Pearl TF-145

A short hiatus between posts there. I am glad to see this proving a useful resource though. I still have a backlog of guitars still to make entries on, so it is only going to grow and grow. This entry looks at another of the the Pearl models i have; the TF-145.

Another Pearl model built by Hayashi Gakki in the early 1970's, this originally sold for 45,000 Yen in native Japan. This is quite a unique model due to its rounded shoulder design - this was a body shape that very rarely features in vintage Japanese models; neither a regular dreadnought nor a jumbo. It is voiced somewhere between those two. Again by this price range we have a well-grained solid spruce top, select Indian rosewood sides, and a three-piece back of Indian rosewood flanking a central panel of Andes Rosewood. The pickguard is one of these that never had the protective peal taken off of it, so has turned almost a leathery sort of texture. Some days i like the look of it, others i think i will take it off and put a new black one in its place. The ivory body binding on top and back has aged a vintage yellow, which matches the cream mosaic inlays between the seams on the back and the ivory heel cap nicely. On to the body is a ivory bound 3-piece mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard. Very small mother-of-pearl dot inlays are used as position markers. The headstalk features Pearls' distinct headshape faced in rosewood with the Pearl logo in mother-of-pearl, whilst the tuners are quality old Gotoh units, that work excellently. Internally, the kerfling and joints are all tidy and clean, with the normal branding of "Pearl Guitar, Folk, Made By Hayashi" found stamped inside. Overall this has really aged well, with the top wonderfully ambered and played in, and the frets with plenty of wear in them yet. I need to put a new bone saddle in, as the current one gives very little break on the strings. I think with that in place this will sound even better.

As ever, here are some photos to enjoy:













You can find the rest of the photos here.

Yamaki YW-50-12

Another brand to talk about is Yamaki, a name perhaps more familiar than others written about so far. An excellent retelling of its history comes from an exert from a magazine that a poster on the acoustic guitar forum put up. I will quote from there:

"The complex story of Yamaki guitars is entwined with the histories of a number of other Japanese companies. In the late 1940s, brothers Yasuyuki and Kazuyuki Teradaira started working for Tatsuno Mokko, an instrument-building firm that later split into two different companies, one of which was called Hayashi Gakki. In 1954 Hayashi Gakki was bought out by Zenon, a large music distributor. In 1962 Yasuyuki left Zenon to start an instrument distributor he called Daion, which means “big sound” in Japanese. In 1967 Kazuyuki left Zenon to produce classical guitars under the name Yamaki, an auspicious Japanese word meaning “happy trees on the mountain.” By the early 1970s, Kazuyuki expanded the Yamaki line to include a large number of steel-string guitars, many of which were based on C.F. Martin and Co.’s designs and were distributed exclusively through Daion. Along with Yamaki guitars, Daion sold instruments from Shinano, Mitsura Tamura, Chaki, and Hamox, some of which were built by Yamaki at various times, and Harptone guitars, which they imported from the US.

Sometime in the late 1960s, Daion began exporting Yamaki guitars to America, where they were well received. By the early 1980s, however, Daion felt that the Yamaki Martin-style guitars were getting lost among similar instruments from other Japanese builders like Takamine, Yasuma, and C.F. Mountain, so they redesigned the entire acoustic line and started building acoustic-electrics and solid-body electrics as well as oddities like double-neck acoustics. They dropped the Yamaki name and rebranded their instruments as Daion guitars. Daion began an extensive advertising campaign to introduce the new line around 1982, but this was a time when musicians were more interested in the new MIDI-equipped synthesizers than in guitars. In 1984 Daion stopped importing guitars to America and soon went out of business. Yamaki, on the other hand, survived the downturn of the 1980s and now makes parts for other Japanese guitar companies."

I think that covers it very well. Indeed, Yamaki guitars were sold to the West, though for some reason Canada was the one country to be most exposed to their models. I think their is a strong fanbase for their guitars there due to that. As ever, the top of the range models still seem to be more prominent in native Japan than anywhere else, with prices well above $1000 being the going rate for these.

I have a few Yamaki guitars; the one i am featuring here is one i sold earlier in the year. This 12-string Yamaki YW-50-12 was made in 1981, and originally retailed at 50,000 Yen. It is quite a stunning guitar by any measure, with its fine slotted headstock, central maple inlay, and the beautiful orange/green/cream/black chevron purfling, and then the quality of the tone woods used as well. Yamaki guitars are well reputed for their excellent stock of wood used in their guitars, and this is a great example of an even, tight grained solid spruce top and fine figured rosewood used in the sides and as the outer panels of the three-piece back. The bound rosewood fretboard features some of the nicest positional marker inlays i've seen, namely a rectangle in mother-of-pearl overlayed by a thinner and longer rectangle in mexican shell abalone. Highly skilled stuff, and not too bling on the eye. As you go up the mahogany neck, it is hard not to notice a rosewood veneered slotted headstock, which are exceptionally unusual for a steel-strung guitar. Nothing looks quite so good once you see it, something so vintage about it. Don't get me wrong, it's a bit of a pain in the ass to restring! But once you have, and you strum a lush open chord on this, it's entirely worth it. Sonorous, a classic full 12-string ring sings out. Wonderful stuff.

