MADE IN JAPAN 1978 - MORRIS W50 - TERRIFIC - MARTIN D41 STYLE - ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Morris W50 acoustic guitar

Most acoustic guitar players around the world know that since late 1960s Japanese makers were creating wonderful “copies” of Martin, Gibson and Guild guitars. Many experienced players know that many of these “copies” sound better than the “originals”.

This guitar was handmade late1970s by best Morris’s luthiers at their Matsumoto workshop. It was a mid-range model within Morris's lineup of that era. Yet it is truly a fantastic instrument, easily challenging $4500+ acoustic guitars currently sold in USA.

The construction and looks of this wonderful guitar are based on Martin D41 blueprint. I won’t however call it a “copy” of Martin D41. The word “copy” suggests a product of somewhat lower quality than the “original”, while this guitar can easily beat many brand-new Martin guitars. 

This guitar was priced 50 000 yen in 1978. As of today, Japanese factory made solid top guitars of similar construction and looks are priced at $2500 level. However, in terms of volume and tonality they stand no chance against a 50 year old vintage guitar. Only guitars made with 50 years old woods could do that (after being frequently played for at least a couple of years). This will be rather difficult to order such a guitar, because woods seasoned for so long are very hard to find. Guitars made in Japan with (only) 20 years old tops are priced at $4500 level. A similar class solid top guitar made by a well-established individual American luthier, can easily cost you 50% more. If you'd like to add solid back and sides made with 20 years old Indian Rosewood the price may very well double. If, however, you wanted to go "all the way" and have old growth Brazilian Rosewood b/s you need to be prepared for the price at $25000 level. 

NONE OF THESE GUITARS WILL SOUND MUCH BETTER (IF BETTER AT ALL) THAN THE ONE YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW!    

Although this W50 guitar was priced at the same level, it sounds much better than (made for export) C.F. Mountain W500D 1977:

https://reverb.com/item/85422725-made-in-japan-1977-c-f-mountain-w500d-superb-martin-d45-style-acoustic-guitar

It offers impressive volume and superb response. Its sound is very rich. Basses are quite deep but very “clean”. Trebles are metallic but very sweet at the same time. All notes have their unique colors, all are super clear and super well separated. When chords/arpeggios are played guitar releases a great deal of overtones and harmonies. With its current action it plays ultra-easy.

Even though its top bears multiple very light scratches and few very small dents (most visible only at certain angles), there are 3 light scratches on its back, original tuning keys have lost a bit of their original luster, binding has lost a bit of its original white creamy color, and original finish shows localized discoloration, overall condition of this guitar can be described as "excellent for its age".

Most importantly guitar doesn’t have any structural problems. Its neck is straight, fingerboard and leveled frets in excellent shape.

Specification:

Top: Thin plate of very tight grain Solid Spruce with reinforcing ring of wood glued underneath the sound-hole /Martin style X bracing with scalloped braces /ultra-light gloss finish

Back: Brazilian Rosewood/Chestnut/Brazilian Rosewood “laminates” /lacquer

Sides: Brazilian Rosewood “laminates” /lacquer

“Laminated” is quite unfortunate term regarding Japanese made guitars. These plates were made from 2 layers of solid wood glued together with natural resins. They were made so well that they performed as good as solid wood while being far less expensive in guitar production and far more resistant to cracking in regular use. In recent years many guitar makers around the world adopted a new term "semi-solid" to describe these plates.

Neck: Mahogany with 2-way truss rod

Fingerboard: Brazilian Rosewood

Nut width: 43mm

Scale: 655 mm

The action is set to 2.30 mm under E6 and 1.80 mm under E1, with still extra room on the saddle.

The former owner has installed some kind of passive pickup, which still works. It is not an under-saddle pickup.      

This guitar will be shipped in a used hard-shell case.

