zenbu

it`s 6 years older than it was when this thread started.

Yeah I picked up an Artist 300 from 1982 last week and at this site we learned about binding rot...if you haven`t heard about that...like me...then searching the web for that may be useful.

so you know the year and the model number...personally, I am usually pretty happy when I find both of those things...worth is a hard thing to discern, really comes down to how much somebody wants a particular guitar...rarity and/or age often has nothing to do with value particularly for old MIJs and especially outside Japan, one might find more folks interested in an old Gneco in Japan than outside but hey, who would have thought that the 1980s Grecos sell for as much as they do now...nobody thats who otherwise guys paying huge sums for them these days would have loaded up on them 10-15 years ago when they were dirt cheap. Who knows...the market could drop out on them just as easily. Same could be said for old MIA Gibsons and Fenders...those of us who were around in the `70s and `80s would have bought em all had we known what they`d be selling for these days. Guitar markets are controlled by people and people are fickle...whats hot today may not be hot 10 years from now...me, I would rather have more money than more guitars these days, did my buying before the feeding frenzy began and am a very happy player now. There does seem to be a lot of guys buying guitars every week so they can post pics of them on line and get members to comment...almost like a contest. Aw well, whatever makes em happy eh, if thats the way they get their thrills it`s better than shooting or robbing people for kicks.

seen this?... I think we have found the model number... http://goyaguitars.tripod.com/catalog68_16.htm

a donor guitar is something I`ve done before for old MIJ acoustics I have...it`s worked out great and I have a supply of parts.

Careful what you choose to believe at the My Les Paul site, lots of opinions but nothing that seems to come directly from the companies involved, seems to me much of it is guess work though some make it sound like fact it isn`t really backed up by info from the Japanese companies. I had an old Gneco semi hollow that looked like a 335 type, plastic saddles, star tuners...it was pretty nice but I ended up selling it and the guy ho bought it is real happy. There isn`t as much info in the Japan Vintage series of books on the old Grecos as the later stuff. Best I could figure about my old Gneco was early to mid `70s...yours could be from that time or earlier...record keeping did not seem to be a priority back then and little accurate info is available, at least it is hard to find on line and in books I have. It does appear they made the change from Gneco to Greco in the mid `70s but even the Japanese authors who speak the language and have access to info foreigners living thousands of miles away have no idea about can not say for sure just how accurate their data is, so just how guys on the other side of the planet who have never been to Japan to talk to folks who actually worked in the factories or seen the records that do exist can be so certain their info is accurate is a bit of a mystery to me. Fun to read but I don`t go around passing what I see on line as fact. Nice old Gneco, look for catalogs on line that may give you a ball park idea of what model it is and when it was made...but don`t be too disappointed if you can`t pin it down precisely...as the owner of many old MIJs, I have come to accept that.

my $80.oo Aria Leopard from 1981...which was in the junk section...see the pawn shop moron thread...

a few years ago people were saying that Tokai, Greco, Bacchus, Van Zandt, Seymour Duncan...to name but a few...were obscure too, a look around the net will show how popular they are now, the web has changed everything, unfortunately...getting harder all the time finding great deals on those names above like I used to. Still...if it`s just gotta be a Fender...hopefully one MIA , then I`m not going to try to convince you otherwise, not like there aren`t more than enough people after the best MIJs already. Cross your fingers a wood knot won`t start poking through the body finish if you buy a F/USA team built custom shop strat like mine has...and used is the only way to go for me now, learned my lesson a long time ago. Last time I bought a new Van Zandt was because it was 50% off list during a local sale...they go for more used these days, and am I correct in assuming you`ve never seen nor played a Van Zandt?

in all the years I`ve been buying Fender Japans here, I`ve never seen nor heard of them calling any models reissues...F/USA makes those. FJs may or may not be based on USA models but they not always replicas, plus shops can order them to any specs they want. Fender Japan also builds them in various price points...they can not all be lumped into one or two catagories...if you buy a low end model thats what you get...same goes for MIJs in general, there are so many builders around now...some very high end makers others not so much, really depends. When it comes to mine, my best MIJs are not Fenders...and that statement above about the 80s and 90s models having cheap electronics contradicts the guitars I own...it`s the new stuff that comes...for the most part, there are exceptions...with the plastic switch and tiny pots, all my `80s and `90s FJ have full size pots and steel switches. Right now the best deal on used MIJ strats I have access to are the Edwards...the best MIJ? no, but price wise the best bargains...the tone bursts I see have 2 piece center seamed bodies....most FJs do not...again there are exceptions...but the Edwards strat I have is outstanding for the $400.oo I paid, and there are other Japanese builders I`d buy...and have bought... before buying a F/USA I see hanging in local shops, my Van Zandts and Seymour Duncans stand up to any F/USA custom shop guitar around these parts. So if you see a FJ thats interests you try to get some pics of the neck pocket and post em so members can have a look at what it might be...lots of people seem to think everything MIJ is great, it isn`t...ya gotta be careful `cause some sellers think the same thing.

