# Kiso Suzuki 9507



## Jocko (May 17, 2010)

Can anyone help me with the age of this Kiso Suzuki 9507 guitar.








I believe it dates from the 1970's, but would appreciate any help in confirming that or even narrowing it down. It was a Gibson Hummingbird copy, but as you can see from this one, the pick guard has been worn clean.







The label has 9507 but no serial number. Kiso Suzuki Violin Company Ltd may help narrow the date down.








The peghead of this particular instrument has no Suzuki logo. I don't think it was ever there but cannot be sure. As you can see, it has a zero fret and mother-of-pearl fret markers.








The bridge is well beaten up. It is unusual for an acoustic in having adjustable string height.
Any info you may be able to give would be much appreciated.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

This is the best place I have found so far for info on some KS guitars...evidently they made a LOT of models over the decades and finding reliable info is not easy...



KISOSUZUKI


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## Jocko (May 17, 2010)

When I returned it to the owner he told me he bought it, second hand, from a mate, in 1968. He thinks he paid £5 for it, which for a young lad was a weeks wages!


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

Yeah, when I started buying the old Yamaha Dynamic nylon strings, I asked some retired students about their salaries at the time the Dynamics were made and compared to the cost of some of those models...and they were not cheap...one man in his 70`s told me his first job paid 8200 yen a month...and he was married...like Albert said, it`s all relative. 
I`ve seen other MIJ acoustics with that adjustable bridge, may not be as rare as you think...I`ve seen several Kiso Suzuki labels, they changed them a lot evidently making it even trickier to date them accurately.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

Another link from that same site...From what I`ve seen on line, it was not uncommon for builders to name and/or number domestic and export models differently, seems to have happened often. There is one model in this link that resembles yours...



http://www.oldguitar.jp/catalog/suzuki/suzuki_usa_1979_0005.jpg


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## microism (Dec 2, 2014)

Hi there Jocko, did you manage to find any further info? I've just picked up a very similar one, blank headstock, same label, no serial that I can see. Mine has what I think are bone bridge pins, one missing. I'm going to take it to a luthier to sort it out, as well as removing an oyster from below the bridge, on the face of the guitar! I'd be grateful to hear anything you've found out, two years since you posted originally!

Coupled with the links above and www.suzukiviolin.co.jp/data.xls, do we think they are FH-250's from the 70's? The fret markers aren't the same on that particular 1979 model though.


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