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Tag: Suzuki Three-S F-120

April 22, 2015

Suzuki Three-S F-120

Suzuki Three-S F-120 Made in Japan #780721
A really well kept Suzuki Three-S F-120. Built in 1978 by Suzuki Violin Co. LTD in Nagoya Japan.

I recently found another Suzuki Three-S F-120. These are great little Japanese built guitars that I can highly recommend. Really sweet tone and pretty descent build quality for being so inexpensive. Of course they can’t compare to Morris or K. Yairi but next to Aria, Maya, Shiro or the normally Suzuki’s they are great. It’s a simple Martin D-18 copy built in 1978 by Suzuki Violin Co. LTD in Nagoya Japan. What always surprises me with these Suzuki Three-S F-120 is how light they are compared to a lot of Japanese dreadnoughts from the 1970’s that can feel pretty heavy and bulky. Unfortunately this one was sold straight away so I only got time to fix it up and make a Youtube video of it before it was gone. If you want to know more about different Japanese guitar brands then check my previous post.

Suzuki Three-S F-120 Made in Japan #780721
Suzuki Three-S F-120 Made in Japan #780721

Suzuki Three-S catalogue USA 1979
Suzuki Three-S F-120 in an old Japanese catalogue from 1979. It has spruce top, might actually be solid, with a laminated nato back and sides. Nato neck with a really dark rosewood fingerboard and bridge, it almost looks like ebony.

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September 8, 2014

Maya F335G, Made in Japan

Maya F335G, Made in Japan 1970'sMaya F335G, Made in Japan 1970’s

On Saturday I found myself a Maya F335G. As mentioned before, I’ve been after a Gibson J-45 or J-50 for quite a while so when I saw this Japan made Gibson J-50 copy I couldn’t resist. It was in a terrible state and strung with 4 nylon strings so I couldn’t test it but I trusted my gut feeling. It doesn’t sound like a Gibson J-50, I didn’t really expect it too either, but it does sound pretty good. I would say that it sounds better than the two Suzuki’s I used to have, the Kiso Suzuki WE-150 and Suzuki Three-S F-120, even though the build quality is pretty much the same. There is a huge step up to my Morris WL-35 and Morris W-40 and my beloved K.Yairi TG-40, both in build quality and sound. Having said that, there is something with this Maya that I really like, it has way more bass then the Suzuki’s and overall a pretty nice and full sound. The only downside is that it feels pretty stiff to play so I will probably put 011’s on it next time I change the strings. According to my previous post about Japanese guitar brands Maya was made by Chushin Gakki in Kobe, Japan, during the 1970-80’s. Even though I really like this guitar I have it listed for sale if anyone is interested in buying it.

Maya F335G, Made in Japan 1970's Maya F335G, Made in Japan 1970's Maya F335G made by Chushin Gakki in Kobe, Japan

Maya F335G, Made in Japan 1970's The previous owner had used a collection of random oversized wood screws to keep the machine heads in place so the first thing I did was to remove them and fill the holes. I polished the frets and oiled the super dry fretboard and then put on a bone nut and saddle which improved the tone quite a lot.

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January 17, 2014

Guitars for sale

This is the last acoustic guitar I have left for sale, all the others are gone now. If you’re interested or have any questions just send me an email claesgellerbrink@gmail.com or give me a call 639586158.

Suzuki Three-S F-120
Suzuki Three-S F-120
Suzuki Three-S F-120 Dreadnought acoustic, Made in Japan, 1976, 250€ SOLD
A nice Suzuki Violin Co. LTD, Suzuki Three-S F-120 built in Japan in 1976. It’s in really good shape with just a few scratches on the back and sides, nothing that stands out. The tone is great, very clear sounding and it’s really easy to play with low action and no buzzing. It seems to be solid spruce top, nato back and sides, with nato neck and rosewood fingerboard. It looks like it’s a Martin D-18 copy. The neck is straight, no marks on the back and everything works as it should. A well built Japanese acoustic from one of the most famous guitar makers. You can find videos on Youtube here: Suzuki Three-S F-120 and here: Suzuki Three-S F-120 (bonus).

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December 11, 2013

Japanese guitar catalogues

Morris catalogue Japan 1976

I’ve recently come across I pretty good source for old catalogue scans for Japan made acoustic guitars. It’s called oldguitar and has about 50 different Japanese guitar brands represented, some brands has more scans than others and most of them are in Japanese but it still pretty nice to see your guitars in old catalogues. Unfortunately I only managed to find my Morris W-40, K. Yairi TG-40 and Suzuki Three-S F-120, my Morris WL-35 and Kiso Suzuki WE-150 seems a bit harder to track down.

Morris W-40 1973
Morris W-40 Made in Japan by Terada 1973

Morris catalogue Japan 1975Morris W-40 in the Morris catalogue for Japan 1975

K. Yairi TG-40 Made in Japan 1977
K. Yairi TG-40 Made in Japan 1977

Yairi TG-40 Japan Catalogue 1970'sYairi TG-40 in a Japan Catalogue from the late 1970’s

Suzuki Three-S F-120
Suzuki Three-S F-120 Made in Japan 1976

Suzuki Three-S catalogue USA 1979Suzuki Three-S F-120 in the Suzuki Three-S catalogue for USA 1979

Kiso Suzuki Violin Co. LTD. WE-150
Kiso Suzuki WE-150 Made in Japan 1970’s

Kiso Suzuki Violin Co. LTD. catalogue Japan 1976My Kiso Suzuki WE-150 seems to be a mix of the W-150 and then WH-200 in this catalogue from Japan 1976

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December 2, 2013

Suzuki Three-S F-120

Suzuki Three-S F-120Suzuki Three-S F-120 Made in Japan in 1976

I recently came across this Suzuki Three-S F-120 that I have fixed up and it’s now for sale. It seems to be a copy of an early Martin D-18, it feels less bulky than most dreadnoughts. Built in 1976 by Suzuki Violin Co. LTD in Nagoya Japan. It’s a beautiful guitar in a really good shape for being almost 40 years old. It’s very easy to play with low action and it has a great tone, very warm and rich.

Suzuki Three-S F-120I took the machine heads a part, cleaned, polished and oiled them before I put them back together. I polished the frets and oiled the fretboard and then made a new compensated saddle in bone. Now it sounds and plays great.

Suzuki Three-S F-120Suzuki Three-S F-120
I have another Suzuki for sale, however, these guitars were not made by the same company. Both were originally building violins so both are called Suzuki Violin Co. LTD but they were based in different parts of Japan. Kiso-Suzuki manufactured guitars in the region of Kiso-Fukushima. Nagoya Suzuki manufactured guitars in the region of Nagoya. 

Suzuki Three-S F-120I finally found an old catalogue for it. It seems to be spruce top, nato back and sides and nato neck with rosewood fingerboard

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