JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Guitars and Guitarist Forum Lawsuit Guitars

I recently acquired an older Takamine acoustic. Model number is F-307. The headstock is shaped like a Martin and the script on it looks just like Martin's. I'm wondering if these cheap guitars have any value. This particular guitar does not have a serial number but a date stamped on a brace. (May 25, 1978)

I've been told they call them "lawsuit guitars" because Martin did give em the old, cease and decist and they had to stop copying them. Other manufacturers got caught up in the lawsuit too.

Rick,

There were a lot of very good Japanese copies being made by the mid to late seventies (not to be confused with the odd attempts at guitar making in the sixties!). The Japanese factories like Nippon Gakki and Matsumoku took pride in making their guitars exactly like the models they were copying. Gibson was actually the company that did file a lawsuit and since then, copies have had different headstock shapes from the originals.

The Takamine copies are well thought of and sell from $300 - $500 on Ebay. I have a Ventura Martin copy which is very similar to your Tak. I had a Yamaha FG-180 which was also a Martin copy. I also owned a couple of Matsumoku made electrics and an Electra that were really nice guitars. There is a following of people who like "lawsuit" Japanese guitars and keep the prices up a bit.

Enjoy your Takamine - I bet it sounds great.

Colin just knew I'd chime in here, being a huge fan of well made knock offs.


I have a mid seventees Yamaki I am very fond of, and recently bought some Chinese knockoffs that will hopefully age as well. The Chinese knockoffs are a Taylor, a Les Paul, and two more I'm not sure of. One's an acoustic bass.


My take is that if you get the right models and manufacturers, you have no reason other than "name" to get the real goods.


My Yamaki still gets compliments on its complete sound.

I just saw this one on our Craigslist.

Tak for sale

So Rick, now that you have had it for a few weeks, how does it sound and how does it feel to play?

I have one of those fake Gibsons--a "jumbo" (J-200) that looks exactly like the real thing except there are no identifying marks on it whatsoever. Has the Gibson icon on the headstock but the name "Gibson" appears nowhere. No serial number, nothing.

Bought it in 1973. The music store said they had no idea what it was--it just showed up in a big crate with "other Japanese crap." A few months later, the Wall Street Journal carried an article about the lawsuit mentioned above. I have never seen another guitar like mine anywhere.

I have played the "real" Gibson J-200s, and mine sounds better. Considering that the "real" J-200s are selling for (last I checked) over $2500, and mine isn't made any more, I have no idea what it's worth. Don't particularly care. It and I have been together over 35 years now.

Joe

No question the real stuff is more expensive...and maybe worth more than the original, but my knock off Yamaki, bought for about $150 in say 1975, sells for about $600 to $750 these days...

Yours should be worth at least as much, perhaps more given its rarity.

The action on it is smooth and low, no buzzes. Sounds decent but it has an intonation issue that won't get resolved anytime soon. But, it will eventually...

i heard once that the guys who started takamine guitar company were originally employee of martin guitar here in pa. if that is true that would probably explain why they started out with what amounted to exact copies of martin guitars, they just went on they're own and continued to make the same thing they had been making. don't know if it's true but it's an interesting bit of trivia. personally i wish martin would start copying gibson necks, they'd be better guitars if they did imo.

dmk

John V, Is the Les Paul a Gibsun?

No, the Chinese knockoffs are all SX guitars...hand crafted, solid woods etc, bought via Rondo Music in the US...an on line shop that shipped them up to Canada.

In another thread I said they were going to appreciate in price, and I can no longer get one for the price I paid for all off them---

http://www.sx-guitar.com/

Bought a late 70's Ibanez pf 200 mainly because the Gibson's of that time were crap.
Still own it