Japanese Classic Ibanez guitar model ...

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Author Message   Send2kristina Username: Send2kristina Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 7:54 pm:    Hello people, I have an old Ibanez acoustic guitar made in Japan (model number 323) I have absolutely no clue of how old my guitar is. My grandfather owned this guitar when he was in his teens (as I am told) and he is 82 year old now. I have searched in vain trying to find any info about it. Please help!! http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff57/send2krist ina/07_04_7.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff57/send2krist ina/07_04_13.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff57/send2krist ina/07_04_3.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff57/send2krist ina/07_04_17.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff57/send2krist ina/07_04_15.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff57/send2krist ina/07_04_11.jpg   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 8:00 pm:    I'm not an expert, but I think this guitar can't be more than 40 years old, based on the fact that it was made in Japan. Nice old guitar, though.   Send2kristina Username: Send2kristina Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 8:09 pm:    why that? curious that the label has some spanish words.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 10:22 pm:    "Desde 1908" means "Since 1908", which is the founding year of the Hoshino Gakki Company. It has nothing to do with the age of this instrument. I would date this one around 1970, based on the machineheads, which are about the same as on my Iwama guitars (also Japanese, imported here by Egmond for a very short time). Take a good look at the edge of the soundhole, is the grain in one line from the outside in? Or can you see that it's plywood? If it's plywood, it's worth about $100.- MAX ONLY because of the brand. But I would rather spend that money on a second hand solid top. If it's a solid top, then the price depends on whether its mahogany or rosewood and of course the sound of it. Argus estimate for my GA300S (and ALL other solid tops of that range) is EUR 400.- but I would not sell it because of the very special warm sound. It's a subjective matter of course, but put some good new strings on it and compare it with other guitars. If it's just an average study guitar, then it isn't worth much. Ginger   Send2kristina Username: Send2kristina Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 10:42 pm:    I am confused now.. is it Japanese or Spanish. In the lable it also says "constructor de guitarras" which means guitar constructor. On the back of the neck there is also a lable that says "made in Japan". From where this guitar came, who made it? What year, materials used? are there others like mine? (same model)? Where can I find the catalogue for this type of guitar to compare prices and models?   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 11:12 pm:    Hmm... I could be wrong about the year. At least I'm pretty sure that what Argus says about the 314, 387, 389 and 397 (1978/'79) is wrong. If you look at these catalogues, it's possible that it's 1962/'63. http://www.break-even.org/six2/catalogues.html. But as far as I can see the machineheads are attached with Phillips screws. So, I would like to check with Hasy if that's correct for this era. That part looks 1970-'73 to me, but based on the three digit numbers starting with 500 in 1964, my guess is that 323 was made earlier and later than 1961, because they started with 1100 something then. And the old 1962 Hopf of my old guitar teacher had pretty modern machineheads too, so I think '62/'63 is possible. Catalogues and pricelists of this era are difficult to find, even for Hasy. Ginger   Send2kristina Username: Send2kristina Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 1:06 pm:    are the catalogues pages complete? because I have looked in every picture and could not identify any similar to mine (according to the serial nomber), not to mention that almos all serial numbers start at 500's and the cases start at 300's. Could it be possible that my guitar be older that the 60's? At what year does guitar with serial numbers id 300's start? Is it sequential the serial numbers?   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 1:55 pm:    Hi, Kristina. I know you'd like for your guitar to be an older model, and having a story that your 82-year-old grandfather owned it when he was a teenager suggests to you that it is something like 65 years old, but the evidence points to it being made in the 1970's and possibly the 1960's at the earliest. The Spanish on the label is just because the guitar was sold in a Spanish-speaking country. It was made in Japan (also per the label). Ginger probably has it right: If it has a plywood top, it's worth about $100. If it's of higher-quality construction, maybe a few hundred dollars.   Send2kristina Username: Send2kristina Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 3:23 pm:    don't worry, I am well aware of the posibilities, but I don't have any hard evidence of either side of the story, therefore it is still a mistery the age of the guitarr. All ideas are cool but until I at least have a catalog picture or something like that all is possible. Numbers from the 70's and 60's at the moment are not logical, but it doesnt matter, I still LOVE MY GUITAR. JAJAJA   Send2kristina Username: Send2kristina Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 3:28 pm:    also aware that probably I may never know for certain.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 4:02 pm:    (2007-82)+19=2007-63=1944. (2007-82)+11=2007-71=1936. According to this Wikipedia article, the Salvador Ibanez workshop was destroyed in the Spanish Civil War and Hoshino would have started Japanese production in 1957. No data of what they did in between. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibanez This does not look like a World War II product. Perhaps we can find something when we do a search for Van Gent machine heads. Ginger   Send2kristina Username: Send2kristina Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 5:08 pm:    Here are other pictures, hope they work and that they are of any use. http://picasaweb.google.com/send2c.martinez/Guitar   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 5:17 pm:    Very beautiful guitar. That MADE IN JAPAN sticker on the back of the headstock is identical to those I've seen on 1970's era electrics from Ibanez. But I've looked at the catalog scans at http://www.ibanez.ru/info/index.php?catalog and don't see any classicals shown until the 1976 catalog, and then the model numbers are completely different. The headstocks on the 1976 scans are also different than your guitar.   Send2kristina Username: Send2kristina Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 5:29 pm:    I know, it is like a guitar from an alien, a ghost guitar, mystery guitar. Funny that I have posted like 7 threads and sent like 6 emails and the responses are basically the same but dont fit with my guitar.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 6:44 pm:    Another thing: I must warn you for trusting ALL data in the Wikipedia article. I criticized several other assumptions in that article before, but it's getting better and better. The problem is that it is an attempt to summarize ALL facts about Ibanez in one article. The serial number part is NOT complete yet (I wonder whether the author is right about the assumption that Yoojin started making Ibanez guitars in 1990, OR that they started already making cheaper Korean semi-acoustics in 1987 simultaneously with Terada which made the high end Artstars), and the type list and descriptions are NOT complete (no Artstars for instance) and NOT correct (an RT has 24 frets, NOT 22). There are gaps in our knowledge about Ibanez, and we try to fill these gaps, sometimes with assumptions that are not correct. I might do that myself. Because I'm (mostly) pretty much aware of that, I speak about hypotheses on this forum. Publishing these hypotheses as if they were proven facts in an encyclopaedia is another matter. But sharing ideas in order to get closer to the truth helps... Anyway, the last update of that Wiki was 2 November 2007, and like I said, it's getting better and better. Ginger   Captainibanez Username: Captainibanez Registered: 1-2004 Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 6:43 am:    Hey gang , I have resolved this issue offline by email today. Cappy

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