1960s Kawai (Japan) Electrified Archtop Guitar

Overview: My buddy Scott brought this in as a husk with seams bursting all over the back, no bridge, no nut, no wiring or electronics, and plenty of grungy "charm." I fit a fresh volume/tone/jack wiring harness where the old homebrew-installed one was and then top-mounted a TV Jones Classic humbucker (FilterTron-style) at the neck. The big old 17" body is Gibson-flavored -- as is the headstock -- but the Gretsch-style pickup and long 25 1/2" scale length give it quite a "different" jazzbox flavor. To me it sounds very retro but it's also got a little more snap and presence than your typical vintage jazzbox of the Gibson variety.

Tone: It's clean, warm, even, and clear-sounding. There's good note separation but it's still mellow in its way. 

Feel: The neck is modern and fast -- a slimmish C shape with a 12" board radius -- so it sort-of handles like a modern Gibson electric but with a bolt-on, long-scale thing going on. The big body with its bolted neck and neck raised so high above the body's top gives an interesting feel to the usual archtop handling.

Interesting features: The bolt-on neck is curious and the big-block inlay in said neck is pretty hip, too. I like the "spoke-style" truss adjustment, the big old tailpiece, and the classic-looking f-holes as well. The body is all ply and it has ply spruce for the top and ply mahogany for the back and sides.

Repairs included: Jose gave it a level/dress of the frets, made a new nut, tweaked the old tuners, fit a new adjustable bridge, and set it all up. I repaired a bunch of loose back seams and fit the pickup and wiring harness. It plays spot-on and very fast and is ready to go. The truss rod is just barely engaged so if you like heavier strings, it will probably hold up to them nicely.

• Weight: 6 lbs 7 oz
• Scale length: 25 1/2"
• Nut width: 1 5/8"
• Neck shape: slim-medium C
• Board radius: 12"
• Body width: 17 1/8"
• Body depth: 3 1/2"
• Body wood: ply spruce top, ply mahogany back/sides
• Bridge: adjustable rosewood (replacement)
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Pickups: TV Jones Classic humbucker
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 46w-10
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-lower

Condition notes: It's missing its pickguard and original bridge. The nut and bridge are replacements. This probably never had a pickup on it originally but someone had fit some sort of pickup and harness to it in the '60s or '70s. The finish has weather-checked all over and there are a few big nicks, scratches, dings, and whatnot here and there throughout but the thing is so big that you don't notice them.

It comes with: Sorry, this has no case.

Consignor tag: SWD