bien merci cocotte...un autre...

no... wish it was! I spend a lot of my time illustrating. this type of stuff is huge in Japan as you probably already know.

no...

he doesn`t say and I`m not going through my catalogs again, he has more pics here... http://photos.yahoo.co.jp/ph/l751587/lst?.dir=/abd9&.src=ph&.order=&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.co.jp/

well, I`m wrong about the single coil neck position being the Lite...heres a Fernendes on line that has a H-S-H configuration and the seller says it`s a Lite... ?http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h132586570

I`m speaking of the city I live in, hardly think I`m in a position to speak for the entire country...up here MIAs are what players seem to want...and they have a vast choice. We do have an ESP branch guitar shop...but it`s mostly heavy metal stuff, and everything absolutely reeks of cigarette smoke in there. They don`t carry used gear and thats all I`m interested in so no point in going there, when I do it`s just for catalogs...refuse to pay retail for any guitars anymore.

in this Japanese city, Fernandes are not popular at all...neither are the MIJ Fenders, nor the Edwards...nor most MIJs actually...players here are willing to pay just about anything for MIAs...and do. One reason why I get em for such little money. I have seen Fernandes guitars in that gray color...and if I`m not mistaken the Lite part is because it doesn`t have a bucker in the neck position, I`d have to check but I think thats right. In the late `90s early `00s...there was no mention as to where guitars were made in my catalogs, either it was assumed it was Japan or people didn`t care...come to think of it, I`ve never heard locals talking about where the Edwards/Duncans are actually made...China/Korea or Japan like so many threads in guitar sites I visit, as far as I can tell nobody gives a rats butt about it and they leave them hanging in used gear shops for ages before I have to step in to buy them.

yes...a Sustainer Lite model as opposed to a full on Sustainer version.

the model in question in my 2000 catalog is actually listed as...FR-65S `98...see if that brings something different up from the web. The Floyd model is listed as the FGZ-650S `98... But theres a really big pic of the guitar in red on page 20 and it has the Wilkinson bridge...and is listed as the FR-65S `99...in the older catalogs they don`t mantion MIJ, MIK or MIC...later catalogs do...just got the `09 today and see only two models that say made in Japan...the RLG-85 and the RLC-85 so i assume everything else is not MIJ.

in my catalogs , it appears to be the FR-65S...65,ooo retail...not high end. in 1999 and 2000 it`s listed as basswood...in 1997, soft maple. Also came with the locking system. Looks like by 2001, it was replaced by a model with a foto flame top...FGZ-550S in alder and locking system. I`ve probably got other catalogs areound but this is after a quick look at those that were handy.

never heard of nor seen a Carlos, but if they can be compared to a Yamaha Dynamic then they must be pretty darn good...got lots of those.

better hurry then `cause they ain`t gettin` any younger, and anyways, even if they were found, I bet they wouldn`t spill the beans...they do love their secrets here...it`s like they`re sworn to secrecy or something jeez...we`re talkin` about guitars here not national securitry but folks of that generation really took their work seriuosly, I teach some, and not only work, they take everything serously...I guess living through a war affects the way people live the rest of their lives. Who`s mr. Dee?

I`ve read that the first Yairi left the Suzuki violin company in Fukushima, the next prefecture south of here, in 1935 to go off on his own, guess he settled in Nagoya. There were some outstanding guitars made there as well as the budget stuff. Some older Suzukis show up on line here with the Fukushima label, mine says Kiso Fukushima, then Suzuki made in 1950. Kazuo Yairi uses "established in 1935" for his company, and theres a Suzuki/Yairi/Nagoya connection there but things get very murky at one point. The your name here production applies to electrics made in Japan too, there were literally dozens, at least, brand names with many resembling each other a great deal, and even the big name companies evidently didn`t think record keeping was a priority so getting info on many of those MIJs is practically impossible.

just curious, where`d that info come from?

yeah and if you go back far enough they`re all solid wood.

sorry...youse are all wrong. More like a distant relative to the New Jersey native grown "baddabinga", the chosen timber by many familes, used for making baseball bats, but not for playing baseball...if youse know what I mean.