Old Japanese guitars appreciation thread

DiscoStu

Neilybob said:

@DiscoStu ;;;;
That Ibanez is well tasty. So do you think your refin was restoring back to it's original finish or would it have been painted/stained?

The 350-NT was a natural finish. I went with the Wudtone Amber kit to get as close as I could to the original colour.

https://i.imgur.com/RRnTHK1.jpg

Neilybob

@DiscoStu ;

You did a great job. It looks great.

Neilybob

Fernandes RST-50 black strat. When I got this it was in mint condition, almost too perfect. I decided to leave my mark on it so I whipped out the pickups and upgraded them to Radioshop ID Chris Buck set which eck out some amazing tones! Espically love positions 2 and 4. I read somewhere on the net about lightly sanding your pickup covers and leaving them in a little coffee and water to give them that age look so I went for it to give it that look and also stained the knobs. Maple neck has some beautiful grain in it and though the gloss finish on the back is a bit annoying to play (my palm seems to want to stick to it when it's get warm) I couldn't sand it. She loves Eb tuning like most strats.

Neilybob

This brings me to my final MIJ vintage guitar in my collection and my latest purchase/import from Japan (late 2020). This is an early 70's Greco (Gneco) SA700 ES330/335 copy. It looks like a ES335 but doesn't have a center block, it's fully hollow and I believe it's got an ebony fretboard. This is in amazing condition for a guitar that's over 50 years old and she loves the sunshine (though not too much!). As this was a very early Greco guitar there is no serial number and there is no label in the F holes. The binding has aged beautifully.

Neilybob

Neilybob said:

Oooh wow there some history in this thread.  Beautiful examples of Japanese twangers. 

I stumbled across the amazing quality of MIJ guitars of yesteryear by chance when I was getting back into playing guitar and a friend had a Burny Les Paul for sale at a reasonable price. He said it plays well and sounds amazing so I went for it. It was a early 90's Burny Les Paul Joe Perry signature copy, black flame top with a white pick guard. I sold this to fund another guitar. 

Over the last 10 years I've built up a nice collection of these guitars from 70's, 80's and 90's. I'll share them over the week or so. 

Guitar 1 - Burny LG75-GR "Slash" model from early 90's. I purchased this from eBay Japan and got it sent to the UK in 2001 I think?! Beautiful flame top, rosewood fingerboard and in great condition. I'm about to upgrade the pups and capacitors which I've been thinking about for a while. 

:Edited with images

Burny back with Monty's PAF cream humbuckers installed and oil paper capacitors.

Neilybob

Take 2 this time with pictures!

Burny back with Monty's PAF cream humbuckers installed and oil paper capacitors.

Emiel

This is a +- 1984 Tokai TE60 (I think). Played to near death by its previous owners. Nearly everything on it is not original but it sounds and plays just great. Recently fitted with new frets and the excellent Mojo Broadcaster pickups. 

Neilybob

The magic of MIJ/CIJ twangers

https://www.guitarworld.com/features/magic-of-fender-japan