Thoughts on Morris Acoustics?

[Fingerstylist]

I played one yesterday and thought it sounded pretty nice. Surprised I hadn't heard of these before. Anyone had much experience with them?

[dreamincolor]

I had the great pleasure to see Stephen Bennett last year. When he wasn't making wonderful sounds on his harp guitar, he played a Morris acoustic. In his hands, it sounded great. But of course, he's Stephen Bennett...

[Christian Reno]

I have a Morris S-107 that is for sale. I just need to trim down the number of guitars I have.

This model is cedar/rosewood. It is very good for fiingerstyle. The strings are spaced so that the low E is a bit closer to the the top of the fretboard for those of us who like to throw our thumb over the top. The top has a double X brace and the back is highly arched for projection.

These guitars are very good instruments and they are very responsive to a light touch. BUT, Morris guitars from many years ago are not in the same category, so be careful that you do not rely on the "name" only.

[Aaron Smith]

I played one a few years ago and was very impressed.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Christian Reno

These guitars are very good instruments and they are very responsive to a light touch. BUT, Morris guitars from many years ago are not in the same category, so be careful that you do not rely on the "name" only.

Christian makes a good point, in that Morris has been around for a long time and the guitars they're making now are not the same as the ones imported to the US during the 1970's and early 80's.

Back then the guitars Morris marketed under their own name in the North American market were fair-to-middlin' Martin copies. They were all solid wood, which set them apart from the so-called "Lawsuit Takamines" from the same period, which had solid tops with laminated backs and sides. But, ironically, the solid top Lawsuit Taks generally sounded better than the Morris guitars of the era, for whatever reason (the Taks probably had thinner tops and bracing.)

The Morris factory also made a lot of the higher end Japanese import guitars for other companies, as well - a friend of mine has an all-solid wood Washburn dreadnought from back then that originated in the Morris factory, and it's a nice-sounding guitar. I know that they built some of the better quality Ibanez acoustic guitars, as well.

Morris is one of the few Japanese guitar companies that's managed to stay in business building guitars in Japan, and the guitars they've exported to North America in the past ten years or so are radically different from the 70's era Martin copies. Morris has been making a concerted effort to appeal to fingerstyle players, both here and in Japan, and the modern Morris guitars that I've seen have been quite nice, and very responsive.

Anyway, as Christian said, there are substantial differences in design and overall quality between the first wave of Morris guitars to be exported and the ones they're making now, so be aware of that going in.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[rbbambino]

Interesting, the were trying to make a big impression at CAAS (Chet Convention) in July. They had a huge banner behind the stage at the Artisan Guitar concert in Franklin and they also had a booth at the convention. So as you say they are trying to get their name out to the fingerstyle community.

[Wade Hampton]

Well, I think they've correctly identified fingerstyle playing as a growing segment of the acoustic guitar market, so they're catering to it. I first became aware of the redesign and new direction for Morris guitars back at one of the two Healdsburg Guitar Festivals I attended, either in 2001 or 2003. I think it was at the 2003 festival that there were a couple of Japanese gentlemen from the Morris company present, passing a couple of their guitars around to play.

So that's been a few years, even if it was the more recent of the two shows I attended.

Anyway, short version: they've changed focus, and it seems to be a good move, at least in terms of the quality level of the guitars themselves.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Christian Reno]

Originally Posted by rbbambino

Interesting, the were trying to make a big impression at CAAS (Chet Convention) in July. They had a huge banner behind the stage at the Artisan Guitar concert in Franklin and they also had a booth at the convention. So as you say they are trying to get their name out to the fingerstyle community.

Artisan Guitars has been bringing Morris guitars to CAAS for several years running. They are a good company to deal with. I bought mine from them and would recommend them highly as a dealer.

I have also talked to the current president of Morris and she is a very customer service driven person. If anyone has any issues with the product, she jumps in to resolve the problem personally.

[moga]

great insight Wade..

one of my favorite guitar duo uses Morris S-106.

check out Depapepe in Youtube..i like song name "Start"~

[sneaky]

own two Morris acoustics, they made electrics at one point as well. One is a Millenium model...M-2002...all solid wood and an outstanding instrument by any standards even though I`m not an outstanding player, my ears work fine. The other I have is the S-61 from this decade. Solid cedar top and solid mahogany back, laminated sides. Ebony tuner buttons, satin finished and came with a B-Band pick-up...low end of the series but a beauty in it`s own right.
They may have exported stuff that was spoken of above but that doesn`t mean they weren`t building top end guitars at the time for the domestic market...they were, and those have become highly collectable in Japan, so much so that the Rock Inn chain of shops had a reissue series made for them a few years go. But today they also build guitars for every price range so don`t think that all Morris guitars fit into the catagory of those mentioned already, they also have an all solid wood series thats not MIJ, I see em in shops around town, as well as the entry level models. The ones members are talking about here were released around the turn of this decade, I`m holding a 2001 catalogs here and see mine listed...but the line-up has changed over the past few years...some models are gone others have been added and inlays changed too. The 2001 catalog, the first year if I recall, has made for finger pickers on the cover, so yeah thats what they were designed to do though I`m a strummer/singer. I took my S-61 out thos week after a couple of years of not plaing it...been using nylons for that time...and had forgotten just how nice the Morris is.

[sneaky]

few pics of my M-2002 taken this past summer...

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by sneaky

They may have exported stuff that was spoken of above but that doesn`t mean they weren`t building top end guitars at the time for the domestic market...they were, and those have become highly collectable in Japan, so much so that the Rock Inn chain of shops had a reissue series made for them a few years go.

Okay, I didn't know that, but it makes sense. It may have been felt at the time (1970's, early 80's) that North American buyers wouldn't accept their top end guitars, and given some of the negative attitudes pervasive towards Asian-made instruments in the US back then, they might well have been right.

As it happens, the first time I visited Japan in December, 1983 my then-fiancé (now wife) and I went up into Nagano Prefecture to visit the mandolin factory Saga Musical Instruments owned at the time up in the Japanese Alps. On the highway into that region we passed a good sized factory, and one of the men from Saga Japan, Tom Hosakawa, pointed it out to us and told us that it was the Morris factory.

It was a big plant by Japanese standards, and it was clear to me that they were making more than just Morris brand guitars. Hokasawa-san told us that was correct, that they were also making guitars for Ibanez, Washburn, and other brands as well.

Originally Posted by sneaky

But today they also build guitars for every price range so don`t think that all Morris guitars fit into the catagory of those mentioned already, they also have an all solid wood series thats not MIJ, I see em in shops around town, as well as the entry level models.

So far as I know there's no Morris dealer here in Anchorage, so I don't see any at all except for the old ones that crop up every now and then. I'd be interested to see them at whatever price level they happen to be.


Wade Hampton Miller

[sneaky]

they had their Ovation types too...Tornados and the Rambler I think was made by Morris as well. Theres a series of books called Japan Vintage published by Shinko Music and they have an entire volume dedicated to Morris...theres a connection to the Hotta brand ...either they were once called Hotta or the two brands merged...not sure, thats the only volume I don`t have.
Heres more Morris guitars than you`ve ever seen in your life...get your wife to find out which were all solid wood.

http://www.oldguitar.jp/catalog/morris.htm

[Beastwood]

This is my Morris B701 12 string

[Joe1955]

Hi, although Your post is already 10 years old, i happened to find it today. I'm looking fort more information about that specific Morris 12 string guitar. Do You have any further information about MIJ Morris guitars from the 70ies ? Can You help finding the manufacturing dates by serial numbers?
Would appreciate very much Your answer.
Thanks in advance,
cheers, Joe