Welcome to 6String Minutes. In this segment, we’ll uncover the truth about Japanese “lawsuit” guitars imported to the United States from the mid-1970s on. Gear hunters and enthusiasts around the world all claim to have seen them, but the true story may shock you.*
(* If you happen to be plugged into an ungrounded amplifier and touch metal.)
- Nagoya Suzuki Guitar Serial Numbers. 9/25/2019 Hi everybody! Many people would like to know what to think about their suzuki guitar. I've been playing guitar for 30.
- Nagoya Suzuki is a lot harder to date as masakichi Suzuki made guitars in the early 1900's but are better known for their generic label easily going back as far as the 50's and up to 1980 before changing again for their last 7-8 years. Most (NOT ALL )Nagoya Suzuki's have a 6 digit serial number stamped on the inside of the neck heel, where the.
- Nagoya Suzuki had a ' Three S ' brand of guitar that seems to be consistently very highly valued by everyone that owns one. They also produced an Insignia series of guitars in the 80's that had solid woods used in the manufacture and had more of an electric guitar-type of neck - thinner than a typical acoustic guitar.
Let’s take a journey back to the ’70s. Guitars and guitar-based rock ‘n’ roll music had reached a level of popularity that would last well into the early 2000s.
Nagoya Suzuki Acoustic Guitars Information and Comments Comment here on what you think of the guitar; the sound; type of woods used; date of mfr; and anything else you would like to say. Also, for more info on Nagoya classicals, Nagoya electrics, and Kiso Suzuki.
![Nagoya Nagoya](https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--jzZzUaeN--/f_auto,t_large/v1560886907/xkgdh4auykty0ndv0ahg.jpg)
While heavy riffs and searing solos dominated the airwaves, the quality manufacturing of the classic instruments synonymous with the culture — guitars like Gibson’s Les Paul and SG, Fender’s Stratocaster and Telecaster — was beginning to decline significantly from a production standpoint. The careful attention to detail, superior parts, and meticulous craftsmanship diminished, while price tags remained high.
Harry Rosenbloom, owner of Medley Music in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, made his living selling handmade instruments. Sensing the domestic guitar market’s downturn, however, Rosenbloom’s company, Elger Guitars, became the sole North American distributor for Japanese guitar manufacturers, Hoshino Gakki Gen.
Hoshino began importing classical guitars from a small, Spanish guitar maker named Salvador Ibáñez in the ’20s to sell in Japan, and went onto launch their own brand under the name Ibanez, inspired by the imported guitars in 1935. Rosenbloom, sensitive to the domestic hostility towards Japanese products still prevalent in the late ’60s, used this as the brand name for his imported guitars. In 1971, Hoshino became profitable enough to purchase Elger Guitars from Rosenbloom and officially changed their name to Ibanez, USA.
Ibanez achieved US success when it began manufacturing copies of classic Fender, Gibson, and Rickenbacker guitars in the late ’60s. While Gibson and Fender guitars declined in quality, Japanese copies were, at least visually, markedly on par with the American originals.
Although not built to the same specifications as their American counterparts — many of which sported bolt-on necks, inferior electronics, and multi-piece plywood tops — the Japanese instruments were utilitarian, had personality, and were faithful to the original designs.
They were quickly embraced by novice players and those who didn’t want to shell out their hard-earned cash for a guitar of questionable quality. American guitar brands felt the hit.
In addition to Ibanez, other manufacturers started importing their own copies of the classics. Seventies Les Paul lookalikes featured names like Burny, Tokai, and Greco on their headstocks. (Notice that Greco’s font is nearly identical to Gibson’s.)
Fernandes created faithful recreations of Fender instruments; and Takamine and Suzuki both made acoustic guitars nearly identical to certain Martin models.
Interestingly, most Japanese copies of the time didn’t have serial numbers — a great way to tell if an instrument is truly a “lawsuit” guitar, even today.
Speaking of which, in 1977, Gibson’s parent company filed a lawsuit against Ibanez (essentially the Hoshino corporation) for copying their “open-book-style” headstock.
The lawsuit was settled out of court, and Ibanez replaced the headstock with a revised design.
Ibanez ramped up the quality of its own designs, including set-in-neck copies of solid body and archtop guitars. Soon after, it rolled out its own line of signature instruments like the Iceman and Destroyer, which set the tone for the company-defining instruments of the ’80s and ’90s. A tone befitting the international rise of heavy metal!
So, what’s the salacious “true story” we promised earlier? Most instruments that claim to be “lawsuit-era” guitars simply aren’t.
That isn’t to say they aren’t cool, functional instruments with unique character — quite the contrary. The only technical “lawsuit” guitars are Ibanez models, or other branded guitars manufactured by Hoshino, that look nearly identical to Gibson or Fender guitars, save for the name on the headstock and some technical specifications. They mostly originated out of the FujiGen Gakki plant in Japan and were imported to the US.
