slk Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I have 2 Epiphones that were made in Japan. An FT-120 and FT-160. Both are in fantastic shape and have no defects or scratches on them. Question is are these guitars worth much of anything these days? They are beautiful guitars, but I have heard some negativity about them being made in Japan. Thanks Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el capitan Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Made in Japan is now considered a plus.If these guitars have bolt-on necks & laminated tops they're not worth much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I have 2 Epiphones that were made in Japan. An FT-120 and FT-160. Both are in fantastic shape and have no defects or scratches on them. Question is are these guitars worth much of anything these days? They are beautiful guitars, but I have heard some negativity about them being made in Japan. Thanks Steve From what I know the FT120 Excellente is a hit and miss but that's epiphone for you the hits are worth between 100 to 250 and the Ft !60 was an early Texan attempt rare and worth 200 to 400. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 As far as the Japan made guitars its all hit or miss Quality was an issue back in the day ( 1970's ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Most of Epiphone's acoustic production from the '70s is not high quality, and does not command a significant price on the used market. To be honest, at the time I considered them quite inferior to many other overseas brands. As good as inexpensive guitars are in this day & age (such as Epi's current Indonesia-produced lineup), it would be wise to consider options carefully before spending even a couple hundred bucks on a '70s Epi. This has nothing to do with Japanese quality in general. Even back then, the "Copy Era" instruments manufactured in Japan by companies such as Ibanez were indeed first rate. The capability has been there for a long time. It's just a matter of what price point & segment of the market was being targeted by the distributor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 This has nothing to do with Japanese quality in general. Even back then, the "Copy Era" instruments manufactured in Japan by companies such as Ibanez were indeed first rate. The capability has been there for a long time. It's just a matter of what price point & segment of the market was being targeted by the distributor. Before the sale to ECL, the possibility of producing Epiphone product in Japan had been taken under consideration and by 1970, Epiphone production in the United States shut down and moved to Matsumoto, Japan. However for the first few years of production, Epiphone guitars made in Japan were actually rebranded designs already produced by the Matsumoku Company. The Epiphone line was now a virtual orphan in the guitar world. Models gradually improved. In 1976, Epiphone introduced the Monticello, a series of scroll-body electrics, the Presentation, a new range of flat tops, and the Nova series of flat tops along with the Genesis solid body line. By 1979, the Epiphone product list was gathering speed, with over 20 steel-string flat tops and electrics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slk Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 So how would a person know if they had a Presentation or Excellente model of the FT-120? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 So how would a person know if they had a Presentation or Excellente model of the FT-120? Unless you have a serial number or a model number it is one hell of a task but if you do have those contact epiphone or check out the un official epiphone Wikipedia site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 You asked about the value of your instruments. From the 2012 Vintage Guitar Price Guide: FT 120 > $65 to $75 FT 160 > $175 to $200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggy Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Ultimately, like anything the value of these guitars is either what someone else will pay for them or what they are worth to you. If you're simply looking to move them I'd suggest taking the book prices, double them and stick them on Ebay/Craigslist with that as a BIN or best offer price and take decent offer. If nothing is forthcoming then drop by 30% and try again. Insurance valuation - then book price +100% If based on what they are worth to you then how long is a piece of string. My old Tanglewood TW400N is one of the earliest out of the factory in Korea and doesn't look like it had a piece of machinery near it (pencil marks all over the insides, braces obviously cut and finished by hand, file marks and the odd finger print!) Doesn't look like it had a luthier anywhere near it either (see previous sentence) and is probably worth £25.00 ($40.00) on a good day. However, knowing its history, the abuse it has suffered in terms of huge variations in terms of temperature (sub zero to 120+F) and humidity whilst living without any sort of case in an uninsulated loft space for several years, and yet the neck is still straight as a die, the top is flat and it is still structurally 98% (a brace needs a touch of glue) plus it has been with me through thick and thin for over 25 years we would be talking 5 figures before you'd get close to persuading me to part with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Ultimately, like anything the value of these guitars is either what someone else will pay for them or what they are worth to you. If you're simply looking to move them I'd suggest taking the book prices, double them and stick them on Ebay/Craigslist with that as a BIN or best offer price and take decent offer. If nothing is forthcoming then drop by 30% and try again. Insurance valuation - then book price +100% If based on what they are worth to you then how long is a piece of string. My old Tanglewood TW400N is one of the earliest out of the factory in Korea and doesn't look like it had a piece of machinery near it (pencil marks all over the insides, braces obviously cut and finished by hand, file marks and the odd finger print!) Doesn't look like it had a luthier anywhere near it either (see previous sentence) and is probably worth £25.00 ($40.00) on a good day. However, knowing its history, the abuse it has suffered in terms of huge variations in terms of temperature (sub zero to 120+F) and humidity whilst living without any sort of case in an uninsulated loft space for several years, and yet the neck is still straight as a die, the top is flat and it is still structurally 98% (a brace needs a touch of glue) plus it has been with me through thick and thin for over 25 years we would be talking 5 figures before you'd get close to persuading me to part with it. I agree this SS Stewart archtop has a lot of history behind it. The previous owner about killed it but I'm going to save it cause it deserves it. Price of guitar and parts 100 bucks price of accomplishing something I'm proud of PRICELESS!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gralst Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 So how would a person know if they had a Presentation or Excellente model of the FT-120? ???? The Japanese FT-120 was a plywood (mahogany of some sort), all-laminated, 000-sized entry level model. Having an "FT" alpha character prefix makes it part of the "Flat Top" series. There was no PR (Presentation)-120. The original FT-120 Excellente was an exceedingly rare Brazilian rosewood dreadnought that was top of the Gibson flat top acoustic line (back when Gibsons and Epiphones actually had the same manufacturer). The FT-120 Excellente was made from 1963-1970 and today is valued ~$10K (and higher). The Japanese FT-120 was made from around 1972 until 1979 is worth maybe seventy five to a hundred bucks...which do you think you have? Without going into a long discussion of history, what happened was the market and marketing for guitars changed and a "B" line was a redundancy so Gibson (or Norlin rather) dropped Epiphone domestic production in the summer of 1970. This was at the peak of cheap Asian (mostly from Japan at this point) flood of guitars and Norlin needed something to sell at the cheap guitar price point and market niche against the heavy import influx. Norlin cut a deal where they re-badged and cosmetically changed existing Matsumoku models (Aria et al) and sold them as Epiphones. By coincidence the FT-120 designation was used on two very different guitars. The perception that these low end guitars were junk came from the fact that they pretty much were. Do people understand that helping someone along their guitar journey is a noble endeavor but responding to questions with what are essentially disjointed thought salads with only an occasional venturing into factual territory does no one any service? It's fun to know stuff and it's fun to be helpful but it's a lot cooler that if you don't really know anything it might be better to just lay back until someone that does know comes along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Serial numbers of the Norlin Era, Japan made FT guitars were anything but serial. Best you will be able to do is get to a 2 or 3 year range of possibilities based on description. Label color features are the usual tell tale evidence of an approximate age. Do you have any pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minor7 Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 Just yesterday purchased an Epiphone 12-string, and am trying to date it as close as possible. Label is rectangular, paper in soundhole, brown on tan. -- Model # FT-160 -- Serial # 1262289 -- Texan - 12 (I'm curious about this. Does it have some significance?) -- Made in Japan. It has the two large shiny chrome screws to adjust the bridge seen on some of the '60s Gibson J-50s. I've been scrounging around on the net, and the best estimate I can come up with is 1976-1979, by the shape and color of the label. But the serial number is 7 digits, rather than 6, which doesn't conform to the Y-MM format for the first three digits. I've read some very well informed posts this afternoon, so I'm kinda hopeful that someone can help me out. Thanks, Charles Levy Oakland CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Léo666 Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 Bonjour J'ai une Epiphone FT 150 made in japan je crois que le numéro est 987306 .pouvez vous m'aider à la dater ? Merci d'avance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 On 12/15/2019 at 2:07 PM, Léo666 said: Bonjour J'ai une Epiphone FT 150 made in japan je crois que le numéro est 987306 .pouvez vous m'aider à la dater ? Merci d'avance The FT-150 was made from 1972-1979. So if the serial is any indication, yours would have been made in 1979. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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