Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: gingataff on August 13, 2008, 12:15:46 PM
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OK, so the guitar I'm going to tell you about isn't actually new, but it is the first time I've mentioned it on this site so it's new to you guys 8)
A couple of months ago I was browsing some second hand shops and saw an interesting jazz-type guitar, a Core "J" model. I didn't know the brand name but it looked so well made that I had to give it a try. The neck was so comfortable and the construction was flawless. It was also very pretty :wink: so I had to buy it.
When I got home I decided to do some research on the web. I found very little, just one ebay seller with almost the exact same model (but asking for nearly double the price I paid) and an online shop selling a version made with different woods. The most useful info I found was that this guitar was made (or more likely distributed) by Deviser guitars, who specialise in handmade small-run models, often made by a single luthier. I emailed Deviser asking for more information on this guitar, they replied giving me the specs of the model that I had seen on the online shop web page, quite different from my new guitar. There was, however, one very useful piece of information they could give me, the luthier's name: Masayuki Takaesu (http://www.japanvintageguitars.com/SeventySeven.html)
I already knew his name as I had been lusting after one of his Seventy Seven guitars for a while, but I also knew that he had retired from guitar making so I didn't know how to contact him to find out more. As well as electric guitars Takaesu-san also made acoustics at the Headway company (also a part of Deviser), and on Monday my good lady and I took a long detour on the way back from a weekend trip to visit their factory on the off chance that someone could help me.
The staff informed us that Takaesu-san no longer works for Headway and is now working/living in the Philippines, so contacting him may be tricky. The manager of the factory, Aki Shiokawa, kindly offered to show us around, and it seemed a couple of the staff knew about my guitar. The spray booth worker said that only about 8 Core "J" model guitars were ever made, and he gave me and old brochure from 2005 but yet again the model shown was not the same as mine, very close but still no cigar.
Next we chatted to guy who was making the ebony bridges for some acoustics. "Your guitar is a prototype" he said, "only 3 were made"...
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l231/gingataff/front2.jpg)(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l231/gingataff/back.jpg)(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l231/gingataff/t-piece.jpg)
Slim 1 piece mahogany back with a carved spruce top;
3 piece maple and ebony neck with long tenon joint, 24 fret ebony fretboard and ebony heel cap, headstock has an ebony veneer on the back and rosewood on the front;
Ebony tailpiece, bridge, knobs and trussrod cover;
Bartolini 1cta pickups with re-issue Vitamin-Q caps;
Gotoh SGS510 tuners with handmade ebony buttons, bone nut and saddle,
Multi-ply tortoise shell binding (this is the only plastic on the guitar), inlays are brass, aluminium and abalone and the backplate is carbon fibre.
The neck is rounded and very comfortable and seems to be faster than my superstrats! Intonation is pretty good considering the limitations of the floating bridge and the sustain is amazing. As it's a solid body is doesn't have the full round sound of a hollow jazz guitar, but part of that may be due to the pickups which are very glassy and clear, but with careful use of the volume and tone controls quite a variety of jazzy, bluesy and rock tones can be had.
If you've managed to read this far thank you for your time :) and many thanks to the kind people at Headway guitars who gave an identity to my "orphaned" guitar. I found some videos on youtube showing their factory http://jp.youtube.com/user/DSDadmin01 (http://jp.youtube.com/user/DSDadmin01) not a CNC machine in sight!
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i like this story! you must be really chuffed about that factory tour.
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looks like a les pauls fat(ter) sister!! i really like the detail work though - that neck looks really nice
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Yes, an excellent tale! :)
It's amazing how difficult it is to find information about Japanese guitars, even with the resources of the internet. A lot of this stuff will be forgotten in a few years.
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Great stuff!
I love the 'stinger' on the back of the headstock :D
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Great story - and looks like you got a fine guitar there! :)
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Very impressive!
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That's absolutely stunning!
Great buy, and a great story...
Gone from buying a pretty guitar in a shop from an unknown brand, to owning a unique prototype! Good job!
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I checked out those videos, wow those guys are talented. The older dude who basically whittled the neck/headstock shape using a sharp knife and a chisel, amazing!
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Wow. That is pure class.
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that looks awesome. great story too. :)
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Interesting story Gingataff. That guitar looks fantastic.
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That's very cool. :)
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Wow. That is pure class.
+ 1 on that , what an incredible find !
Enjoy ... 8)
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it looks a really nice guitar. Aren't they the company who make Bacchus guitars? I think that at least one of my Zemaitis clones came from them.