look what i found!_hummingbird custom folk guitar

[salamander]

i got really lucky yesterday!
i live in tokyo and not far from my house is a good ole junk store, the kind wich im sure many of us love.
anyhow........
i go there about once a week just to check out what they might have.of course the pricing is always a little suspicious, some things priced way above value and some way below.ive been looking at the few guitars there for about a year or so now and finally it hit me, "holy crap, thats an original hummingbird custom acoustic!".i guess it never clicked when i had looked at it before because its an early model and doesnt say tokai on the headstock and its pre cats eye.i had my guitar expert meet me there and we almost both started crying.pretty much perfect conidition, needs no neck adjustment and all original.needless to say the craftsmenship is kind of breathtaking. the inlay is the perfect aged slightly yelllow color that just pushes my visual buttons.so 9,000 yen (wich is about $80) and an hour or two of deep cleaning and i have a masterpiece!
im pretty sure its from 1973 judging from the 73 catalog and the serial # is 3000259 wich is also consistent for dating it at 1973.
funny thing is they call it a hummingbird but its obviously supposed to be a martin.
my other guitars are getting insanely jealous!

and a question.is this made from the brazilian wood that everyone is alwys talking about?

 

[hans-j?rgen]

and a question.is this made from the brazilian wood that everyone is alwys talking about?

Hi salamander, welcome to the forum and congrats to that beautiful guitar! I would think that the back is made of rosewood, if it is Jacaranda (= Brazilian rosewood) I don't know, but it sure looks pretty. Since you live in Tokyo, you're probably able to read Japanese, so here's the link to the Cat's Eyes Guitar World site again in case you didn't know it already:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers7.tsukaeru.net%2Flevante40%2F&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

 

[salamander]

im here in japan but not reading yet.speaking is enough of a challenge and im still not getting much better!

thanks for the link.i couldnt find any info. about my guitar there, it isnt a cats eye so maybe its not included in their database.
if anyone has a confirmation about the year based on the serial number i would aprreciate it.

im thinking of it this way.......
the serial number and dates for tokai gibson models is as follows.
1977= 700xxxx
1978= 800xxxx
1979= 900xxxx
1980= 00xxxxx
earlier than 1977 is not listed on the tokai registry.

so my serial number is
3000259
and if we just go backwords following the number scheme past 1977 it seems to reason that mine is a 1973, wich is also shown in the 1973 catalog.
its a hummingbird custom foks guitar model w-300 to be exact.
then theres the fact that this guitar, although called a hummingbird is not a gibson copy at all but a martin.
so maybe my reasoning is flawed but i think i have it pretty much correct.?!
what does anyone else think.....
does i t seem like im on to something or do i seem like im just on something? :lol:

thanks

 

[hans-j?rgen]

thanks for the link.i couldnt find any info. about my guitar there, it isnt a cats eye so maybe its not included in their database.
if anyone has a confirmation about the year based on the serial number i would aprreciate it.

Levante40 gives an explanation how to date Cat's Eyes models from 1975 on, maybe that method would work for your HummingBird, too. Click on the link saying "Serial number research" and look at the photos and tables. The main idea seems to be to take the stamped number on the neck block inside the guitar and use the last two digits for the year.

 

[luis]

Salamander your guitar is a pre-Cat's Eye.Tokai did strat branded their acoustics as Cat's Eye in 1.975(occidental dating :wink: ).I've seen a lot of guitars like yours as well as classical appearing lately,maybe because they have more value because this Tokai thing coming lately(which I regard). Now it'll be worth knowing the model and specifications for your own guitar.You can ask Levante40 for helping and report here the results....Tokai was know for making great acoustic guitars before they started with electrics.

 

[salamander]

thanks for the input luis.

so im going to sum it all up.

i know this is made before cats eye (1975).
it is a model w-300, wich is the top of the medium line in the 1973 catalog.
the serail number is 3000259.
like i posted i believe that makes this guitar 1973.

so......
i feel confident it is a 1973 and i will just leave it at that unless someone tells me something else.at this point im becoming an expert myself!

it really is a beauty and im lucky to have it.no plans on selling it for me.
its a keeper.

im still interested if its made of brazilian wood so maybe i will ask Levante40 about that and Levante40 may also just be interested in the guitar itself.

thnaks for this great tokai communtiy!