# Kiso-Suzuki K-100 Classical



## Everton FC (Dec 15, 2016)

Greetings.

I own one of these, a thrift store purchase (with case) for CDN$65. The actions a tad high, but w/new strings, the sound is wonderful.

Anyone know what type of woods these were made of, and if this was one of the higher-end classical guitars Kiso-Suzuki made? Note I've scoured the internet prior to this post, and have a fair amount of knowledge of Kiso-Sukuki's, in terms of label dating, serial # dating, quality, et al. My guess, based on the serial #, is this is a 1968 model, with some very creative tuning pegs. I'll post a picture soon.

Cheers!


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## jimmy c g (Jan 1, 2008)

i think you likely paid a proper price from what ive seen, some rosewood models can be worth more-is it rosewood? ps- glad the sons is wonderfull !!


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## Everton FC (Dec 15, 2016)

jimmy c g said:


> i think you likely paid a proper price from what ive seen, some rosewood models can be worth more-is it rosewood? ps- glad the sons is wonderfull !!


Fixed that typo - good eye! 

I get the feeling it may be laminate, which is a bit of a bummer. But for pluckign around the house or in the camper... It's okay. I haven't been able to find one K-100 online. Amazing!


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## sakana (Oct 14, 2016)

I had a few older KS nylon strings while I lived in Japan, some better quality than others, some certainly had solid tops and may have been all solid wood. The only KS I brought back with me is the 1950 pick guitar, I know it`s a 1950 because it is dated on the label. Suzuki and Kiso Suzuki had many many labels over the decades, I saw a large number of different ones just on line in Japan. The oldest Suzuki I had was dated 1948, sold it before coming back to Canada in 2015. Point of this post was, not sure one can date KS by the serial number.


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## Everton FC (Dec 15, 2016)

sakana said:


> I had a few older KS nylon strings while I lived in Japan, some better quality than others, some certainly had solid tops and may have been all solid wood. The only KS I brought back with me is the 1950 pick guitar, I know it`s a 1950 because it is dated on the label. Suzuki and Kiso Suzuki had many many labels over the decades, I saw a large number of different ones just on line in Japan. The oldest Suzuki I had was dated 1948, sold it before coming back to Canada in 2015. Point of this post was, not sure one can date KS by the serial number.


I read somewhere you can date the serial # on the labels below, which is what I have. The fact I have a K-100 - haven't found anything on this, other than the numeric 100/200/et al... had to due w/the price see link below.

Suzuki Guitars - Serial number question


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## sakana (Oct 14, 2016)

Yeah well, maybe. I base my opinion on guitars I owned while living in Japan and not on stuff I read on line, there are nearly as many theories on MIJs as there are guitars and the theory postulated at the link sounds like theories about MIJ electrics and in some cases it is very easy dating an MIJ electric by the serial, in other cases, not at all. While I lived in Japan I saw a LOT of Suzuki labels, at least 10, in various shapes and colors, some has serials some didn`t, mine have/ had dates on the labels so there is no doubt about those, and I did have one dated 1948 so the guy in the link who says " possibly as early as 1948" has evidently never seen one in person and if the Japanese people, who have access to a lot more data on Japanese guitars have not come up with theories on MIJs then I wonder even more about stuff people on line post as fact and if readers want to believe everything thats written about MIJ guitars on the web, thats fine, but I don`t and stuff I have learned comes from guitars I have owned. I do love my KS pick guitar and would`t sell it for many times more money than I paid for it, and I sold the `48 in Japan because I knew I`d get much more for it there than I would have here, seems lots of people outside Japan think Suzuki only made cheap guitars, and they may have exported a lot of those, but there were and still are a lot of high quality Suzukis on the domestic market in Japan. And it comes down to playability and sound for me, if a guitar sounds good and plays good then it is good. YMMV.


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