Help in information on a PAN acoustic guitar made in Japan.

[Spieler]

Hi,
I recently purchased a pan brand acoustic guitar from craigslist. I'm going to enjoy playing around on it, but was hoping to get a little more info on it - maybe year and some specs, from some of the vintage guitar experts out there.

The inside label says "PAN guitars" and has a picture of a little centaur looking guy. Also on the inside label is what I would guess is the model number: P-37 (possible HP-37? there might be a faint letter beside the P). The back of the headstock has "JAPAN" imprinted on it. It is a folk size guitar with sunburst finish.

It came with a "Cordoba" brand leather embroidered strap and a case that had a little tag "Case Made in Canada for Turner". Inside the case I also found a hamilton style vintage capo with "Made in Japan" stamped on it. I found info on the strap and capo that indicates they are from the 60s or 70s.

Haven't had much luck on the any info on the guitar though.
Any insight on the guitar would be appreciated - thank you!

[VintAxe]

Hey Spieler.

The model is indeed a P-37 built around 1968.

In the literature it is referred to as a "Concert" guitar. The specs are pretty basic. Mahogany back, rim and neck with a spruce top. Rosewood fingerboard and bridge with pearl position markers.

Turner was a Canadian distributor of Japanese import guitars.

[Spieler]

Thanks for the quick response and the great info!

Meant to post pictures, but it turns out you didn't need them
Since my first post, I noticed what appear to be japanese characters handwritten on the bracing under the bottom fret along with what I suppose is the serial number (789? - it is faint)

I'm adding pics for anyone else who finds a PAN (not many that I could find on the web) and is trying to figure out what they have.

It is pretty cool to find a 40 yr old guitar on craigslist that is in the condition of this guitar. Just curious, does your info tell you if it is a solid wood or laminate? Doesn't really matter to me since I am going to keep and play it, just a curiosity thing. I'm just getting in to acoustic guitar and wanted to find a made in japan or korea model within my price range (cheap!) that had a little more character to play around with rather than today's made in china stuff.

Thank you again for the info!

[VintAxe]

Hey Spieler.

No mention of whether the top is solid or laminate which probably means it is laminate. If it were solid they would most likely mention it in the description.

Here is a little tutorial for determining whether a top is solid or laminate: