Kawai Guitars - Rock'n'Roll Star

A quick update on my fascination (or obsession) with Kawai guitars. The website, cunningly called http://www.kawaiguitars.com/ has resulted in quite a few emails from other Kawai owners around the world, looking for info on their Kawai guitars. Some I can help, some I can't.

Last week I received an email from Toddy (bass player with BlondieUK) who was repairing a Kawai Rock'n'Roll Star. This model is basically a single cutaway acoustic with steel strings and a humbucking pickup. Apart from in the old Kawai guitar catalogues, I'd never seen one before. Apparently it's in a sad state with the finish flaking off, some additional holes drilled in the body, and generally needs some TLC. A lot of TLC.

Fingers crossed that it finds a good home!!

The Kawai collection is complete?

The question mark at the end of the post title is deliberate ... just in case I stumble across another one somewhere, sometime.
From the left ...
KS-11-XL in violin sunburst.
KS-12-XL in natural (mine from new in c1979)
KS-10-Junior
KS-12-XL in black
KS-11-XL in natural - now fitted with a pair of PRS Dragon pickups.

Looks are deceptive!

If you look at the previous post, you'll notice that the Kawai appears to be a little less than fully original.

The bridge is certainly a replacement (although I did also manage to get the original unit, but the screws for the individual saddles have been stripped of thread) and I thought that one or other of the pickups was also non-original. All my other Kawais use the ivory-coloured open coil humbuckers, so my betting was that the black p'up was a replacement.

So, as it's non-original already, I thought I'd replace the Kawai's p'ups with a set of PRS Dragon p'up that I've got sat here, unused.

I carefully unsoldered the existing wiring, carefully unscrewed the existing p'ups, and took them both out. Turned them over to see what the black one actually was ... and it was stamped "Mighty Mite Inc" - exactly the same as the ivory p'up, and a standard fitment on those Kawai guitars.

So, for some reason, this guitar shipped with 2 different colour pick-ups.

Think I'll still replace them though. I prefer things to look balanced!

Kawai Guitars

I'm thinking about setting up a separate informational website just for the Kawai guitars. There is absolutely no information available on them on the www, and Kawai in Japan have no information either (I know, because I asked them!).

I'm not a great fan of the Teisco-by-Kawai guitars of the 60s & 70s - the strange shaped ones with lots of switches and too many pickups. But I really do like the late 70s ranges.

So, I thought I'd ask here, just in case there's anyone else who stumbles across this blog whilst searching for any info on Kawai guitars, to contact me if you've got any of the following models, or any information about any of the following models ...

KS-10-Junior, KS-10-XL, KS-11-Junior, KS-11-XL, KS-12-Junior, KS-12-XL, Moonsault.

In fact, perhaps any of the non-Teisco Kawai guitars ... I think there are a few designs which could be described as "inspired by Alembic" - the F1 model and others - which were also around in the late 70s/80s.

This is a real longshot, but if anyone involved in the production, export/import or distribution of those guitars stumbles across the blog ... please get in touch. There can't be many worthwhile subjects which isn't covered by a www site (and perhaps there are way too many non-worthwhile sites), so perhaps I can add some value to the www ...

Another Kawai ...

Earlier this week a very helpful and observant reader-of-the-blog left me a message to say that he'd seen a Kawai guitar in his local music shop. This is a pic of that guitar.

I phoned the shop and spoke with the very helpful owner, and the deal was done. On Friday, the guitar arrived. It's a Kawai KS-11-XL, in natural finish. A 1-piece mahogany body, 3 piece mahogany neck with a maple cap. It's in "not bad" condition for it's age. The neck pick-up is non-original, as is the bridge (though I have the original Badass bridge too). It plays brilliantly though, and the various dings and scratches are only skin-deep - the construction is still sound.

This one makes it 4 Kawais in my little family ... still interested in hearing from anyone who's got any of the KS-10, KS-11 or KS-12 models though ...

Quick Pics

Here's the new arrival ...



And here it is with the rest of its family ...

Found the Kawai!

This isn't really about guitar-building, but it's still about guitars so I'll share it anyway ...

Finally, after years of searching, I've finally managed to track down a Kawai KS-11-XL. Actually, the seller tracked me down from the link on this blog!

What's a Kawai KS-11-XL you may ask ...

One of the Made-in-Japan quality guitars from the late 70's. This is an original Kawai design rather than the more common jap LP/Strat copies, and is a higher-end guitar, comparable in many ways to the Yamaha SGs of the same era ... which puts it higher up the quality and sound scale than many of the more famous US-made guitars from the late 70's. In my opinion, of course!

Solid mahogany body with a curved maple top, 3-piece set mahogany neck, double cutaway design, twin HBs, Badass bridge.

I bought the "top end" model (KS-12-XL) back in the late 70's (thanks, Tim Gentle Music!), and for many years it was my only or main guitar. I still have it. I found the low-end model (KS-10) on eBay a few years ago, and it was a "genuine eBay bargain" - not a phrase that you hear that often. I'd missed an immaculate KS-11-XL on eBay before that, and am still kicking myself for that. If the buyer ever finds this blog ... contact me!

So when Matt contacted me through this blog, telling me about his KS-11-XL, I was slightly more than happy, and a deal was done. Guitar arrived yesterday and it's in amazingly good condition for a nearly 30-year old guitar. It's the violin sunburst finish rather than the natural, which is why I'd still be interested in hearing about any natural-finish examples ... if any still exist!

Pics to follow ...

To Kawai or not to Kawai?

My first self-build guitar was deliberately based on the body shape of the Kawai guitars from the late 70's - (the KS-10, KS-11-XL and KS-12-XL models). The Kawai was my first "real" guitar - too many years ago to remember exactly when. Those were great guitars, and I thought I'd base my first self-build on the Kawai design.

The materials were different (Ash instead of Mahogany), and I used a separate bridge and tailpiece in place of the single unit on the Kawai, but I get a similar sort of sound, thanks largely to the high output pick-ups. My self-build is a bit raw-sounding and louder than the Kawai, but I'm happy with the overall feel and weight. I wasn't brave enough to try to emulate the Kawai headstock design!

For this course, I think a different design and construction would be useful to broaden my skills (or at least to broaden my knowledge of the skills I need but don't yet possess!), although that Kawai body shape remains just about my favourite shape. The photos don't really do justice to the beautifully carved top on the guitars - I need to take better photos.