Partscaster Cab Tele, fiesta red relic, assembled in Hobart circa 2015. This is a tasty T, it's got a lot of character. The body is by USA parts specialist Danny Hines, so it's a high quality pine body that's nice...
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Guitarchives
Fender '57 Strat, old candy apple, made in Japan 2010. This is just... good. Firstly, the finish is sweet. Old candy is a little darker and moodier than regular candy apple, so this has a certain mysterious depth to the hue...
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Fender '54 Strat, gunmetal blue, crafted in Japan 2002-4. This glorious creature came from a tiny little slice of the Fender Japan catalog dubbed 'Craft Premium': the modern style takes on vintage classics, built to an outrageous standard. This model...
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Fender American Standard Strat, 50th Anniversary limited model made in USA 1996, lake placid blue with matching headstock. I saw this and had to have it for the shop; it seems to happen a lot lately, but hey, you get...
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Fender Jazzmaster, surf green, crafted in Japan 1997-00. No-one wants Jazzmasters these days, especially in these rad 60s custom colours like surf green... just kidding, this one is sure to be hot property! These CIJ era offsets are beautifully made...
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Elite by Takamine HM-30 dreadnought, made in Japan 1974. This is a lovely old guitar, it really has a lot of personality. The 'Elite' brand covered Takamine's early Gibson style offerings, they're not exactly common and like all early Japanese...
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Fender Jaguar, sunburst, crafted in Japan 1997-00. This guitar has seen some play: it's got just enough wear around the edges to lend it some status as a seasoned gig machine and a certain 'played in' feel. There's plenty of natural...
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Ovation Celebrity CC24-NBM, made in China 2014, nutmeg burl finish. Ovation guitars tend to attract strong opinions, but those who love them, really love them. This is a recent model, featuring some classic Ovation appointments like a USA-made 'bowl back'...
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Epiphone DR-212 12-String, natural finish, made in China 2014. This is a nice little 12-string. The design includes some heftier bracing for the top and a chunky bridge that easily carries the extra tension of 12-strings, so this is a...
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Gibson Chet Atkins SST 12 String, natural finish, made in USA 1989, signed by Kirk Pengilly of INXS. Here's a little slice of history for you! This one is stamped 'not for resale' on the headstock, as was the case...
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Tokai Silver Star SS40YS, sunburst, made in Japan 1980. Aw heck, this is a nice thing. Tokai made a lot of waves in the 70s and 80s for producing guitars in the style of 50s Gibson and Fender models to...
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Fender '62 Strat, vintage white, crafted in Japan 1997-00. These never last long around here; the white Strat is such an institution that we all kinda want one, right? This is a '62 reissue model, which means you get a...
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Fender Japan J-Craft Standard Strat, rebel yellow, crafted in Japan 1997-00. What a finish, right? Rebel Yellow was a non-catalog rarity in the 90s, so this one was part of a limited run and certainly not one you see everyday....
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Fender '69 Mustang, pewter grey, crafted in Japan 1999-02. Aw heck, that's cool, right? Pewter grey is a non-catalog finish for this model, so they don't come around very often. The matching headstock and neck really add some sauce, plus it's...
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Greco EG500, cherry burst, made in Japan 1978. This is quite stunning, frankly. The top is a gorgeous piece of bookmatched flame maple, it's got no business being attached to a guitar under $3k but hey, I'll take it! The...
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Gibson LP Traditional, cherry sunburst, made in USA 2010. If you've got strong notions of how a Les Paul 'should be', you're gonna love this. Gibson launched the LP Trad in 2008 as a vintage spec model, but with a...
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Gibson LP Studio with P90s, matte black, made in USA 2010. This is cool, right? First up, it looks great. The matte black finish is super thin, so it's worn through in a bunch of places and glossed up in...
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Fender Aerodyne Jazz, crafted in Japan 2003-4, gloss black. These tend to turn heads and not hang around too long, and looking at it... no wonder, right? The AJB model is somewhat of a cult favourite; the slim neck, P/J...
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Yamaha FG-740 dreadnought, made in Taiwan 1975, natural finish. These old Yams are lovely guitars; this definitely has a certain charm. The FG series launched in the sixties to wide acclaim; this was a high end offering from the mid...
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Edwards E-MA-98 Aloha Ken, made in Japan 2007. Bored of the standard sunburst/black/cherry options on an LP? Well, here's a dang solution. The 'Aloha Ken' model is a signature offering for Ken Yokoyama of famed Japanese punk lords Hi-Standard and later...
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PRS NF3, vintage burst, made in Maryland USA 2010. Everyone knows the Custom 24, but this little charmer is somewhat of a quiet achiever and cult hit amongst PRS enthusiasts. This model won 'best electric guitar' at Musicmesse when it...
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Fender Custom Edition '62 Strat, charcoal blue finish with gold hardware, made in Japan 1993-4. The Custom Edition was the spicy section of the mid 90s catalog, featuring some previously unseen shapes and setups and some bold finishes on classic models. This...
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Fender Japan '62 Tele, double bound sunburst, made in Japan 1985-6. You're already on board for this one, right? We get a lot of requests for these double bound Teles and they never last long. This one is extra fun...
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Yamaha SS-700EX, made in Japan in 1983, blue burst. Welcome to Topshelf; basically we exist to sell weird rare vintage Yamaha guitars! These SS models don't appear in the regular Yamaha catalog, but they popped up in 1982/3 in limited numbers. The SS-300 is...
