1970s Orpheum F310 000-Size Guitar

This all-ply, Japanese-made, 000-size guitar is very similar to scores of other instruments made at the time (Alvarez, in particular) and is all-original save bridge pins and saddle. A local, Mr. Sam, has owned this since new and it was his first decent acoustic, as I recall. He played it all over the place but it eventually fell into disrepair and then hung-out in storage for ages.

My friend Todd put it back together for him -- it got a bridge reglue, brace repairs, seam repairs, fret level/dress, and setup work -- but now it's playing spot-on and sounding good again. I did get to show Todd how to make a big, wide, rosewood compensated saddle to replace the old adjustable saddle, too.

Like other period ply guitars from Japan, these can sound excellent "at a glance" -- with good low-end and a smooth, clean voice. If you dig-in with a flatpick, though, the top-end gets a little thin or glassy or something and so I think they're best used as folk-strummers or fingerpickers.

At this point in time, the Orpheum name meant very little. It was just a brand name that had been swapped-around to various distribution houses on its way to obscurity.