Headway Acoustic from the 80's: HD-510D

I don't know much about old Japanese acoustics. I bought a new Yamaha jumbo in the 1990's and a Takamine jumbo in 2009 but they were brand new guitars. Since I was getting into old Japanese electrics I also wanted to find a nice vintage Japanese acoustic. Ochanomizu is a great place to try out different guitars so off I went to Shimokura Second Hands in Ochanomizu in April 2012.

I wanted to get a nice example of a vintage Japanese acoustic. Choosing one is not an easy task with so many fine examples of Yamaha, Tokai Cat's Eyes, Morris, K. and S. Yairi models around to name but a few of the more common brands. Old acoustics also are very susceptible to the effects of temperature and humidity. In Japan that means that acoustic guitars can often come with neck and body issues. In any case, Shimokura has some great techs and as far as I have seen they always set up each guitar as well as possible and price them according to their condition.

I tried a few Morris and Cat's Eyes models in the store. I cannot remember the models but I was interested in some of the higher end Martin copies with extra bling such as larger inlays and purfing. Most of these had fairly thin necks and didn't really have much projection or volume. I am sure that there are excellent examples of these guitars somewhere but on that day I didn't find anything that spoke to me. They did have a Headway guitar there that day and that was the last guitar I tried. It was clearly the one for me as it had a very fat neck and was by far the loudest guitar of the ones I had tried. Since I had a few Bacchus examples and knew that the Headway brand was also from Deviser I was pretty comfortable taking this one home.

As with most Deviser products the serial numbers don't have any information about the year of production. I don't know the exact manufacturing year but was told it was from the early 1980's. Internet searches show other HD-510 models from the 1980's so that is probably correct.
Other HD models are still offered from time to time today by Headway. I am not sure what the modern equivalent would be as the 500 level HD-501 model listed on the Deviser site is a custom model listing in the 300,000 yen plus range.

I'm interested in learning more about old Headway guitars so please let me know if you have an old Headway acoustic.

Details: Solid spruce top, laminate rosewood back and sides, ebony fingerboard and bridge, waffleback tuners, no truss rod.

Nothing more to add but some pictures below:

New Guitar: 32-year old Greco EG59-85

Early Mint Collection "Super Real" headstock

Special setting?

Before

After

Another Mint Collection arrived today from Japan. Like the first Mint Collection I owned, it is the mid-range EG59-85 model. From Yahoo Auction photos it was hard to tell the condition of this 32 year old guitar but after some clean up and rearranging of parts (see the original pickups and rings on the right!)it looks close to new. 


The board was extremely dry so some lemon oil and elbow grease had things looking much better.

The MC Grecos I have had from this time have ranged in weight from 3.7 kg to 4.55 kg. This one is an easy to handle 4.2 kg. The seam on the 2-piece back is hard to find but it is there if you look closely.

I think that the inlays they used on the early 1982 Les Paul Standard copies look much better than the previous acrylic ones (non-MOP models) used from 1980-1981. The colour is nicer and does a better job of mimicking the inlays on the the original bursts. 








The EG59-85 has jumbo frets and nice fret edge binding that is faithful to the way it was done on some of the original bursts. 

Fret-edge binding detail

The tuner buttons are also a nice touch with the marbled look which Gibson only recently introduced on their historic models. 

I like the Double Trick pickups a lot. They are a bit hotter than DRY1982s from my experience but once they are adjusted properly (to my taste anyway)they remind me of a nice Alnico 2 pickup with good double tones. Perhaps a good comparison is Classic 57s. Hard to say because pickups can be very subjective. In any case, they have their own thing going on and I find they are more complex than the ceramic Screamin1982s. Use that tone knob on the bridge though as the bridge has some high end bite to it. The neck is nice and buttery like Duane's tone on those old Allman Brother's albums.

Double Trick

Not much to add here except some pictures as below of this Mint Collection Super Real made by Fujigen Gakki in 1982 for the Kanda Shokai company.

Bacchus, Bacchus, Bacchus!

Yes, it has been almost a year since I posted anything here but no, Aoyama Oyaji is not done yet. I have been meaning to post a bit about Bacchus guitars which have been around since the 1990s and are made by Deviser in Nagano. They have been making Gibson and Fender copies and They don't have much recognition outside of Japan and even in Japan compared they are not well known to Tokai and the older Burny and Greco guitars. Bacchus also has guitars made in China and the Philippines and it is hard to find clear information about specs and years for older guitars so you can say that there is some confusion around the Bacchus brand. I've had a few strats, teles and LPs over the years and am always tempted when I see a Bacchus classic or vintage series for sale. Deviser makes these guitars in small runs and there is lots of variation in the wood used and the finishes. They aren't all to my liking as they have even had some pink and green LPs but each to their own, right? In any case, here are a few examples for reference.