I do have a second one of these from 1984, but the headstock was poorly padded in transport and arrived to me split at the joint, and sits awaiting repair. I have no doubts it will play as well as this, but wont be in such fine condition.

Here are some photos to enjoy:



















Please find additional photos here

Pearl FW-135

Another Pearl guitar, this time modeled on a Gibson acoustic design, quite likely the Songwriter, but with their own details to mark it apart. The Pearl FW-135 (yet another different model name - price association), was priced at 35,000 Yen on it's release in the early 70's, and as per the previous entry, was only available for a couple of years.

Manufactured at the Hayashi Gaki factory, it is again beautifully built with some fine features. It is a solid spruce top dreadnought, with maple back and sides, finished in a fine sunburst, even on the flamed maple back with a gold and black weaved purfling down its centre. The top and back have cream bounding that has aged that nice vintage yellow, which sets off nicely against the black edge of the sunburst. It has a Martin style rosewood bridge and a quite unique crescent/half moon shaped pickguard with a woodgrain-like effect, which has a real appeal about it. The neck material is hard to tell due to the black finish, most likely nato or mahogany, and most likely 3-piece. It features a rosewood fingerboard, with split-trapezoid position markers in mother-of-pearl, and cream binding. I've always liked that Gibson inlay design. The headstock design is also similar to Gibson, but altered into a simple tri-point with mother-of-pearl Pearl logo on the top. The tuners are another unique design on this guitar - Japanese-made saucer shaped machine covers with round buttons. Again i have no complaints about the sturdiness of these and i like the look of them. Once again the Pearl truss rod cover also features on the headstock, this time without the P logo on it. Internally you can see "Pearl Guitar. Folk. Made by Hayashi" stamped on the central strip and the ripples of the maple, with solid bracing and clean and tidy joints. Another really well constructed guitar in near-new condition, quite something for nearly 40 years old.

At the moment i have Newtone tru-bronze lights on it, and you get that warm round sound, quite bright and less bassy than some of the others, its really nice to strum chords away on in folk and country songs, or picking melodies further up the neck. I should like to try it with some phosphor-bronze strings on it some time; it's hard to tell til you try out the different types what one suits the guitar best but i think it might offer another bluesy tones as well with those on. Either way, it is a fine player and a fine looker.

Here are some photos:














Additional photos are here

Pearl PF-770

Pearl; a name synonmous with quality drums for the past 30 to 40 years. Lesser known is the acoustic guitars they offered in the early 70s. Like Tama, the acoustic offerings were not available very long, perhaps a span of 3 years, before they focused all efforts on the percussive side of the business. Unlike Tama, these didn't have any exposure to Western markets and remained in the domestic market only. Whilst Tama used a select group of Ibanez luthiers to make their exceptional guitars, Pearl had their acoustic guitars constructed by Hayashi Gaki.

Hayashi Gaki was another guitar factory in the Matsumoko region manufacturing a number of different brands, including Nashville and Mountain in the early 70s. At the time of manufacture of Pearl acoustics, a Mr Mamose worked there as a design engineer - a man of repute in the Japanese acoustic guitar market. From this early start designing Pearl acoustics, he went on to produce Rider guitars for a couple of years (1975-1976) before founding the Headway guitar line in 1977, which continues today. These are both highly sought-after brands with models demanding high prices in their native Japan. Yet again, these both remain quite unknown to the West; a common theme of this blog...

The range of Pearl acoustics offered was quite vast, from entry level 15,000 Yen models, up to 200,000 Yen top of the range models - a huge amount considering a Martin D45 retailed at 245,000Y at the time. Despite a large range, Pearl acoustic guitars are quite rare given their short selling period. Currently i have 4 of them, with the first to cover being the PF-770, which retailed at 77,000 Yen back in 1971. The price puts it up as about the second or third most expensive model i own going by the original retail price. This PF is a standard dreadnought body, with a solid spruce top with triple cream binding. The sides and back are Indian rosewood, with an intricate mosaic purfling down the centre of the back. The bridge is a light rosewood with a bone saddle, and the pickguard is a funny thing - cushioned vinyl with the original P logo on it. Quite amazing that it's not worn off. The neck is a 3-piece mahogany with a chunky volute neck joint and a bound rosewood fretboard, and a Martin-style headstalk. The headstalk has a mother-of-pearl inlay of the Pearl logo, a bone nut, and what i think are nickle Japanese-made old-style button tuners that hold tuning very solidly. It also has a chunky black/white truss rod cover with the original Pearl P logo on it.

Tonally, it rings out; loud and full, well balanced, and lasts on and on. So lively, it feels like the whole body ripples under a hard strum. I have Newtone tru-bronze lights on it and find they suit this guitar really well. The harmonics on it are quite astounding. Honestly, I wasn't quite expecting this richness of tone when i bought it, i was primarily taken with the idea of it being another Drum company making an old acoustic (read anything about Tama acoustics and you will realise why such enthusiasm for trying another drum companies efforts at acoustics) and the fact it had so much of its original style and quirks.

Here are some photos:












As ever, for additional photos go here