar in vintage electric guitars for sale ebay. Get the best deal for vintage electric guitars from the largest online selection at. Jazz guitar music guitar cool guitar playing guitar acoustic guitar vintage electric guitars vintage guitars rare guitars archtop guitar what others are saying vintage 1960 univox 335 electric guitar japan love the finish.
Particularly with older models, the serial number may. Airline guitars were made for and sold at montgomery ward department stores from the late 1950s through the 1960s. Lawsuit guitars japanese vintage electric guitars on ebay. Vintage 60s greco norma japanese guitar three 3 gold foil pickup. I recommend this book without reservation to anyone wanting information on vintage japanese guitars. The 1960s tg64 was a top tier model for teisco, though it falls just a little short of the spectacular spectrum 5s. The logo is original, these were found on a few made in japan guitars from the and though they are rare. Apr 14, 2020 thanks to their relationship to gibson, both as a fierce competitor and as an eventual partner, the quality of most epiphone guitars is comparable to their gibson counterparts, yet on todays vintage market the epiphone models are priced significantly less, making them great bargains for players and collectors alike.
Norma imported guitars from various japanese guitar manufacturers, but this guitar came from a manufacturer that was actually better known for its accordions. See more ideas about japanese guitar, guitar and vintage guitars. The electric guitars have gold foil covered pickups and plenty of chrome. Vintage 1960 univox 335 electric guitar japan love the finish. Here we will share a lot of the lost information regarding vintage guitars of the 1960s, that were made in japan. Theres a huge market in vintage guitars, that includes collectors who specialize in all sorts of offbeat instruments. More accessible financially are the japanese made epiphone elitist versions of the same instrument, issued the same year, in a limited. Jul 10, 2018 japanese classical guitars continue to be built to this day, but these are largely highend guitars bearing the luthiers nameand a correspondingly high price tag. We proudly believe we have the largest range of quality used guitars in japan. The guitars above represent instruments built in japan for the japanese domestic market only. Ishibashi music corporation also handles large amounts of new, used and vintage instruments. Jun 27, 2017 today, were revisiting this realm with a look at ten of the most exceptional vintage japanese guitars for sale on reverb right now.
Using gold foil pickups to identify teiscos and other vintage japanese guitars. Vintage guitar magazine placed nine gibson guitars in their top 25 most valuable guitar list. When i adjusted the volume there is a little static very common. Audition guitars made in japan by teisco 1960s great. Finally, the longawaited english edition of this historic japanese book is here. Woolco started to sell them in their woolworths stores from 1963. The tf360sbgmag is perhaps takamines crown jewel, thanks in part to its vintage tone and new electronics system, which includes an internal preamp the first of its kind.
Vintage teisco trump solidbody electric guitar made in japan plays great guitar is exactly as pictured. Michael putlandgetty images as yamaha celebrates its 50th anniversary, guitar world looks back through the japanese companys storied history to find out what lead to them becoming one of the preeminent guitar manufacturers of all time. Unfollow vintage japan guitar parts to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. One day, a friend came to visit shiros apartment with a guitar. Our authentic guitars combine the classic design of vintage guitars with the modern playability of newer ones.
Indeed, when it comes to classical guitars, japanese luthiers were already building fine instruments and solving technical challenges that would soon make them major exporters well into the 1980s. Tombo only manufactured guitars from 1965 to 1967 during the height of the first electric guitar boom in japan. Models of montgomery ward airline guitars our pastimes. Their attention to detail was nad still is meticulous, especially when it came to copying and replicating american guitar design. A field guide to vintage japanese classical guitars. The magnitude of their value is directly related to their look outrageous wood patterns, or figured timber, since nonplayers are paying top.
May, 2016 audition guitars made in japan by teisco 1960s who remembers buying one of these audition guitars in the 1960s. Kingston kawai vintage mij s80 japan electric guitar. The ubox is where you will find our used items inventory. Vintage guitars are pretty much our speciality at chicago music exchange. His book history of japanese guitars was published in 2015 and is a. Vintage guitar collecting, like anything else is subject to fashion. Howl guitars is the vintage guitar shop in tokyo japan. Looking back on 50 years of yamaha guitars guitar world. Vintage guitars, rare guitars, new guitars and used guitars for sale at. We will attempt to cover the history of the selected brands and provide the information needed to help identify the models and manufacturer. Sep 17, 2019 when trying to date your vintage epiphone or gibson instrument, the most accurate way to do it is by decoding the serial number. Besides bigger brands such as fender and gibson, several smaller brands flourished in this decade, and names such as airline, supro, teisco and hagstrom are today very desirable. Get the best prices on our vintage acoustic guitars both instore and online. With some of the most knowledgeable vintage guitar experts in the business on staff here, we have been able to curate the most incredible selection of vintage guitars in the world.