Here is an oil-finished Bacchus vintage series LP. It had a 1-piece body and stock zebra pickups. The neck was fairly thin compared to the more recent LPs.  

This Classic Series flametop is a recent acquisition. One-piece back, lacquer finish and a fat 58'-style neck.  

Super flametop 2012 BLS-FM Classic

This is one of the early Classic Series plaintops. Lots of mild flame with a lemon drop finish.

2011 Bacchus Classic BLS-STD

I don't know why I ever sold this. I bought it new direct from Deviser and ended up selling it for the same price after I had a few too many guitars (is there such a thing?). The new owner thought the nut was cut a bit high and I think he was right. I guess nothing is 100% perfect. 

2012 Bacchus BLS-FM

This tele from Yahoo Auctions was a nice surprise. One-piece body, all-nitro finish, birdseye neck and light at 3.1 kg. It came with a Bacchus rectangular hardcase and Lindy Fralin pickups.

Vintage series special run tele, same as below.

Special order? Nitro finish, 1-piece body, birdseye neck and only 3.1 kg.

Bacchus has had relic models for several years now and do a decent job. They are not in the same league as  Fender custom shop or Tom Murphy work but for the price and quality I think it is pretty decent. I think this strat is done tastefully and plays great. A relic LP model I had also had decent simulated wear without looking too fake.

Bacchus Classic Relic and Vintage Series Tele

I wish I knew more about this model. Solid flame top, lacquer finish and a red top. Perhaps it was a custom order of some kind. There are some later Bacchus models that are all-nitro finish and have Brazilian rosewood fretboards (look at the BLS-DX model on this page!). I haven't been able to find one of those but will keep looking.

Classic Series Flametop. Special order?

Greco "Mint Collection" guitars

Some pictures of the nice Mint Collection guitars I have seen. These were made from 1982 to 1990. 

EG59-100 and EG59-50

EG58-120

EC68-55JS

Rare EG60-150

EG59-50

EG59-85

EG-600 Goldtop

EG57-60

EGC-750

Likely EG60-150

1990 EG-600

Fretboard EG59-100

EG-1700 from 1990. Must have been a shop order.

VanZandt '57 model strat

VanZandt '57 Strat

Thin Nitro Finish + flame maple

Goodbye and farewell!

In the bowels of the Peninsula Shopping Centre in Singapore are several guitar stores. Hiding out in one was this Japanese ex-pat guitar, VanZandt stratocaster homage number 1833. Beautifully done thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish on a one-piece lightweight ash body. The flame-maple neck is has a fat C-shape and is also done in a thin nitro finish. 7 lbs 3 oz. 

I haven't had the guard off yet but assume that it has VanZandt pickups. Fullertone pickups were used in some models.

I ended up trading the blonde VanZandt and a couple of other guitars for this one. Sad to see blondie go but it was a great introduction to VanZandt guitars. 

VanZandt STV-R1 I presume

Tales From The Woodheap : So it arrived...along with 4 others =/This Ornetts...

Tales From The Woodheap : So it arrived...along with 4 others =/This Ornetts...: So it arrived...along with 4 others =/ This Ornetts is one killer machine...7.9 lbs, solid no chambering. Thin lacquer finish, 1 piece ...

 Ornetts guitars have their own unique thing going on with the truss rod design and headstock. A brand to keep an eye out for. The new Greco guitar lineup is made by the same manufacturer and the discontinued LPs are selling these days at a large discount.

A few good Burnys

From what I have seen 1980s were a good time for MIJ guitars, and Burnys were no exception with the FLGs and early RLGs. Here are a few "entry level RLG-50s" that I had the pleasure of seeing up close. For what were supposedly "plain-top" Les Paul copies they seemed to use a lot of nice maple for the tops.

You will notice in the photos belos the 30 degree angle pointers on the control knob. This is usually a pretty good indicator of an early-80's RLG Burny.  These RLG-50s had the lower-end pickups and wiring and poly finish but were very well made guitars, if not a bit heavy on average. Three of the four I had were around or over 10 lbs!

These models can be deceptive due to their looks and lack of a model number on the guitars. I have seen more than a few owners of likely RLG-50s assuming that the nice top on their guitar means they must be RLG-120/150/custom orders. That is a pretty good compliment to for the lowly RLG-50!