Conrad Dreadnaught 40217 ?

[jerlands]

I have an acquaintance with this guitar but he has no information on it. If you happen to know anything please let me know.

Thanks,

Jon

[Bassassin]

Hi Jon,

This is what The Blue Book tells us about Conrad:

Instruments previously produced in Japan circa 1972 to 1978.
The Conrad trademark was a brand name used by U.S. importers David Wexler and Company of Chicago, Illinois. The Conrad product line consisted of 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars, thinline hollowbody electrics, solid body electric guitars and basses, mandolins, and banjos. Conrad instruments were produced by Kasuga International (Kasuga and Tokai USA, Inc.), and featured good quality designs specifically based on popular American designs.

There's no specific info about your friend's guitar but it's reasonable to infer it was built by Kasuga.

Kasuga is a name that comes up over & over again in relation to high-quality off-brand copies & originals - at one point they were contracted by CF Martin and produced a few hundred prototype Martin-branded acoustics. They also built for Washburn, BC Rich (under the BC Rico brand) and others, as well as their own brands.

They were another of the Japanese builders that unfortunately seemed to disappear without a trace in the 80s.

Jon.