MY FIRST POST..... My latest guitar

[thegratedenini]

Hope this is in right place.... theres SO many Headers!
I`ve acquired this absolutely STUNNING Hummingbird Custom recently.
I swapped it for a gorgeous Ibanez Electric... think I may have lost out a bit in terms of £££ , but tbh...I`m not too bothered about that cos i absolutely <3 this guitar.
I`ve searched n seached ...but as yet...havent been able to find much about it.
Can anybody help in DATING it please?
Locking Tuners... quite rare on an acoustic eh...and the XLR socket too eh.
LOVE the Mam of Pearl inlays.
Its a light easy to wear sort of guitar and has a bright, deep and full sound.
Action needs to be lowered (for me) ...so I`ll need to look into that.
I havent a CLUE what it might be worth...any ideas?
Regards,
Den

 

[Sigmania]

Nice looking guitar.

It was made in 2007 and most likely in China.

Here is the 2007 catalog and that model (HBT80E N) is not shown.

Probably made in limited quantities. Possibly special order or a presentation piece.

HB=Hummingbird
T=Tree of life ?
80=80,000 yen
E=Electric
N-= Natural finish

Seems like it should be an HBC which is the cutaway. Sort of a mystery.

 

[Sigmania]

Here is another one with the vine board in a parlor style (T80).

Owner is saying it was made in Japan. I can't confirm that.

Tokai Hummingbird T80 acoustic f/s uk

hi folks. i'm selling my Japanese Tokai Hummingbird acoustic guitar which is virtually in mint condition since i haven't had the time to play it since i bought it. i bought it brand new recently. it comes with a good quality Tokai padded gig bag. absolutely stunning guitar, i've never held one as spectacular looking as this & she has a voice to match her looks. unfortunately i don't have time to play anymore so can't really justify holding on to her. so she's looking for a new home if anyone is interested?
here's a picture of the actual guitar

 

[Sigmania]

Another one, but no pics:

Tokai Acoustic

 

[Sigmania]

Another one with the vine:

Tokai HBD80 accoustic hummingbird | #271341870

 

[Sigmania]

Tokai Hummingbird HBD80 Acoustic | #161778205

Tokai Hummingbird Acoustic Guitar Plays and sounds great. Loud, with nice low action and almost no fret wear. Minor play marks etc and a few dings that will photograph - side of headstock, side of body and side of body at base of neck joint Tuners have been upgraded as one of the original buttons fractured TOP Solid Englemann Spruce SIDE & BACK Rosewood NECK Mahogany FINGERBOARD Rosewood BRIDGE Rosewood BODY BINDING Abalone Pearl FINGEBOARD INLAY Tree of Life In answer to a lot of questions you can find some details of the guitar her http://www2.wbs.ne.jp/~tokai/hbdt80.html and I should have stated in the listing that it was made in Japan. Dave

 

[thegratedenini]

Oh...thanks for that. A decent start anyway. I havent found a single image that matches the guitar....I wonder if it was esp made or something?
I suppose the locking tuners could easily have been added later..... but a strange addition really eh?
And the XLR socket...not seen any with that either.
Quite a mystery and very intruiging eh...and the 80 is deffo Yen? Thats weird isnt it!

 

[Sigmania]

Bad link

 

[Sigmania]

I suspect these are all Chinese.

The added bling is something you see on a lot of Chinese builds.

This was made in a period when Tokai was having lower end guitars made in China. Occasionally there were fancier models.

See this thread on Cat's Eyes made in China:

Cat's Eyes Made In China

 

[Sigmania]

Here's another one:

TOKAI HUMMINGBIRD ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC GUITAR | #273559345

For sale my beautiful Tokai Hummingbird electric acoustic guitar all wood quality built, as used by Brian May of Queen,.She looks(pic's dont do her justice), plays and sounds great,loud with nice low action, No fret wear as only played at home a couple of time and only once through an amp(to loud for my neighbours),due to my fat little fingers I moved on to playing classical guitar while this baby just sat in its stand (which is,nt included in the sale) got a ding on the headstock,highlighted in pic 6,decided to sell before she got anymore damage. She comes with her original fitted hardcase.

A little bit of info on Tokai Gakki, They started out replicating Gibson and Martin guitars,so well made were the replica,s that Martin went into partnership with them in 1972/73 to make acoustic guitar parts and build solid body SIGMA guitars for them.

The boring stuff.

Style HBD80E N
Serial 071384
Top Solid Engleman Spruce
Side and Back Rosewood
Neck Mahogany
Fingerboard Rosewood
Bridge Rosewood
Body binding Abalone Pearl
Fingerboard inlay Tree of life
Electrics Hummingbird

 

[Sigmania]

So a couple of things to note based on this last example that is the same model and year.

First, the EQ is original and the same in both guitars.

Second, there is a sticker on the back of the headstock. MIJ guitars don't have that. Another clue that this is likely made in China.

Third, there is a scarf joint on the neck/headstock union. Another clue it is Chinese. MIJ guitars don't have this. It is a cost saver.

Fourth, it looks like the tuners on this last guitar may be the same. Hard to see but similar shape, etc.

 

[Sigmania]

So all of that said, I think it is a safe bet that the sides and back are laminates. They seem to be rosewood of some kind.

And the finish is surely poly.

Enjoy your guitar. It's quite the looker.

 

[Sigmania]

By the way, can you pst a clear picture of the headstock with the Hummingbird logo? For some reason every other pic others posted has that cropped or left out. Odd.

 

[Sigmania]

T=Tree of life ?

 

[Sigmania]

Also, the last one is 8 units away from yours...

071384
071392

Note they are describing this other one as an HBD instead of HBT.

The D is a dreadnought so that doesn’t seem right. HBC sounds more appropriate. C is a cutaway.

Probably a mixup and language barrier. Not the first time.

 

[thegratedenini]

Thanks for your informative and constructive replies. There certainly seem to be a bit of mystery surrounding this guitar.
I`ve noticed theres no strap stud (neck) so it doesnt look like its been played very much.
I dont wanna start messing about setting it up...so I`ll probably pay for it to be done...heres a detailed Headstock shot and Locking Tuners....and saddle detail.
den

 

[Sigmania]

Very nice. And thanks for posting this. People in the future will probably find it helpful as well.

 

[Sigmania]

Reminds me of a Blueridge headstock. Also Chinese.

Blueridge BR-62 '000 | Reverb

 

[Sigmania]

Related:

hbd 80 n