...what about Kasuga guitars?k Les pU...

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile

Author Message   Pacafeliz Username: Pacafeliz Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 7:14 pm:    hey guys... i have the chance to buy a nice old black les paul custom copy, made by kasuga in the 70s... does anyone here have more info on those? i think i read they were made by the same people as the lawsuit ibanez guitars. sure looks like one, too. what is a decent price to pay for one of these? are they any good? thanks and good luck! Pat.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 9:05 pm:    "Kasuga was a guitarmaker established in Nagoya, Japan", according to Michael Wright in Vintage Guitar. http://www.vintageguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID =94 I have a Tele Custom '72 from them, which has a lovely tigerstripe maple neck, made for small hands. I used it to get my left hand in reasonable shape again. Don't know about their Paulas. I guess they'll be OK. There is no real Kasuga hype, so the price will be lower than the Ibanez prices. But how much exactly is difficult to say. Depends on: bolt-on or set neck, bound fretboard or not, inlays, condition and whether there's any competition. Compare it to Epi Les Paul models of the '90s: those bolt-ons (LP-100) have practically no value, perhaps $100-200 while a setneck can go for $350-500 I guess you could add $50-150 to these Epi prices because it IS vintage and these Samick products are NOT. So we have a range of $150-350 for a bolt-on and $400-650 for a set neck. Ginger   Harry Username: Harry Registered: 3-2001 Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - 3:13 am:    The Kasuga instruments I had (or have seen) are from a decent quality. I'd say they can compare to the Ibanez quality. I had a beautiful Kasuga Precision bass once (the early 50s style with the big pickguard and the separate chrome control plate) and I still regret having that one sold about 3 years ago..... Harry   Bassassin Username: Bassassin Registered: 1-2006 Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - 11:12 am:    As Ginger said, Kasuga had their own factory & built their own brands, plus building for others. They're probably best known for "taking up the slack" for Tokai, whose own facilities couldn't meet demand after launching in the States. Many people see this as testament to the quality of instruments Kasuga was able to produce. There was also an association between them & CF Martin, which, I think, was the origin of Martin's Sigma brand. I have a Kasuga Rickenbacker 4001 copy, which is beautifully made & superb quality. I'd jump at the opportunity of another Kasuga in my collection. Jon.   Lespaul Username: Lespaul Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - 1:49 pm:    I have a Kasuga acoustic 12 string with vines. My fool around guitar for 20 years, or so, now. VERY decent guitar. Only issue are the crappy (same-as-used-on-Ibanez)tuners. P@ul   Pacafeliz Username: Pacafeliz Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Saturday, June 16, 2007 - 11:33 am:    thanks for the info guys, i'll try to give it a shot, it sure looks nice! it's the typical black beauty but with a set neck. i might be able to get it for around $200, so i'll post if i get it. thanks for the input, rock on! Pat. ps: can i post pics here?   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Saturday, June 16, 2007 - 2:52 pm:    It IS a replica, and NON-Ibanez, so this is exactly the place to post anything about it, including pics... lots of pics! Reduce the memory space of the pic to some value UNDER 100 kiloByte. What works great is using compression when you convert from the original format to JPEG (.JPG). .GIF seems to work fine too, but I never tried, because I always thought 50 kByte was the limit for ICW. I remember that GIF files are pretty sharp and detailed. (We experimented with some conversions of detailed seashell pics in the early 90s and I was quite enthusiastic about the GIF format then.) Ginger   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 3-2002 Posted on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 4:37 am:    Who wants to see a pic of my Kasuga Les Paul with "Vines"? Your gonna have to post it for me. six   Lespaul Username: Lespaul Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 11:14 am:    Send it over and I'll post it for you, together with my vined Kasuga, Six. P@ul   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 3-2002 Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 7:03 am:    Roger that mate. six   Lespaul Username: Lespaul Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 10:23 am:    Six' Kasuga and Arbiter.   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 3-2002 Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 11:24 am:    Cheers Paul. Actually mine is just the Kasuga. The Arbiter pic came off a UK ebay auction a couple of years back. The guitar was identical in every way except sported the Arbiter logo. I had a punt on that auction but it got too expensive so I dropped out. I've messed with the Kasuga for better gigging purposes. Totally restorable. It has Klusons on in the pic but now it has a set of Star Tuners fitted that went on perfectly (screws n'all). The original tuners were pretty nasty. The guitar currently has a pair of opened coil Super 70's fitted. Original pups are neatly boxed up. The guitar is in need of a refret so I'm not using it at the moment. The top is a veneer of rosewood that looks real nice. The back is a see through poo brown colour. Looks cheesy actually so I'm thinking of getting it done in a solid brown. Say like an old Melody Maker. Guitar plays nice and the neck is neither too fat or thin and sounds more like a SG than a Les Paul. six   Lespaul Username: Lespaul Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 6:10 pm:    Here's mine. Not quite a Les Paul though..... P@ul   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 6:34 pm:    Just FYI, here's a Kasuga ad currently on eBay: Ebay Item #330133388847   Snowjays Username: Snowjays Registered: 9-2004 Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 7:38 pm:    Who needs the ad when you have the real thing.... Maple version from 1975.