Kiso Suzuki Guitars: April 2007

Some Kiso Suzuki History...

Kiso Suzuki is the name of a now-defunct guitar company from the Kisofukushima region of Japan. This region is well known for it's mountains and trees, and the lure of the region with it's valuable lumber brought craftsman to the area - one such interest was, of course, guitar-making.Kiso Suzuki and Nagoya Suzuki were one company before the war - a 3-factory company started by Masakichi Suzuki that produced the well-known "Suzuki Violin" violins. But after the war the company was split up into the Suzuki Violin Company (now Kiso Suzuki Violin Company) and Suzuki Violin Manufacturing Company (now Nagoya Suzuki Violin Company). And there the relationship ended.

Model #'s...

Re: the serial number: on many of the models the first one or two numbers in the serial number stands for the year in which it was manufactured; from the 60’s to the 80’s. I have never seen a definite 1950's guitar yet, mainly because I don't know enough about them yet.The other prefixes/suffixes ...W, C, S, VS, D, G, A, T, R, O, J...may follow other common meanings.
W = Western model
F= Folk Model
C= Cutaway
E=Electronics
K=?
S=Spruce (top)
VS= Violin Sunburst color
D=Dreadnaught shape
G=Grand Concert shape for classicals; some 'G' acoustics however had a Gallagher type headstock
A=?
T=? Takeharu sometimes
R=?
O=?
J=Jumbo shape
(if you can help with understanding their system, please DO write me at suzukiguitars@gmail.com!....Thanks!)

Some questions...

"I have a Suzuki, but it doesn't sound as good as I had hoped for..."
If you have a Suzuki that doesn't sound so great...
Not every Suzuki guitar is equal to an "inheritance" guitar.
But, some are.
Some may just require a setup to sound better; others may be too heavily built or have intonation problems (personal experience with some steel strings built by Kiso). BUT, it's possible to fix some of these problems and have your guitar sound a lot better.
Also, different years, different labels (jobbers?), and whether the guitar was intended for export or for Japan - seems to have made a difference.

Kiso Suzuki Guitars

Monday, April 16, 2007

G120 label

G120 back

G120 front

GA100 back

GA100 front

G100 label

G100 back

G100 front

FM80 label

FM80 front

F100 headstock

F100 label

F100 back

F100 front

DN89 headstock

DN89 label

DN89 back

DN89 front

D35H headstock

D35H back

D35H front

ABR335 headstock

ABR335 label

ABR335 back

ABR335 front

AB210 label

AB210 back

AB210 front

A8 label

A8 back

A8 front