Old Japanese acoustics

mrleon83

thanks to the post regarding old Japanese acoustics I’ve decided I need one.

im watching some aria and Epiphone jap acoustics from the 70s/80s from what I understand they’re made in the same factory... so are they decent? It’s just for an office pick up n play or is it bette mr to go for a more modern Tanglewood or similiar? 

ICBM

Be careful if you're buying blind - nice ones can be very good, but the quality varied quite a lot, the machineheads are often junk, they can have significant playability issues, and not all of them sound great.

A modern guitar like a Tanglewood is a safer bet really, although it won't have the same character.

domforr

I've got two old Japanese guitars - a Matano classical from the 70's and a Daion 12 string form the 80's. They are both great guitars with a lovely warm and resonant sound and high quality build. I think if you do your research and know what you're looking for there are some real gems out there.

mrleon83

Thanks guys, I’ll most definitely be buying blind so maybe a bit of a lottery .. 

ToneControl

mrleon83 said:

thanks to the post regarding old Japanese acoustics I’ve decided I need one.

im watching some aria and Epiphone jap acoustics from the 70s/80s from what I understand they’re made in the same factory... so are they decent? It’s just for an office pick up n play or is it bette mr to go for a more modern Tanglewood or similiar? 

see my other thread, 49 mins left

artiebear

ToneControl said:

mrleon83 said:

thanks to the post regarding old Japanese acoustics I’ve decided I need one.

im watching some aria and Epiphone jap acoustics from the 70s/80s from what I understand they’re made in the same factory... so are they decent? It’s just for an office pick up n play or is it bette mr to go for a more modern Tanglewood or similiar? 

see my other thread, 49 mins left

Crazy price for that kind of quality !

wildeyes

Dont know if this is applicable but these two threads cover a lot of information on Yamaha and other Japanese acoustic guitars. Mainly classical style guitars so as I said it may not be applicable.

https://www.classicalguitardelcamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=106447
https://www.classicalguitardelcamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=111723

I have two Yamaha guitars. A 1977 GC5M and a 1998 GD10. The GC5M is to a high spec by Spanish trained luthier using woods no longer available. Condition mint. The GD10 is almost the same spec and luthier signed but made in Taiwan not Japan. Condition well used. Had corduroy strings when it arrived, no case and neck edge binding needs fixing, frets need attention, and neck needs a clean and oiling. Restrung with EJ45s and it makes a wonderful sound not he same as but on a par with my D28 for resonance. It cost a tenth of the GC5M and I was going to sell it on but decided to keep both.