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 1-2002 Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 11:50 pm:    I have the exact same guitar as the Kasuga, but with the Arbiter name. For all I know Six and I were after the same auction...I got it from Fleabay around 4 years ago. Its a very cool guitar nice inlays and a really unique semi smooth neck joint (pictures to come). I had a problem with the guitar when I got it...one of the PUPS was DOA. Normally not an issue except that the pickups on this guitar were not standard sized, neither were the rings ! The pup is about 1/8 narrower than a standard pup and the rings are around 1/8 larger all around. After a couple of years looking for a replacement I did a really stupid thing.........I routed out the pup holes to fit a pair of vintage Super 70's. Real hack job, I'm not proud of it at all. Anyway, the surrounds covered most of my mistakes, but rest assured...its a hack job...... A few comments regarding this guitar...Nt quite up to Ibanez standards (as a comparison) the Pots are the real cheapo small ones like what you would see on a modern Chinese guitar, real slop job wiring harness-which I have since replaced. There are no cavities between the block body construction and the arched plywod top.these are filled in with around 1" of plywood so that there are no voids whatsoever between the top and the body mass. All the hardware is typical Japanese of the era. Nice inlays and a nice vine, exact same design as an Aria LP with vines..same template. Tuners are sealed with adjustment screws , I think they are Gotoh, smaller body than the Gotoh "Star" tuners we all know. All in all its a very nice guitar, much nicer now that it has Super 70's and a Vintage Ibanez harness }   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 1-2002 Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 11:54 pm:    I was looking at the picture of the Arbiter guitar that LesPaul posted-I guess from an old auction...very weird...look closely at the neck inlay...looks like it has a normal "dot" inlay with the vines added to it...kinda weird. My Arbiter does not have those dots   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 3-2002 Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 4:10 am:    Well spotted on the dots Dave. Never noticed that before. Pretty sure it was a different auction. Still, not many around. Strange about your pickups because my Super 70's went straight in the Kasuga with no problems at all. Certainly no routing. The neck joint on your Arbiter is exactly the same as my Kasuga. I agree that the quality isn't as good as Ibanez/Antoria but as you say, it's quite a nice axe. I like the weight too. My one comes in just a tad over 8.5Ib. six   Pacafeliz Username: Pacafeliz Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 12:08 pm:    ok here's the pics... depending on how my auctions go, i might pick it up this weekend... oh yeah. i do already have a '74 LP custom but hey... this one could be the one for the "hard" work and abuse... [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/Pacafeliz/l p2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/Pacafeliz/l p5.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/Pacafeliz/l p3.jpg[/IMG] rock on! Pat. ehm... why doesn't it appear?   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 7:39 pm:    Isn't it more logical, that someone bought the Arbiter with the vines, missed some real position markers, and had some dots added? It's less expensive than the other way around. You can buy a set of dots at stewmac.com and all you need is a sharp new drill or a milling cutter in the dremel and some glue. Pacafeliz, you will need at least a new bushing for 1 tuner. Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 8:02 pm:    Hey Pacafeliz, I saw something on your guitar, that will make you very glad. I won't be too explicite until it's safe in your hands, but take a good look at the pics. Ginger   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 1-2002 Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 9:51 pm:    Ginger....Who would do that to such a nice guitar on purpose ? Thanks for the read.....intresting BTW....are those suregrips on that Kasuga ?   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 3:12 am:    I said I wouldn't be too explicite until... Ginger   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 1-2002 Posted on Friday, June 22, 2007 - 11:42 pm:    This Aria looks like a sister guitar...same inlay Expensive though Ebay Item #130126027652   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 3-2002 Posted on Saturday, June 23, 2007 - 6:07 am:    Nice! six   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Sunday, July 22, 2007 - 12:07 pm:    What about Kasuga? That was the original question. On my search for the origin of the "T"-suffix in MIJ Ibanez acoustics serial numbers, you (Six) lead me to a Tokai forum, I hadn't visited yet, because I don't own one single Tokai. I found two important things: 1) confirmation of my initial brainwave that Tokai could have been involved in Ibanez production. At least they were an interesting candidate for Hoshino. 2) a direct link between Tokai and Kasuga, namely a joint venture between Tokai USA and Kasuga in Nagoya: Kasuga International. http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=8478&hig hlight=factory (Written by Ozeshin, who calls himself "Guitar God". Ahum... funny thing is, they have at least two of them... haha... oh my ***! Which one? Woooaah!) Fact is that one *** knows more than the other *** So much for vanity... Ginger (just a guy who tries to help)   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 3-2002 Posted on Sunday, July 22, 2007 - 7:14 pm:    I had a look through the Tokai Forum Ginger. I think the 'Guitar God' comes up according to how many posts you have put up. It's a forum preset. So much for assumption... six   Mickf Username: Mickf Registered: 9-2005 Posted on Sunday, July 22, 2007 - 8:05 pm:    Could you probably have a look at my guitar in the thread "Arbiter made by Kasuga?" and tell me what you think about it? Thanks Mick

Add Your Message Here Post: -Color- Black Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Orange Cyan Gray White -Font- Arial Courier Symbol Times Verdana -Size- Smallest (-2) Small (-1) Normal Large (+1) Largest (+2) Enter Item number: Username: Posting Information: This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here. Password: Options: Enable HTML code in message Automatically activate URLs in message Action: