The Story of my AMAZING Moridaira Guitar -looking for more info

[DLong]

New to the Forum .. was trying to research my guitar and I discovered you guys .. you look to be a knowledgeable bunch ..

Just for context, and before you start throwing things at me, In my life I have had all those collectable guitars that nobody knew would be valuable later ('63 Strat, Gold Top Les Paul, Original Epiphone Sheridan) .. like clothes-pinning a Mickey Mantle rookie card to your bike to make it sound like a motorcycle .. who knew???

anyway, I got an old Martin D-35 at a garage sale (yes, it does happen) in the 70's (can't believe that's 40 years ago) nice guitar but I was a rocker and it had a small crack, so I took it to a guy who was building me a custom electric to fix and sell .. ( his name was Doug Irwin, he built stuff for Jerry Garcia and I eventually helped him sue the Grateful Dead to get the guitars back, but that's another story) anyway, after a minor repair, he told me all about Brazilian Rosewood and that it would be a good idea to hold onto the guitar .. when a guy came by to buy it and I listened to him play, I thought, that's the guitar I want when I'm old on my porch in the rocking chair and decided to keep it .. I had showed it to a local guitar shop and the guy kept calling me every month to buy it .. found out he sold old guitars to Japanese buyers for "de-construction" .. NEVER, I said .. Until .. one day he called and said he had a new guitar BETTER than my Martin that he wanted to trade .. I went and looked .. amazingly, he was right .. since I play with finger-picks, the D-35 was always a little boomy in the low end, and light in the highs.. the guitar he handed me right out of the box was the most balanced, tone-wise, acoustic I had (and have ever) played .. it was marked with a big "M" on the peg head and inscribed Moridaira .. it is in fact a D-35 replica, only fancier .. he really got me when he said,"if this thing sounds this good now, just imagine 40 years from now" .. he turned out to be VERY right ...I traded my old D-35 for the new Moridaira and a new Strat ..

after many hours of research, over many years, I finally found a similar guitar .. it is the Morris W-185H which has the exact same "snowflake" inlays, peghead shape, herringbone marquetry etc. but mine is a 3 piece back instead of a 2 piece like the newer Morris and has more frills .. I understand that Moridaira is the guy who founded Morris guitar company so that makes sense .. I know they were an OEM of many copy guitars, both electric and acoustic .. BUT this guitar is VERY special .. all solid wood, Bookmatched Brazilian Rosewood sides and back (long after Martin had stopped) impeccable craftmanship .. I have shown this guitar to many players including Muriel Anderson and Tommy Emmanuel, and many luthiers and they all agree that it was made by someone who knew what they were doing .. there is NO label nor Model Number, no "Made in Japan" anywhere (we looked inside with a dentist mirror), only a serial number stamped on the peghead 707114 .. I might add the original guy I bought it from got it from the "Kaman" (Ovation) rep who said it was a limited edition that they commisioned but was not going to pick up .. any info anyone here could share would be appreciated .. thanks to all

[musical5]

The rules here insist on pics Kidding. Please show it off.

[Raj]

That is hell of a first post on the forum

[Proclaimer888]

Dug this one up from the cemetery.....

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Proclaimer888

Dug this one up from the cemetery.....

Why? .........

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

Why? .........

To stimulate further discussion, I’d assume.

But I can’t contribute to it, as this is the first time I’ve ever heard of that builder. I also suspect that - many years ago - the OP stopped checking in to see whether any new information about the guitar had surfaced.

Anyway, I’m always glad to learn something new, but it appears that this thread stalled out over a lack of input and information a long time ago....


Wade Hampton Miller

[tbeltrans]

A quick google and this is the first thing to show up...

From https://bestbeginnerguitars.net/japa...-guitar-brands

...with more information on these guitars on the actual page...

Best Japanese Guitar Brands in Oct 2019.
1. Yamaha – Best Japanese Guitar Brand. Without any doubt, the first in the list of best Japanese Guitar Brand is ‘Yamaha’ which is ...
2. Takamine G Series & Takamine Jasmine.
3. Morris ( Moridaira Guitars ) – Japanese Acoustic Guitar Brand.
4. Fernandes – Burny Guitars.
5. Fuigen Gakki – Japanese Guitar Brands.

...and then this from http://madcatguitars.com

Moridaira History
The Moridaira Guitar 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. To this day, Moridaira’s main production are Morris acoustic guitars.
Moridaira’s philosophy has always been to keep a continuing dialogue with musicians, and combined with the company’s expertise in acoustic sound technology, know-how in woods and electronics to produce instruments which push the boundaries.
Moridaira has been a leader in development with its fresh ideas and will continue pursuing the possibilities of creating new sounds with our superior technology and close contact to the artists, hereby contributing to the creation and the development of music.

It really doesn't take long to find this kind of information using google.

Tony

[Wade Hampton]

Good work, Tony!

The first time I visited Japan in December, 1983, my fiancée and I met two gentlemen from Saga Japan at the Nagoya train station. They drove us up into the Japanese Alps to visit the small facility where the best quality Kentucky mandolins were being built at the time.

As we drove upwards through the foothills and the ground became covered with snow, we passed a large building by the side of the highway. Tom Hosakawa, the manager for Saga Japan, turned around in his seat and told us “That’s the Morris Guitar factory.”

What’s been interesting to me in the years since is how Morris has continued to stay in the guitar business, while so many other Japanese guitar companies fell by the wayside, most of them put out of business when the Japanese yen gained value against the US dollar in the mid-1980’s. Morris isn’t the only Japanese guitar company that has survived from that era, but it’s one of a very few.


whm

[tbeltrans]

The very few Morris guitars I saw back in the 1970s seemed to be rather cheap instruments. Back then, I would have preferred Yamaha or a Goya classical from Sweden. It seems that the Morris line was/is much more than the few I saw.

Tony

[gitarro]

Morris guitars are usually on the inventory of the bigger Japaness guitar shops but I had never come across anyone on agf who had played any before until now. I an not surprised they make good guitars as japanese manufacturers usually do a good job no matter what they build.

[zmf]

Thanks for the resurrection and information. I love these insights into history.

[Wade Hampton]

I’ve played a number of Morris guitars from the late 1970’s/early 1980’s, all of which were copies of Martin dreadnoughts. Some I played in music stores at the time, and two of them were owned by friends of mine up here in Alaska.

They weren’t cheap, they were well-crafted solid wood instruments, but all of them struck me as being overbuilt and a bit clunky.

Then at one of the Healdsburg Guitar Festivals I attended, in 2001 or 2003, there were a couple of representatives from the Morris Guitar Company there, with a handful of Morris guitars that were completely unlike the Martin copies that their company had made in the 70’s and 80’s: these newer Morris guitars were clearly modeled after the aesthetic style of the custom guitars on display and for sale at the Healdsburg festival.

I got to play one of those and thought it was a fine guitar. It was certainly more touch-sensitive than any of the previous Morris guitars I’d had a chance to play had been.

So it seems clear to me that the Morris company has been able to evolve and adapt to the times.


Wade Hampton Miller

[rumble]

There is an incredible bunch of outstanding high craftsmen Lutherie to be discovered . Mori, Haruo, Hoshino ,Sado,Kiso... Very stoked for your treasure. And your killer first post. Open those ears and close those eyes let the strings vibration inspire your high.

There are treasure trove of early 70s-mid 80’s MIJ builds that easily rival many of the now boutique builders. Early Washburn,Tama,Ibanez,Terada,Yairi, the list goes on. IT’S BEEN A GAS discovering ,buying ,playing working on some and having to let many move on.

[Kenlong77]

For those who followed my brother's original thread in 2010 I felt I might share a bit more about the author, As guitar players you might enjoy this.

Two years ago this week I got a call from Doug who I knew was nearing the end of a battle with cancer. He was 66. He asked if I would promise to never sell the Moridaira if he gave it to me. My kids are serious musicians so I was sure it would stay within the family. I never knew just how special it was. It is an Amazing guitar. I have played Collins, Goodall and my 70's Gibson J- 200 among many other acoustics. I never played one as balanced and pure as this guitar. I played it at his memorial service three weeks later.

Doug was a unique individual. Going back to 1972 when we went to see Allman Bro, Band at Winterland in SF I thought we might be a brothers band having hung with the band after the show down at Fisherman's wharf. His band played predominantly in Northern California.I took off for Portland. Doug traded me his 1963 Strat (for my Gibson es355) that I remember buying in Fresno CA brand new, It was between the Fender and Mosrite and he chose the Fender.
Fast forward 30 years. Doug took the back door approach to attain his law licence and passed the California Bar at the age of 50. His first case was defending Doug Irwin against the Grateful Dead when Jerry Garcia willed his guitar to Irwin who made them for him. Doug Irwin had made two guitars for my brother and they got along. Two previous lawyers failed. The case played out in Rolling Stone magazine and to everyone's surprise He won back the two most famous guitar "Tiger" and Wolf" They were sold for a record $1.7 million and with his 35% he bought a restaurant in Visalia CA called "Orange Blossom Junction" His vision was to have great food, of course, and to bring in the greatest guitar players in the world for an "Evening with..."
Over the years he brought artists like Tommy Emmanuel (many times) Eric Johnson,Marty Stewart, Johnny Winter, Leslie West, Gary Hoey, Peppino
D Augistino, Preston Reed and so many more He left quite a legacy of guitar music to the Central Valley.

When I got back from his memorial I looked up the Moridaria and found this story of an "amazing guitar" As I read the account it began to sound familiar. I just thought you might enjoy the "story behind the story"

[David Eastwood]

Wow. That is quite the story.

Thank you, Ken, for finding the AGF and closing the loop - what a very special guitar that must be for you.