garthman

A couple of carols. https://youtu.be/AnAdxU_kLlw

Great stuff, daddymack.

Well, that's a surprise. .

I agree about many of them being gems. But although I'm sure that, as you say, thousands were made under one label or another I suspect that many of the older ones are no longer with us: dead, skipped or adorning walls as decorations, alas. Both of my old MIJ classicals are in quite good condition for their age but both needed some work doing to make them play well: I re-fretted one and removed the bridge of the other for conversion to a 12 hole one to get a good action and break angle. I am a reasonable DIY tech and can do a lot of repairs / maintenance myself but I think most people would just not fork out money for a tech to do that amount of work. Of the two links you posted, I am almost certain that the V-1588 was made by Suzuki. I don't know about the V-1600 but it is a very sweet looking guitar, eh?

daddymack. Yes I found that article too but, looking at the OP's photo, I don't think his guitar top is cedar - looks much more like spruce to me. The link I posted mentions that the V-1600 has a solid top (as you say, it seems to be the top of the line) but I think the lower number models were laminate. However I still think it's probably a very good guitar - the higher 1500 series - 1588, etc. - were selling for $80 - $90 back in 1970 - that's $600 - $700 in today's money.

Hello A very nice looking MIJ classical in seemingly very good condition. Ventura was a US company formed by a guy named C Bruno. The guitars were made in Japan from the late 60's to the late 70's and could have been made in any one of the several guitar workshops operating in Japan at the time: Matsumoku, Kasuga, Fuju Gen-Gakki, Suzuki, etc. These companies also made for other US and UK wholesalers such as Aria, Conrad, Univox, FCN, etc. These manufacturers, when making for other companies, often did not use a serial number (but often, like Suzuki, for example, did so if they made guitars under their own name). If there is a serial number on your guitar it is likely to be on the neck block inside the guitar - the first two numbers are usually the year and the others are usually sequential build numbers. I have two MIJ classical guitars: an own-label 1975 Suzuki (serial number 750805 so the 805th guitar made in 1975) and an early 70's "Kimbara" (brand name of guitars made for FCN, London) which has no serial number. I love both of these guitars and would never part with them. Some info here: https://web.archive.org/web/20130524045042/http://www.catoosatrading.com/ventura_guitar.html And you may find more info if you type "ventura guitars" into a browser. Enjoy that guitar - you are lucky to own it.

Enjoy!

Beautiful.

Same here. I have sufficient skills to do minor stuff like set-ups, fitting electronics, etc but would never contemplate a build. It must be very satisfying to make your own instrument.

You are going to struggle to find a steel string acoustic meeting your preferences and price. Like Deepend says, a wide neck Seagull S6 might be an option but I doubt you would find a used model going for $200. Similarly you could try for a wide-neck parlour guitar - Recording King and Washburn do such models but again, whether you could get one at the price you have in mind is debatable. On the other hand, a nylon strung guitar offers you a much better option. There are quite a few reasonably priced "hybrid" nylon string guitars around, especially if you also consider used instruments. These hybrid guitars are a cross between a traditional classical guitar and a steel string acoustic. They usually have slimmer necks and lower action.

Nice, Deep. Thanks for posting.

I still think it's not the guitar that has "opened up" (which I don't think happens - I've seen no scientific proof of it anyway) but one or more of several other causes. First, as I mentioned above, people lose high frequency hearing over time and two and a half years is quite enough time to lose quite a bit. The strings could either have aged (guitars hanging on store walls don't often get a string change) and lost lots of their high frequency harmonics or, conversely, a miracle could have happened and the store may have fitted new strings (it happens!!!! - very occasionally) hence the better sound. The temperature, air pressure, relative humidity, etc could have been different, etc, etc, etc. The only way to determine if "opening up" actually occurs would be to conduct proper scientific experiments where all other possible variables have been eliminated. I ain't seen one yet.

Ears change a lot over time. As we grow older we lose more and more of the high frequencies so guitars begin to sound more "bassy" / "mellower" than they did when we were younger. And maybe the 000-18 hanging on the wall didn't change (or "open up" LOL) at all. How would you know? Fair enough about the change of preferences.

People say this ^^^^ but I seriously doubt that it happens. I think it is the listeners' ears that change.

Hmmmmm. Perhaps it's just me but before I buy a guitar I sit down and play it for quite a while to determine its playabilty and sound. I do make some allowances for the strings and understand that the guitar will sound a little brighter with new ones - but, HST, I have found that new strings lose that initial brightness pretty quickly. When I am satisfied that the guitar has ticked all my boxes I buy it and cherish it deeply thereafter. Now why would I want its sound to change?

Phew. Brave man! Or maybe foolish . . . . . . .?

Does anyone use the bridge PU on a Telecaster?

Well again, not really. The reason that most electric guitars are made from solid chunks of wood is to minimize any feedback effects. When Les Paul first began experimenting with magnetic pickups he first mounted them onto the top of an archtop acoustic guitar. He discovered that the vibrations within the thin guitar top caused some movement of the PU which led to distortion and feedback so he developed all-solid guitars to overcome this. I don't doubt that there may be some very small effect from a soild-body guitar but compared to the output of the PU that effect is minute.

Yes, I've heard that theory but there is no scientific eveidence for it being so. And, if you think about it, in all the Fender strat and tele guitars - and in all the many similar types of guitar - the pickups are sitting on a sheet of plastic.

If you listen to the sound of an electric guitar without it being plugged in, viz. playing it as if it were an acoustic guitar, you will certainly hear some differences between different electric guitars because your ears detect whatever slight influence the wood has on the acoustic sound - and, indeed, that is the main reason that people claim the wood of an electric guitar makes a difference. But a magnetic pickup does not detect those differences because, as I said earlier, they only react to a ferrous metal.

Well that is partly true for an acoustic guitar where the primary sound of the strings passes through the guitar body which vibrates and causes more of the surrounding air molecules to vibrate hence amplifying the sound. In this case the wood of the guitar body can play some part in influencing the tone. However it is not the case for an electric guitar where the amplification of the "sound" of the vibrating string is achieved by the magnetic pickups of the guitar converting the vibration of the string to a small electric current that is then amplified and reconverted to sound by the amplifier and integral speaker. Any vibration of the wood body of the electric guitar is not detected by the pickups which only react to a vibrating ferrous metal. Actually, when you "hear" the sound of an electric guitar what you are really hearing is the sound of a loudspeaker.

Thanks. Yes, I agree that the Pacifica is a very good budget guitar - probably the best - and the HSS pickup configuration is very versatile. But it is those PUs and the amp you play through that counts: the wood that an electric guitar is made from is pretty much just of cosmetic value.

I only have one electric guitar: a Yamaha Pacifica 112. I have no idea what wood it is made from and don't care because I have much more faith in the properties of the electronics and amplifier.

"My Dearest Dear" A traditional song collected in 1916 by Cecil Sharp from the singing of Mrs Mary Sands of Allanstand, NC. Played on my Walden N730 classical. One take.

Happy New Guitar Day I believe it is a UK company founded in 2007. They make a range of mid-priced guitars. I played one of their models a few years ago and it played and sounded good.