Hi - New Member

[user 14391]

Hi all,

I'm Andy. Happy to be here. I just got into Japanese made guitars earlier in the year when I purchased
a '86 Greco SG type - Mint Collection. It was a real eye opener. Since then I have gone down
mainly the Greco and Maxon rabbit hole and now a bit into Tokai.

I wish I knew about the late 70's into 80's Japanese story 15 years ago when I started
buying online. I could have saved myself tons of money.

Just got a Greco SE-700 from '79 - I will post a pic in the appropriate forum.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Sigmania]

Welcome.

I linked a bunch of threads focused on that period here:

Vintage Period Links

Add to that the battle between FujiGen and Tokai re: the Fender contract in Japan and the lawsuit in 1982 in the UK and it gets really interesting.

But that should get you started.

 

[jimmypringles]

congrats on finding out about japanese guitars. One tip on getting started collecting japanese guitars is there aren't a ton of them on the market like american guitars so it's easier to find yourself overpaying for them because you don't have a lot of sales to help estimate the value. You have to spend more time doing research than when buying American guitars. Another tip- everyone knows how good the high end japanese guitars are, but a lot of lower priced models are really great guitars too.

 

[user 14391]

congrats on finding out about japanese guitars. One tip on getting started collecting japanese guitars is there aren't a ton of them on the market like american guitars so it's easier to find yourself overpaying for them because you don't have a lot of sales to help estimate the value. You have to spend more time doing research than when buying American guitars. Another tip- everyone knows how good the high end japanese guitars are, but a lot of lower priced models are really great guitars too.

Thanks very much for the insight. Ive been focusing on the mid range stuff - the poly finishes have been really eye opening - so thin - great. Been also checking direct from Japan. Cheers

 

[guitar hiro]

welcome @FujigenFan and @jimmypringles is right about some of the lower priced models being really good guitars. When I started with the MIJ stuff it was a slow go for me and that was waaaaaaay before the internet. I started with the lower end stuff and worked my way up to the mid range and eventually higher end stuff. There are so many options with MIJ it really is just nutz. I just discovered yet another brand a few days ago and I'm looking to purchase one of their 335 type models; expen$ive.

A member from another forum was recently looking for a MIJ Les Paul as he was recently getting into the MIJ stuff. I ended up selling him a completely original 1984 Greco EG59 that is an amazing guitar and especially for the price point. I wasn't even planning to sell the guitar but he was very interested so, we made a deal.
Here is what I told the guy just before we agreed on a transaction. "MIJ guitars cover a lot of ground and there are a lot of options. Don't limit yourself to brand or build but you will need to do your homework which could take a few years. I've been doing MIJ for 47 years and I'm still always amazed at what I don't know."

With MIJ the learning never ends ........