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Epiphone SG G-400 Pro, cherry, made in China 2009. These are the high end SG model from Epiphone, so you get a proper mahogany body and neck, sturdy hardware and a tasty set of alnico humbuckers. All that adds up...
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Gibson LP Studio, wine red, made in USA 2001. The LP Studio is a classic of the 'working player' genre; you get most of the good stuff from a high end LP but stripped of the fancy extras that take...
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Blitz Leopard BLP-450, honeyburst, made in Korea 2016. What a finish! Blitz is a sub-brand of long revered Japanese builders Aria Pro II; they released a line of Gibson style guitars made offshore to a brilliant standard and sold them exclusively to...
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Blitz by Aria BLP-SLP, made in Korea 2015, gloss yellow. Blitz is a sub-brand of Aria Pro II, offering vintage Gibson style guitars to the Japan domestic market. This one references the classic LP Special, so you get a set...
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Aria Pro II TA-900, black, made in Japan 1991-2. We love a good MIJ semi-hollow around here, and this one is surely a good one. This model borrows some construction elements from the iconic Gibson 335, including a laminate thinline maple body...
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Fender Japan Pro Feel Medium Scale Strat, candy apple red, made in Japan 1989-90. This is so cool. The 'Pro Feel' series debuted around 1989 and contained some 'modern' options suitable to the era like active basses, Strats with Floyd Rose bridges and... short...
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Greco SV-800 semi-hollow, sunburst, made in Japan 1978-80. The Super View series debuted in 1979 and has enjoyed great acclaim since: these are lovely guitars. The late 70s was a bit of a 'golden era' for Greco, so this was made before...
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Greco SV-800 semi-hollow, sunburst, made in Japan 1978-80. These Greco ES-style guitars are enjoying increasing demand, and rightfully so: holy heck, this is a brilliant guitar. The late 70s was a bit of a 'golden era' for Greco, and instruments...
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Fender '62 Strat, sunburst, made in Japan 1993-4. At first glance, this looks like a pretty regular MIJ Strat. But... this is the first example of this model I've ever had in my hands. The '-110' at the end of...
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Fender '70 Tele Thinline, natural mahogany gloss, crafted in Japan 1997-00. This is a lovely Tele, no doubt about it. If you look through the late 90s Fender Japan catalogs, you'll see the TN72 model Thinline Tele, with an ash...
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Yours folk size acoustic, made in Japan 1970s approx. Let me start by being honest: I bought this for a laugh, I thought the brand name was just perfect. The only way it could have been better was if it...
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Tokai Cat's Eyes CE-280D, made in Japan 1982. These old Cat's Eyes acoustic guitars were well received in their day and are generally well regarded in our day. The shape is based off a Martin D-18, the classic spruce/mahogany dreadnought...
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Yamaha SessionII 512, pale pink, made in Japan 1987. No prizes for guessing which decade this came from! Here we have the 1980s distilled into guitar form. These Session II guitars are a pretty classic Superstrat: take the regular Strat,...
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Fender '71 Strat, sunburst with gold hardware, crafted in Japan 1999-02. When I first plugged this in, it took about about three seconds to start really enjoying myself. The combo of an alder body, overwound Texas Special pickups and a...
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Fender Japan Standard Strat, sunburst, crafted in Japan 2002-4. These J-craft Standards are awesome little guitars. The basic recipe is this: take a '62 style Strat, flatten out the radius, move the truss rod adjuster to the sensible headstock end,...
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Fender '57 Strat, vintage white, made in Japan 1987. Phwoar... this one looks good. These E serial guitars rolled off the line at the famed Fujigen Gakki plant not long after the iconic and über collectable JV serial guitars; they...
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Morales M350 dreadnought, made in Japan 1967-8. Morales guitars were a brand owned by Zen-On music, who still produce sheet music these days. The made some noteworthy Mosrite style electrics, but these Martin style acoustics are absolutely worth a look...
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Jagard JF-250 folk size acoustic, made in Japan 1978. Jagard branded guitars were made in the famed Terada factory, the same place Gretsch Pro Series guitars come out of today. It's a well regarded factory for good reason: they've been...
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Gibson Les Paul Studio Double Cut, black, made in USA 1997. You don't see these around much; they were only made for a year or two. it shares some DNA with the regular Les Paul Studio: chambered mahogany body, maple...
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Fender '62 Tele, double bound trans blue, made in Japan 2016. These double bound Teles always looks terrific; this one is no exception. The trans blue finish is cool: it lets the grain of the alder peek through and pops...
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Greco EG700, made in Japan 1978, cherry sunburst. This Greco's take of the classic Les Paul Standard, and it's a very good one. The '700' means that in it's day, this sold for ¥70,000, almost double the cost of the basic model,...
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Fender Custom Edition '57 Strat, charcoal green finish with gold hardware, made in Japan 1993-4. The Custom Edition was the spicy section of the mid 90s catalog, featuring some previously unseen shapes and setups and some bold finishes on classic models....
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Fender Japan J-Craft Standard Strat, shell pink, crafted in Japan 1997-00. These Japan Standard models are great little performers: no nonsense, all feel. The neck is a slim modern C shape, similar in profile to a '62 Reissue model, but wearing a...
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LTD MH-250, trans black over quilted maple, made in India 2008. These LTD riff sticks are well made; it’s an easy guitar to get your deep dark heavy feelings out on. The slim neck, easy-access neck joint and jumbo frets...
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