At the same time that Japanese guitar factories were making copies of American designs, they were also tinkering with unique designs of their own. It’s not uncommon to see guitars from this period sporting wild body designs, as many as four pickups, and some curiously organized pickup selectors and knobs.
Are these “lawsuit” guitars? Absolutely not. Are they still cool? Most definitely. The Greco 950 is one of the coolest non-copied designs to come from Japanese factories.
What about all those copies you see online? Sellers on third-party sites like eBay win on a technicality by billing these instruments as “lawsuit-era guitars,” both expanding the range of guitars included to anywhere between the late ’60s to early ’80s, and implying the guitars are made in Japan without saying it outright.
But, buyer beware. There are a lot of guitars falsely credited to Japanese manufacturers that were actually made in China and Korea.
Responding to the market’s desire for lower priced instruments, Fender opened its own Japanese plant in 1982. The Japanese Fender guitars are not “lawsuit guitars.” But, they tend to be great, high-quality instruments.
In 1984, Fender’s parent company sold it to new owners, and in the following years, production in the US slowed as management transitioned. Most of the instruments sold during this period were old-stock American guitars and imported Japanese guitars, which gave the market time to adjust to the presence of these new, low-cost instruments bearing the Fender name.
The results of “lawsuit-era” guitar making are still felt today. Most high-end guitar manufacturers have overseas plants that produce lower cost versions of their instruments for hobbyists, students, and professionals alike. Gibson bought Epiphone, and Fender created the Squier line, further proof of these lower cost instruments’ success.
For anyone in the market for a vintage instrument, the Japanese guitars from the ’70s and ’80s are great choices that don’t command the outrageous price tags of their American counterparts. 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 questions.
If you’d like to learn more about the story of Ibanez, this book covers it, well, cover to cover! For 6String Minutes, I’m reporter Elyadeen Anbar, signing off.
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The Interwebs are sorely lacking on search results for these guitars! There's a particular one for sale on my local Craigslist, which is why I started researching. I thought Suzuki guitars were 70's creations only, and inexpensive student guitars at that. However, the seller claims this particular Suzuki dreadnaught is from the early 90's and that it's a quality all solid-wood build. The name on the headstock says 'Suzuki Triple S' and the model is AD320. Does anyone have a Blue Book with more info?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Some years ago I had a cutaway Nagoya acoustic. I can't remember the model number but the headstock as the same as the W 120 on the internet. The finish was a dark tobacco sunburst, very pretty! I think it was a laminate but that certainly didn't affect the sound, very well balanced with enough sound for anyone.
Lovely neck shape and feel, used regularly at home and on holidays, sessions and even trying to support a VERY loud bluegrass banjo. I never had a problem with the instrument losing tuning, lifting the bridge, neck needing a reset or any of the many and varied problems which can attack a guitar over the 15 or so years I owned it. My friends also played it - a variety of styles, all liked it. Eventually sold (with a clear conscience) to a friend when I upgraded to a Guild. Suzuki was making guitars fro a long long time, maybe they exported mainly laminates, can`t say for sure, but I`ve found a few all solids over here. I checked a site that has catalogs including Suzuki but didn`t see the model you listed so I didn`t post a link in this thread. I`ll post pics of the labels of those I own that are solid wood.
This is a `48 nylon string. A 1950 Kiso Suzuki. I`ve got three of these, no dates on the labels, but two are certainly solid. One, the most recent, I`m not sure about, but if I had to bet I`d say yes. All three have different colored labels but all have the diamond cut bracing. Heres what the diamond cut bracing looks like.
Here is a link to a site with some Suzukis.none of the labels on mine appear there, and some of the data they have conflicts with the guitars I own so I can`t swear the info there is accurate, in fact I know some isn`t but it`s very difficult finding stuff on many old MIJs I own, I`ve got a whole bunch in the 'unsolved mystery' file, but hey, whatever.I buy em to play, guess I`ll just have to struggle through life not knowing everything there is to know about some of my oldies. As long as they sound good, I`m happy. I have still got a Nagoya Suzuki w-120VSC cutaway tobacco sunburst exactly as you describe. I bought it new in about 1983 and you are right -it is a fantastic guitar for the money. Although I use a Takamine en-20 (another 1980s relic)for gigging, the Suzuki is the first choice at home for composing or noodling about on. The action is fantastic and the sound is well rounded.
Gibson Guitar Serial Number Search
It hasn't got the volume or tone of the Tak, but it's a much nicer guitar to play. My wife won't play any other and she won't let me sell it! I have never adjusted anything other than replacing strings in all those years. It's hard to fault really.
The build quality is good -the g string sometimes 'jumps' or clicks when you tune it and the intonation gets a bit suspect right up past the 12th. These could probably be sorted easily, although i've never felt the need. Apart from a few chips, the finish has stayed in remarkably good condition(compared with the Tak which is disintigrating around the soundhole). I think I paid about. You might want to check the archives here as well. There was a thread on guitars branded 'Nagoya' that I guess were Suzukis. No really good records on these things.