THE ONLY PURPOSE OF THIS CASE IS TO PROTECT THE GUITAR DURING SHIPMENT. I WILL NOT PROVIDE ITS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OR MAKE ADDITIONAL PICTURES, NOR I WILL ACCEPT ANY COMPLAINTS. IF YOU DON’T LIKE THIS CASE YOU WILL NEED TO BUY A DIFFERENT ONE.      

IF YOU BUY A GUITAR, YOU MUST ANTICIPATE TAKING IT TO YOUR LOCAL GUITAR SHOP FOR FINAL ADJUSTMENTS CALLED “SETUP”. STRING BUZZ DOESN’T MEAN THAT GUITAR IS DEFECTIVE.

My posted for sale guitars are stored in climate-controlled vault already packed into shipping boxes, with loosen strings. Because the strings are loosened, they don’t pull the neck or soundboard, and the neck may relax (straighten more) and the soundboard flatten a bit, which may result with the string action being lower than my it was with my original settings and lead to buzzes and/or dead notes after guitar arrives to you. Such a change in neck curvature can also happen just because of vibrations during the shipment and/or temperature fluctuations. Therefore, you must be ready to make final action adjustment yourself and or have it done by professional. All that really needs to be done is the simple neck adjustment by using the truss rod (turning the truss rod counterclockwise will relief the neck and strings will move away from the frets).

THAT IS WHY TRUSS RODS ARE INSTALLED IN THE NECKS OF ACOUSTIC GUITARS!!!

Moridaira (Morris Guitars)

Founded in 1967 by Toshio "Mori" Moridaira, the Moridaira factory produced high-quality guitars, including the infamous Morris badged guitar. Moridaira also produced badged guitars for Hohner including Coronado, Futurama, H.S. Anderson, Lotus (some) and Sakai.

The Morris Guitars company has been building quality handcrafted instruments in Nagano, Japan for a long time. Mr. Toshio Moridaira, the founder, was the first distributor in Japan to carry both Fender and Gibson lines. In 1964, due to his working relationship with Gibson, Mr. Moridaira was able to visit the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. An employee at Gibson nicknamed him “Mori” at that time.

In 1967, he founded the Morris Guitars company. He named it Morris, taken from the nickname given to him a while back. Morris produced copies of dreadnought and small jumbo models based on Martin and Gibson designs. Since then, Morris Guitars have enjoyed an outstanding reputation in Japan and other countries for making high quality guitars.

In 1974, Morris introduced their guitars at the NAMM show. In 1978, Morris introduced the Tornado line, thin body acoustic-electric guitars inspired by the Ovation design. Up until the early 80s, the U.S. market saw a variety of guitars that Morris imported from Japan.

In 2001, after a lengthy absence, Morris Guitars re-entered the U.S. market. They participate in the annual Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA. Morris Guitars currently offer a wonderful line of fingerstyle guitars with a middle price range. Custom hand-built models are also available. Today, Morris Guitars are played by some of the world’s finest fingerstyle guitarists. Our products are available through a small number of dealers here in the U.S.

Real Value of Japanese Vintage Guitars

The key to understand value of vintage Japanese guitars is to acknowledge galloping price inflation throughout the late 1960s and 1970s with its peak of 25% in 1974.

During 1960s and most of 1970s model numbers of Japanese guitars were strictly connected with their prices in Japanese yen.

The same class guitar sold in 1970 for 100 000 yen (labelled as model 10), would be sold for 150 000 yen in 1972 (labelled as model 15), 200 000 yen in 1974 (labelled as model 20) and 300 000 yen in 1978 (labelled as model 30). Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised that two Yamaha GC10 guitars made 10 years apart are two instruments of totally different class. The same rule applies to all guitar models made by all other Japanese makers.

Japanese inflation slowed down in the 1980s. By the early 1980s and during following decades model numbers were no longer strictly associated with their prices. Some Japanese guitar makers introduced model names instead of model numbers. For several economic reasons, since 1980s Japanese made guitars were becoming more and more expensive, while their exports slowing down. Today (2025) Japanese high end classical guitar models are priced at $20000USD level.