c.1980 Daion Mugen Mark I Dreadnought Guitar

Update 2016: My buddy Rick bought this off of me in December 2011, had a K&K pickup installed, and has been rocking it at gigs ever since. Check out these updated pics of the guitar!

This is a kick-butt dreadnought. Solid cedar top, laminate mahogany back and sides, mahogany neck, rosewood bridge and fretboard, fun rosewood headstock veneer and rosewood pickguard, clean and simple one-ring rosette, 3-ply purfling, and bound in black on the top, back, and fretboard. This guitar exudes confidence, too -- with a '60s-style Martin-ish neck profile and sound to match it. It's loud, warm, rich, and has tremendous sustain.

Ah, and yes, these adjectives all describe my typical experience with Daion flattop guitars. For a mid-level Japanese import from the late 70s and early 80s, these Yamaki-built guitars sure are cannons.

My work on this guitar included a setup, slight saddle adjustment, cleaning, and a replacement (vintage) set of Schaller tuners. The original Yamaki-style Gotoh sealed tuners had broken casings on a few of them, and to boot, these sealed Schallers lighten the headstock and look more "vintage" as well.

When I get my next parts order in, these plastic pins are going to be replaced with ebony.

I didn't think I'd be a fan at first, but the rosewood pickguard has grown on me. The pretty medium brown-tan, camel-y color of the cedar looks really pretty next to that light-colored (holly?) single-ring rosette as well.

Good large-size frets. MOP dots in the rosewood board. Note side-dots and black-bound board edges.

Fun headstock with embossed logo.

Labels in soundhole -- note the clean workmanship -- and also note the music store located in... Palestine! Very cool.

The lam mahogany back/sides are all curly/flamed which looks pretty nice with the coffee-brown finish.

The guitar is crack free, too.

Original plastic end pin.

Adjustable truss rod and serial -- serial dates it to 1980.