need help to identify guitar

[Arthur Sweeney]

Hi all. Happy New Year!

I am looking to maybe buy an old acoustic.

I have attached some photos of it.

The only info the guy gave me on it is this:

"the sticker inside says 'handcrafted quality instruments made in Japan'..
no manufacturer that I can see...good condition

the guitar is playable as is, neck is straight, no cracks, needs a dusting,
I was told the guitars were from the 60's ...cannot verify"

 

Can anyone maybe identify this guitar?

Thanks!

-Arthur

 

 

[Kerry Krishna]

 Arthur, this is a bottom of the line ( actually you could not have bought a cheeper ) guitar . These were modelled after the Harmony guitars of the 40s.  The one you have here is probably a late 60s  guitar, that originally would have sold for around  $50/60 bucks, and could have been made at any of the 30 or so plants that were making them over there at the time. . They were considered to be disposable, and as such the majority of them have self destructed over the years.  There are exceptions to that though.  

If you are planning on actually learning to play guitar, I would suggest that you that you spend $200 and buy an acoustic that will work right out of the box. Chances are that the no name that you have there will need some kinda work. These guitars are used these days for wall ornaments, and nothing more. As a matter of fact, when people give these guitars to me, I will generally fire them straight into the garbage bin . This is all just my opinion though... 

[Arthur Sweeney]

OK, thanks for the info!

I did not buy this guitar yet, I was just looking at it.

After reading what you wrote, I will not buy it.

I already have a great acoustic guitar, a Martin.

I was looking at this old one as a beater guitar.

 

[Kerry Krishna]

If that is all you want it for, and it is both playable and super cheep, it should do just fine for that Arthur. (really cheep being 20-25 bucks...)

[Ian Supplee]

Yea i have worked on these big pain in the ass lol. but yes i agree buy a quality acoustic martins are wonderful chocies.

[Ian Supplee]

but they are great for younger kids as first guitars if they can be repaired.

[Ned Knepp]

My purely personal opinion is that these are not acceptable for anyone to try to play. I think that beginners actually need a better guitar than people who have been playing. The physical learning curve is hard enough to climb without enhancing it with an "instrument" like this.

I say this because I started on a guitar of this quality and would have stopped within a week had I not had access to a much better instrument. 

When people ask me about starter guitars for their kids, I always recommend that they allocate at least $250 dollars for a guitar that will actually have some resale value if their child never follows through. It's an investment but then children are a cost center, not a profit center.

[Paul Verticchio]

I'm with Ned.  The necks on those guitar shaped objects are HUGE. Not good for a beginner.

I started in the mid-'60's on the dreaded legendary & ubiquitous Stella.  My fingers literally bled after the 2nd lesson I took. It took me weeks to find out that action at the first fret should be under an eight of an inch (;

Nobody needs to go through that in this day & age. Example: Oscar Schmidt/Washburn makes a very reasonably priced line of 5/8, 3/4 & 7/8 scale acoustics that can easily be set up to play like a Taylor in less than 10 minutes.

Arthur, my friend, I personally wouldn't go over $10 for that to be used as a wall hanger. We've seen some that were actually constructed out of pressed cardboard. 

BTW: it's guitars similar to these that got me into repair work to begin with: Essentially, I was trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear so other new players wouldn't have to go through what I did. I didn't succeed until manufacturers upped their games and stopped using telephone poles for necks and started using truss rods on these beginner models in the early 70's.

Arthur, let me know your budget for a beater as we have a lot of well made (within context) inexpensive (under $50 @ dealer price) acoustics traded in each year that usually end up going to auction.  I could probably talk the store owner into selling me one for dealer cost.  You can have it for my cost + shipping.  I'll throw in (for free) a new set of strings and "the works" set-up including a fret level/re-crown/polish along with a properly adjusted nut & saddle & softened shoulders on the FB.  Send me a personal message if you're interested (:

Until then, enjoy your Martin, Arthur (-: