"Nashville Musical Instrument Co." ??? help ID

[dwighta]

Hi RR.
Absolutely love to hear more info. I posted with some history on My NMI earlier. Has a PM with TOM and I am sure he also would love to hear more
thanks
dwight

[guitarrick]

I've got one I bought in 1973. It's been in storage for about 33 years. I got it out earlier this month. I still have the original store reciept. Mine says it was made in Korea.

[tcac30]

great! any info you have would be appreciated. I've had a few people contact me looking for info too, so there lots of curiosity about these.

[tcac30]

@ guitarrick....made in Korea? I would never have guessed.

[Fred]

I read the post about the alleged lawsuit, and have nothing factually to add. However, I seriously question whether a court ever ordered that guitars sold to consumbers be tracked down and confiscated. If there WAS a legal hassle, it would have been between Martin and NMI, and any damages would have been resolved by money changing hands between those companies. I can't imagine a reason why guitars would be hunted down and confiscated from innocent consumers unless they contained toxic chemicals or something that posed a serious danger to the end user.

[sherpa]

I also own a Model W604. I purchased it new in 1977 from Cotten Music in Nashville. It is a fantastic guitar. Looks more like a D-28 to me. I've had to do some repairs over the years. The bridge saddle cracked and had to be replaced. Also, I put Grover tuners on it, the original ones did not hold tune well and I've refretted the first 3 frets. I love this guitar and am curious as to how rare it is and how much it is worth. If I recall, I paid around $200 for it new. Like the rest of you, I have been searching for info for years and found nothing. I was glad to find this thread. Thanks for the info.
Don't know if this will help with the mystery, but mine has the initials J.M. written in pencil on the upper right corner of the label.

[dwighta]

Hey
thanks

had hoped RR would follow up with the info he said he had
D

[guitarsilov58]

Originally Posted by dwighta

Hey all.
My first post here , I was cruzing around the internet looking for info about my my guitar and I landed here.
I have an NMI Model W610 as well looks the same on the front as OP,

Specifics. Solid spruce top, three piece back back Rock maple in the center with what I think is rose wood to either side. Note on the picture from the OP that there are mother pearl inlays in a number of areas. Around the sound hole, all the way around the top and the fret markings. The logo is also mother of pearl inlay. Tuning machines are Morris. Rosewood fret board. The neck is not very deep front to back with a fairly large diameter c shape. Inside the sound hole is a paper label/sticker with the company logo and model number 610. "NMI Nashville Mucical Instrument Company Post Office Box 242 Nashville Tennessee 37202 Made in Japan"
The only other marking inside is the ink stamp on a cross brace at the base of the neck. This stamp is 1006

I got mine new in October of 1978. Interesting story. I was in college and wanted my first guitar. I had been playing a horrible hand me down with action a half mile off the fret board. My brother at the time (who played guitar pretty well) was in college and working part time at a music store in the Lakeland Florida area.( that goes with south east noted above) I had my eye on an Aria ProII like his. So I began working nights at Burger King to save up the money. Initially he wanted me to send him 200.00 and he would get me something. Then when I had flipped enough burgers he called and said I should save a little more and send him 275.00. And he would get me a good deal. I think the price was employee discount for the guitar so I don't know what the retail was for it. So a couple of thousand more burgers later I had the 275.00. So I paid 275.00 for the NMI W610 with and Ivory nut added and a hard shell case ( plywood with a vinyl covering) in October 1978.

After college the guitar sort of sat in the case from apt. to house to house for a long time Years. In around 2005 I pulled it out and started playing again. Worship band at church. It is in really great shape with one exception. The finish is a great gloss finish but on the back deep in the finish right against the wood it is somewhat milky and cloudy. Top sides neck and head stock are all perfect. I think this is from being flat on the floor in the basement under a bed. Over all no scratches, a couple of tiny dents but not through the finish. I would love to know if there is a way to get the rich wood color back like the rest of the body. The spruce is aging nicely from a fairly bright white back in 1978 to a warm honey tone again a lot like the color in the OP.
Lots of google searches have turned up very little on this guitar company.
So would be interesting to know how many of these are out there and other peoples experiences.
Again I would love to know if it is possible / worth fixing the finish
Thanks

I have a NMI W610 in excelant condition.

[Scotfasco]

This thread is better than any reality show. So glad I joined this forum.

[Allman_Fan]

Have ya'll seen this?

http://www.hep.uiuc.edu/home/g-gollin/guitar/

Also of interest may be the Grammer links at the top of the page.

I lived in Nashville then. I remember that headstock, but I was more interested in electrics back then. If someone has the actual address of NMI "right down from Gruhn's," I'd be interested. Also, if anyone had pictures of Lower Broad from that era, well, that would be interesting as well.

As I recall (which is admittedly sketchy), I don't think Gruhn's existed back then as a storefront. Lower Broad was mostly pawn shops and peep shows. There was Harley Holt Furniture and the pawn/jewelry store that turned into Serv. Mdse (like Zimmermans?). Sho-Bud had an outlet. Tootsies and one across the street (Wheel?) were the only bars I remember.

It was pretty nasty down there. I'm pretty sure you could get VD and alcoholism just from breathing the air!

[dwighta]

Come on ilove58..
We need details man..

Tell us about what you know of your 610
thanks
dwight

[guitarsilov58]

I bought this NMI W601M Serial No. 52667 about 3 years ago. I had never heard of this guitar, and don't know anything about it except I was told who owned it. I also bought a Whirlitzer Electronic Piano 200A that belonged to the late Charlie Hodge (Elvis Friend), It is autographed by Charlie Hodge.
Looking for more info on these. The serial 52667 would that mean this guitar was made May 26 1967 ?

[hansmoust]

Originally Posted by tcac30

I found this NMI guitar. Sticker on the inside says "Nashville Musical Instrument Co." P.O. Box 242, Nashville, TN 37202, Model W 610, made in Japan. I can not find any info on the web. It's a great copy of a Martin D35 (?) It has a soft, offset V neck. Sounds loud and pretty bright. solid top for sure, maybe solid back (the grain lines up well from an inside to outside comparison), not sure about the sides.

I was hoping find some general info....who imported it, who made it, year?....
Thanks!
Tom

Hello Tom,

Sorry for being late to the party, but I do not hang around here on a regular basis. I'm very familiar with these guitars. Not so much the 'NMI' branded guitars but the 'Morris' brand, which was the name that was used on a line of guitars from the same maker that were exported to Europe. You probably already noticed the 'Morris' name on the tuners of your guitar.



Anyway, Morris is the 'house brand' of a company called 'Moridaira' from Japan and they've been supplying various companies with guitars under various different names for many years.
I do not know how many models there were in the 'NMI' line but the 'Morris' line had at least 10 different Martin copies. They were not 'real' Martin copies in that they mixed up a lot of the typical Martin features like, D-35 style 3-piece backs, 45-style pearl borders, Herringbone body trim etc. and some of the D-35 style 3-piece backs had a maple center panel.
Anyway, the NMI-line seems to have used similar model names as the Morris-line, of which the W-611 and the W-612 were the top-of-the-line.
These guitars were made during the second half of the '70s and I actually have a catalog from that particular era, that shows most of the Morris branded instruments.



Just get in touch with me if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

[tcac30]

Haven't checked this post in a while. Hans, great info on NMI guitars! This really answers a lot of questions.

My NMI is cool for sure.

TC

[Side Man]

Originally Posted by Allman_Fan

Have ya'll seen this?

http://www.hep.uiuc.edu/home/g-gollin/guitar/ I lived in Nashville then. As I recall (which is admittedly sketchy), I don't think Gruhn's existed back then as a storefront. Lower Broad was mostly pawn shops and peep shows. There was Harley Holt Furniture and the pawn/jewelry store that turned into Serv. Mdse (like Zimmermans?). Sho-Bud had an outlet. Tootsies and one across the street (Wheel?) were the only bars I remember.

It was pretty nasty down there. I'm pretty sure you could get VD and alcoholism just from breathing the air!

That's an understatement!!! My band spent a week there (played the Exit Inn) way back in '73 - boy does that make me feel old...).

Your quote brought back some great memories - it surely was funky down on Lower Broad back then