My book is now out and ready for your reading consumption. Audition 1960s vintage acoustic guitar made in japan great. It all started with the classical guitar, says shiro arai, chairman and the founder of aria guitars. Frank meyers has hit a grand slam with history of japanese electric guitars. Yamaha occupies a surprisingly unusual niche in the guitar industry the company, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its. Great vintage guitar instruments products 1960s japanese guitars. It is with the vintage japanese classical guitars that the true values are to be found.
Includes hundreds of fantastic colour photographs, a chapter on pickups, and a chapter on collecting vintage japanese guitars. Shiro was expecting to hear kogatype japanese popular music, but instead his friend started to play a piece by bach. The retro look is combined with patented new hardware that. The number one source of guitar and amplifier pricing and information so you can find the price and value of your used guitars and amplifier. They werent the cheapest but they werent expensive either. Lawsuit guitars are highquality copies of popular american brand name guitars like fender and gibson produced by japanese companies in the 1970s. In the early 60s during the japanese guitar boom, teisco gen gakki was making guitars for. For example, some collect 1960s vintage japanese and italian models bristling with strange control knobs, futuristic plastic parts and three or four noname pickups.
The timbers used to make these guitars were sourced from every corner of south east asia. A quick look at zenta sometimes badged as jedson and sakai guitars. When japanese guitar manufacturers began cracking into the western guitar market in the 1960s, they were known for producing replica guitars of popular models by fender and gibson. Unfollow vintage japanese guitar to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Audition 1960s vintage acoustic guitar made in japan. It is well written and the images are clear, colorful and entirely useful if you are a collector or a japanese guitar enthusiast. We are always welcome to any customer with wide range of selected guitars mainly from fender telecaster, gretsch and boutique amps from vox, matchless, plexi marshall, mesa boogie and dumble amps. Howl guitars instruments for sale howl guitars instrument. These classic instruments are great for vintage guitar collectors on a budget unless you want an original resoglass model, the most valuable of the montgomery ward airline guitars. Sep 19, 2014 a quick look at zenta sometimes badged as jedson and sakai guitars. Of the vintage japanese names out there, certainly the most well known is teisco, but as mentioned, you will find many names on these guitars. They supplied guitars to montgomery wards and others.
Please email if you would like to see more photos of a specific guitar, if not actively linked. Initially, these instruments were thought of as cheap imitations of the originals, and they werent given much respect. The retro look is combined with patented new hardware that gives you the best of both new and old worlds. Use this site for a pricing guide and source of information on all guitars. The beauty of the burst pays tribute to gibsons magnificent sunburst les pauls made between 1958 and 1960, the most highly prized solidbody electric guitars ever. Some of these vintage guitars now represent excellent value, whether youre looking for a concertgrade or very highquality student guitar.
There are still gems to be found, on ebay or reverb for example, and a lot of these auctions are genuine, but. Simple, budget guitars from japan, which seem to be undergoing a bit of a revival in popularity. The wonders of vintage japanese guitars the guitar repairers. Like kleenex for tissues or dumpster for large garbage containers, the brand teisco has become a kind of shorthand for strange looking japanese guitar from the 1960s. For the first time in this illustrated history, author frank meyers will examine the japanese electric guitars and factories that were active during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, identifying the various people, companies, and guitars that contributed to the huge guitar boom of the 1960s. Registered trademarksdesigns of the gibson guitar corporation include, but are not limited to, gibson, orville, les paul, flying v, explorer, l5, es335, es175, firebird. The 1970s japanese copy guitars boom guitar collecting. English language reference book for japanese guitars of the 1960s. Matsumoku industrial was a japanese manufacturing company once existed in matsumoto city, japan, between 1951 1987. We dont have the resources to do them all, as much as we like to. Collectors who grew up in the 1950s often want different guitars to those that grew up in the 1980s.
Get the best prices on our vintage guitars both instore and online. The ones that they sold had the same label but mentioned woolworths too. Im going to always have a few copies here if you want to buy an autographed copy. From beginner models and highquality alternatives to popular american designs to a yamaha that looks ripped straight from a salvador dali painting, these ten guitars represent the tip of the iceberg of the. History of japanese electric guitars hal leonard online. A very concise history of japanese guitar production during the sixties boom in rock music. Vintage 1960s 70s semi hollow electric guitar neck japan teisco heit parts. As early as the 1970s, mass production of guitars began to make the quality, craftsmanship. During the 1950s their electric guitars were competitors for the silvertone and danelectro guitars. Here we will share a lot of the lost information regarding vintage guitars of the 1960 s, that were made in japan. History of japanese electric guitars paperback 20 may 2015. S nappy and clear but not brittle in the bridge position, and smooth and warm at the neck, this steel is dialed in with fresh strings and is ready to be played. History of japanese electric guitars book drowning in. The true story behind japanese lawsuit guitars soundfly.
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