how old is my W-300 M.Suzuki what does the M stand for?

[sneakypete]

[sneakypete]

won this last night on line, should get here in a few days. Another label that is not pictured at the Suzuki site, actually none of the labes on mine are.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/ ... s/392a.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/ ... 754108.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/ ... 754108.jpg

[PickerAUS]

Let us know when it arrives! I'm interested in the quality of the bindings too.
Do you know the age/wood type (especially the back)?
Really interesting bracework near the bottom of the label. I haven't seen anything like that before.

[sneakypete]

the reason I went for it was because I have another with the same label and bracing...you can just barely see the diamond cut bracing on page one of this thread, the post were I said I finally found the pic of my third Suzuki label...just under the top of the soundhole, the bracing is visible a little. Also...the design of the label is the same just different color...the one I already have is silver/white...last nights is purple but otherwise looks identical...and if I`m lucky the purple label will be all solid wood like the silver/white which is rosewood back and sides. Anyhow...for about $35.oo I won`t complain even if it isn`t solid wood.

[PickerAUS]

That's a bargain. Especially in that condition with the case too!
Do you play Sneakypete?

[sneakypete]

play...guitar? of course, how well is up for debate but I sure have a lot of fun. In fact I enjoy bringing new life back to the old neglected guitars I find as much as playing them I think, very satisfying to take old guitars that somebody else has given up on and resurrect them and then play them, almost as good as sex...almost.
This Suzuki looks like it was well taken care of though so we`ll see how much elbow grease it`s gonna take, the case looks to be in real nice condition...I`ve got other like it from that era that were far worse off, the 1950 Suzuki case for example was literally coming apart at the seams, the wood neede to be reglued, it`s fine now and I like the way it looks, kinda reliced but I wanted to limit the chances of water getting to the guitar so I used white carpenters glue, it dries clear and so far seems to be working.
Is that your Suzuki site you linked before in the thread?

[sneakypete]

oh yeah the wood...looks like some kind of rosewood in those pics, and as for the age...not sure, theres even less info on old Suzukis than on old Yamaha Dynamics...but I`m gonna look around Japanese sites and see what I find.

[PickerAUS]

[sneakypete]

[sneakypete]

did a search on Suzuki last night, but theres very little out there...gonna try again and get my wife to write it up in Japanese and see if anything more pops up. After reading of the Kiso prefecture at that web site, I asked my students about it `cause I`d never heard of a Kiso prefecture...turns out, Kiso is both a family name going back to samurai days and the name of an area in Nagoya, helps to explain the Kiso Suzuki named guitars...both are family names, and Suzuki is very common so not surprising there was more than one. And my 1950 Kiso Fukushima...again Fukushima is both a family name and the name of a prefecture south of the one I`m in, so is it Fukushima prefecture or Fukushima the family name?...don`t know. Seems the original Yairi left the Suzuki factory in Fukushima prefecture in 1935 so could be the former. There were so many brands and builders at one point in Japan it may be impossible to sort it all out, even for Japanese authors who write on the subject. All I know is this...2 of my 3 Suzukis are all solid wood, the 1950 certainly has a solid top and back, haven`t received the latest Suzuki yet...maybe later today maybe tomorrow, depends when the seller shipped, we sent the money Sat. morning so we`ll see. Doesn`t matter, if it turns out to be of lesser quality I`ll put my Tazaki in the case, it deserves one it`s such a fabulous guitar I hate to see it in a soft case what with us being so prone to quakes and all, I`d be really upset if it got damaged. Tazaki is another interesting guitar...I think it`s Brazilian, certainly all solid wood, we did find a little about him, and some builders working today apprenticed with him in the `50s and `60, and what a steal for $50.oo.

[PickerAUS]

[sneakypete]

[sneakypete]

finally got the guitar this morning. Appears to me to be all solid wood, the grain on the back and sides on the interior match that seen on the outside, looked at the top with my watchmakers loupe and saw no layers of wood. It dates to 1965 and has some fingerboard wear, OK with me, the guitar has been played and thats a good sign for an older one, if it were too pristine it could mean the guitar didn`t sound good anough to play, but not the case here.
Took some pics outdoors...

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/ ... tII073.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/ ... tII093.jpg

the neck is different from the other one I have with the diamond bracing...the new one has a 4 piece laminated mahogany neck while the first has a 1 piece mahogany neck, also so the purple one has much less elaborate binding than the white/silver model, might be why the labels are a different color, not exactly the same in every way. So maybe the ones with the diamond cut bracing are solid wood, hard to say for sure, there are so many Suzuki models, I keep seeing different labels almost every week on line here, it`s a real challenge. One more thing...The early Yamaha Dynamics that got exported came back with cracked tops so that led to them experimenting with laminates and the S series Dynamics evolved, latest info is that...Suzuki built those Dynamics prior to Yamaha opening their own factory in late `66, so it is possible the Suzukis they exported were laminates while some of the domestics were solid, of course once the lamination process was perfected, the flood gates opened and all kinds of models may have been introduced which could be why there are so many labels from the company, but Yamaya is the same. their Suzuki made Dynamics changed labels several times which in fact helps tell when they were made. Of course all of this is speculation and I only have 4 Suzukis now, though I own a whola whack of MIJ nylons so I`m comparing those I know to be solid with those I know are laminates...and this is ceratinly all not fool proof, very little is with old MIJs, so I go by the guitars I own and can see with my own eyes.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/ ... tII083.jpg

[PickerAUS]

Lovely! You've cleaned it up too from what I can see.
The back is bookmatched and looks great! I think that's going to be a quality guitar.
Speaking of quality, did any 60's or so MIJ nylons ever built with Ebony fingerboards? Perhaps Arai (Aria)?
So many of the midrange instruments came out with maple/mahogany or 'Ebonised' woods. I'm just wondering if any manufacturer went the whole hog.
Come to think of it I may have an MIJ late 60's period classical 'Concert series' (very wide fingerboard, laminated top, flat thin neck). One day soon I'm going to resurrect the stuff stored away.
In the meantime, I'm going to clean up and re-string my latest acquisition, a 21st century Silvertone electric 'cause I went and bought 6 different effects boxes today and I'm going to have a blast!

[sneakypete]