When was this made?

[musical5]

I recently have become a bit obesessed with older Japanese guitars. I have an Elektra that I will never part with. I responded to a Craigs list ad yesterday and was practically given this Morales/ Zen-on (went to buy some pedals) The thing is almost dead mint, except it has a bit of a belly bulge I cant figure out how it could be this nice and have that happen. Anyway....my buddy looked it up and told me it was only made in 67' and 68'. The tuners are Kluson's and look that old but the top just looks too new. It sounds great and looks like a Martin D28, with a fully bound neck and snowflake inlays. Anyone ever seen one? Sorry my pics suck.

Thanks
Justin



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[Michael Ambrose]

Belly Bulge?

Looks like a great find! I've never seen plain Kluson knockoffs like that before. Interesting.

Zen-Ons were typically made my Guyatone, if I remember correctly... or maybe it was Zim-Gar?

Mid to late 60's would be pretty accurate.

(Check out the Japanese guitars forum for a Zen-On ZES1400D I restored.)

[musical5]

Belly buge = a little raised under the bridge.

They are actually real Kluson tuners, which is wild to me. I did find this ad. http://www.oldguitar.jp/catalog/zenon.htm I was told these were not really imported into the U.S. This ad sort of supports that theory. Im hoping I can get the action dialed in a hair better. Really diggin the sound.

[johnnyb]

belly bulge is usually from bad bracing under the sound board. i believe it was seagull guitars back in the 90's, they were really nice guitars, but they cheaped out after they became popular and the bracing was compromised. you couldnt find one without the bellybulge. i remember a pawn/guitar shop in atlanta that had a wall full of them and they were all bad. but it can also happen to old guitars that are stored with strings on and/or strung up too tight. might need to file the plastic bridge down till theres nothing left sticking out. if its still too high, file down the rosewood tailpiece a bit so you can take the plastic down a little more. finish the rosewood down with some fine sandpaper and steel wool and it should look fine. looks like a nice guitar. laminated top? how much $?

[musical5]

Thanks for the tips on the bulge. Its a solid top. I really hope I can get it set up well in spite of the issue it has. Oh and it was 30.00

[musical5]

[musical5]

Just got it back from being set up. Absolutely love this guitar! Makes my 90's Takamine Santa fe sound small in comparison.


Justin