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Originally $379.50, now $289.99 ($89.51 price drop)
Originally $599, now $509.15 ($89.85 off)
Originally $537.99, now $349.69 ($188.30 off)
Originally $500, now $450 ($50 price drop)
Originally $349.99, now $279.99 ($70 price drop)
$600
$599
$350

I  cannot put this guitar down.It sat unplayed in a closet  for  over   30  years and 

( you buy this for the tone but beautiful  guitar and greatly   lowered price) 
Believe me this is a lot of tone for only   $599  and greatly reduced price to make  it a  great  value and a lot of tone for the money.Yes laminate back but  some of my best sounding  guitars are laminate  back and not a bad  thing  when old wood and in fact tons of made in  Japan guitar have laminate backs and the japanese know secrets to making it sing.
This guitar sounds as good or  better then many all solid  wood guitars and  not just saying that because it sounds good as this guitar really has a tone.    LISTEN TO IT.

It's all about the tone  and this one has it big  time.
Greatly reduced price as  buying more inventory so need to move some  used  guitars
to make room for new ones.
I greatly reduced price to move it and help someone get into it.
You cannot  just  walk into a  guitar store and find  a guitar like this........I have never   seen one until  now. 

I just put new strings on it and wow.  I just lowered price again and the other day at guitar center played  2 new  Martin  D 35s that were   2800 plus tax  so out the door at least   $3200 and this guitar blows away all of them and every other  guitar there including expensive  Gibsons  and  Taylors.
If you want tone this is it and has a nice mix of vintage  Alvarez  Yairi tone with some pre  -war martin and tone and some  D  45  tone. Not kidding this guitar is special and listen to demo with large home stereo or studio headphones and I did the recording with a   $200  Zoom  Q3 with small cheap   mics and nothing else. It  really has a voice  with sparkling overtones and the piano like  wooden   bell  tone.It hums and has natural   vibrato and that  crystalline  quality that is hard to put into words but everyone one of my friends who has played this guitar has been blown away by the tone.Some  might want to lower  action  by   having bottom of saddle taken down some of most luthiers will do it for   20 to 30.  I might do it but I play it as is in dadgad and fine for me but some might like action lower and  enough saddle to do it and guitar well sound unreal with like  11s as have    10s on it  right now.

This guitar sounds better every time I play it and probably made at the  Motsumoku factory  in Japan  back in the   70s. A lot more to the Lawsuit story then  meets  the  eye.

This video I am just trying to show the tone as I hear it in   my ears as just use a  $200  Zoom  Q3 with small   mics but have other videos on it as well in other places. Trust me this guitar sounds  unreal like a great  Yairi or  Alvarez that explodes with   tone and not over  selling.

No logo or   brand  makes it more valuable not less.The super  early  real Lawsuit guitars were required by law of an actual lawsuit to remove  logo and labels as part of the patent and trademark 
infringements which make them even more  real. Sure later  "Lawsuit"  guitars had labels and logos but super early ones close to the actual lawsuit like when  Ibanez got sued  by   Gibson they had to remove 200  guitars from a trade show and remove the labels and logos from those  guitars. 

Very common for "Lawsuit"  guitars to have no logo just like when  Gibson sued
Ibanez in the   70s over copies of  Gibson guitars and now the ones with no  logo are worth a ton of money more then the lawsuit ones with a  logo.

It  reminds me a lot of a   very  sweet  vintage  Alvarez   5056  I sold a while back but this has more  pop  and zingy magic  and bloom in the midrange and seems more alive then the  5056.
Martin had patents on the   D  35 and probably a  design patent as well as a utility patent so as they were  working hard   and spending a lot of money to  build   up  the Martin brand they were very aggressive about threatening law suits to high  quality copies like this so many guitar makers like  Ibanez, Alvarez, Aria were forced to remove logos and company names from  guitars that were copies  and infringed on their design,   patents and brand.

The most famous of these lawsuits was Ibanez which this could be but something about the  burst of tone and overtones make me think more like an  Alvarez but I do not  know for sure who made it but it is made in Japan by a  high quality maker.If I were  going to keep  it I would   just have the  bottom of  the saddle sanded down a little to lower  action some but no   big deal and my local luthier does it for  25  bucks but we all like action a bit different  so you can dial it in how you like but  not kidding this guitar explodes with  piano like tone.

The amazing thing it that it has not even  completely woken up
yet  but sounds amazing right now.  The marriage of brazilian  wood  with the  maple center in  the   3 piece  back approach like the   Martin  D35 which adds orchestral bloom is really 
magic.  The  mohaganey adds  rich midrange and married to the  Brazilian wood adds depth and richness and the   combo produces  a tone I have never heard in any guitar even expensive and reminds me a lot of an Alvarez    5056 I sold to a cool lady in  Australian for here son who loves it   but this guitar seems to have more depth and richness then the Alvarez which sounded  really  really good.
I cannot  wait to play some more and hear it open up and will make a  video soon.
It has the mountain   vibe and sound of a  good vintage   Martin married to the pop and piano  like overtones of a  great 70s  made in Japan Yairi or  Alvarez and I am really into acoustic  guitar in altered tunings so buy it before   I fall more in love with it. This is  really a special guitar and has some dings and funk   back of neck but to be expected.

What is really cool however is the neck reminds me of the neck on like an old   Gibson  L5  or L5 with more meat then most  Yairi or Alvarez necks and adds to the tone and feels great.
Not a baseball  bat neck  but big  enough to   just feel great and add tone.
I have medium size hands and feels   great but this guitar was  well thought out and might have been in  a  lawsuit because martin did not like companies copying   the  3  piece back which they did to add  orchestral balance and more  piano like tone and  voice. I love this guitar and one of  my regular good customers will probably grab this  up as they  know  whern I  say a  guitar is special it really is. Action is pretty good and playable but enough  saddle to lower it   more if you want buy  I  like it  right   where   it is.

If you  live in  PR, Hawaii or Alaska  shipping will be more.
Do not want to ship outside of the usa but if you love it and willing to pay the high shipping   cost to ship outside of   usa  hit me   up but not going to change price for customs as it is illegal so be well   financed if you   want this guitar that  thinks it is a piano .
Of course has some dings and surface level  scratches and I think some other  scratches on the top more the surface level but  an old vintage  guitar so not  mint or new near but has a lot of soul.

I am going to  play it tonight  for at least a    couple of hours to wake her    up and cannot  wait to hear it.A  great  Yamaha   FG  180 is all laminate and sounds unreal so more to this then meets the eye or ear.

The tone   just pops out and explodes with mountain   magic and even taking out an end  pin as   strings were     25 years old the guitar started to    hum and I was like  wow......think I have one hell or a  guitar here and I do. You might need to set   it up how  you like it or lower the action a  little by having bottom of saddle taking down but everyone likes the  action  different so will   let  you dial it in  a little if you need to and can lower cost a bit more to help you with  that. No returns on this rare  item.  Comes  with hardcase and this is not an easy guitar for me to let    go  of. Top has a  thick solid piece with two  very thin supporting pieces on each side which also    adds air to the tone. 

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Listed8 years ago
ConditionVery Good (Used)
Very Good items may show a few slight marks or scratches but are fully functional and in overall great shape.Learn more
Brand
Model
  • Dreadnought D 35 style
Finish
  • Natural Brazilian Rosewood
Categories
Year
  • 60s to 70s
Made In
  • Japan
Body Shape
  • Dreadnought

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Steve Zook Guitars

Huntington Beach, CA, United States
Sales:172
Joined Reverb:2016

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