Mine is in my lap as I speak. Just boned the bridge. It's about a '72 model, as far as I can tell.
Solid spruce top, and the sides and back appear, to the best of my ability to determine, to be solid EIR. Mine is a true copy of a contemporaneous Martin, down to the oversized rosewood bridge plate. It was manufactured as a 'House Brand' for a local music store in the D.C.
Point being, though they made a lot of student level stuff, they were capable of turning out better guitars. $350 sounds a little steep, but with a good hardshell case, it's not out of the ballpark. Compare it to other guitars in he price range, like the Yamaha 7XXS series, and make up your own mind. Yo kai watch 3 emulator. Only rule of thumb I haveis, If it sounds good, it is good.
So you want to date your kiso Suzuki guitar. The first kiso Suzuki guitars are actually pre 1951 possibly even from 1948 I will send tom the label and photos of the guitar in question, anyway. All kiso Suzuki guitars pre-1970 had the date ( anno or Anne ) stamped on the label with the model number eg.
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Nagoya Suzuki Guitars
Anne 1967 No.7 etc from 1969-1970 the kiso labels changed to the square label and then had 5 digit serial numbers with the first being the year of the 70s it was made eg 10345 =1971 #345. The square label was used until 1979 where the label was now round with ALL serial numbers starting with 9,0,1, 2,3 for 1979, 1980 81 82 83.the round label from 1979 and some 1980 labels have the green wreath border. Nagoya Suzuki had also changed labels from the standard white and yellow to the white square label for standard Nagoya's and green square labels for the three S series. All Nagoya s have 6 digit serials, and 7 after mid 80s. I can be found on facebook at kiso Suzuki guitars - Jarrod a.
Anonymous Jarrod said. Hi tomas and all,in my years of trying to date Suzuki guitars the only sense I can make of it all is for kiso Suzuki's ( inc. Takeharu, Halifax, bluebell, tomson etc ) the first number of the serial number is the last year of the build year ie. 11023 would be either, 1971(apparent on takeharu's which have the model number build year and serial number which the first digit is always last of the build year) or 1981 depending on the label square being approx. 1971 -1979 and the round being 1978-1986.the scarce 50's and 60's kiso's I have seen, have the build year and the model number ie.1968 No6. Nagoya Suzuki is a lot harder to date as masakichi Suzuki made guitars in the early 1900's but are better known for their generic label easily going back as far as the 50's and up to 1980 before changing again for their last 7-8 years. Most (NOT ALL )Nagoya Suzuki's have a 6 digit serial number stamped on the inside of the neck heel, where the first 2 digits are the year ie. Fallout 4 reset cell command.
711360 so 1971 build number #1360 some have thought the 6 digit serial numbers were the whole build date, I don't think that's the case, Manji or M Suzuki's even harder to date as there is less known about these Suzuki's some were made in japan late 70's early 80's before being made in korea,also have a 6 digit serial number and a letter. I too thought I had a nice 70's Suzuki until I bought a kiso Suzuki 1981 catalogue with my guitar in it unfortunately confirming the round label to be late 70's-80's.here are my Suzuki's and their serial numbers w65hs round label 91036 (1979 ), my w65h round label 00316 (1980). My kiso wos260/12 round label 01212 (1980),my Nagoya built Suzuki's. Three S AE-30 with the green three s square label from 1980-1987 ser# 810987 (1981),Nagoya #12 old square label ser# 710518 (1971), and Manji Suzuki FW516 ser# K919025.M Suzuki guitars were made in Hamamatsu japan by Suzuki musical INST MFG company aka the Suzuki we know today and on speaking to them yes they did make Manji Suzuki guitars but could not provide accurate build dates but did tell me the Japanese made M Suzuki's were 70's 80's. If anyone else has any information on these wonderful lesser known guitars hit me up, [email protected]. I have just purchased a Suzuki guitar the other day from a thrift shop.I didn't know it was a Suzuki because the label was all written in Japanese, except I could read the number 33 and the letter R in the upper right side of the label.
Nagoya Suzuki Guitar Serial Numbers Lookup
The label is square and positioned inside the sound hole. I found out it was a Suzuki because a friend helped me translate the Japanese characters. I figured this was for local (Japanese) consumption because it had no English label on it. Could somebody give me more info on this guitar? I have two wonderful 700's, one bought and carefully repaired from an op shop, one nearly new from someone who took very good care of it. They are both Nagoyas with the same square label, but the first has a 4-digit serial number, 4361, which I'd guess was #361 of 1974 based on one system described here.
The second is much younger, 790590, which post-dates the round label start in 78 based on the first-2-digit model, putting it into 1979 (unit 590). So label shape is not a guarantee, though it seems partially useful if you have round one.
Guitar Serial Numbers Epiphone
The older one's serial number is stamped very clearly and with a smaller stamp than was used on the other one, and the digits are hard to make out on 790590, seems it wasn't stamped firmly and the ink ran a bit. It would be great if someone could get one of the craftsmen to talk about how they did it!