Jap/Korean Hondo giutars - any info?

Blackhorse Slim

I have a Hondo 'Revival' series guitar, ES-335 copy, bought in Dublin around 1989/90 (I think - the memory is a bit fuzzy these days). I don't play it much, I prefer the feel of a strat, but I brought it to a jam the other night and a guitar collector friend of mine said it was Japanese, made in the same factory that were producing Tokai instruments at the time.

I always thought this was Korean, the only info I've found online is wikipedia, which suggests that Hondo guitars were first made in Japan, then made in Korea from '84 to '87, then went out of production until 1991. Is there any more info on these out there? I'd love to track down this model to know when and where it was produced.

(I'll put some pics up when I get a chance).

fourmations

i have a 12 string hondo from around that era
or probably older, its a terrible P.O.S. though!
and i would be surprised if its worth more than firewood!

g'luck on your search

rgds

4

fourmations

fourmations wrote: »

i have a 12 string hondo from around that era
or probably older, its a terrible P.O.S. though!
and i would be surprised if its worth more than firewood!

g'luck on your search

rgds

4

+1

Doctor J

A guy I used to be in a band with in the very early 90s had a Hondo Les Paul. Dreadful guitar, it really was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondo_%28guitar_company%29

According to this, your guitar was made in Korea. They stopped Japanese production in 1983.

Blackhorse Slim

Doctor J wrote: »

A guy I used to be in a band with in the very early 90s had a Hondo Les Paul. Dreadful guitar, it really was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondo_%28guitar_company%29

According to this, your guitar was made in Korea. They stopped Japanese production in 1983.

I don't know when mine was made, but I'm assuming it's Korean. Mine is not 'dreadful', but I wouldn't class it with a Tokai. The post '91 instruments don't have a very good rep, but the earlier ones seem reasonably well regarded. I was looking specifically for info on the Revival series, it seems there just isn't any out there. Thanks for the input.

NeMiSiS

I was given one to "repair". It smelled of alcoholism and stale farts.
In the end I broke it up with an axe while singing "Take me home country roads"
True story.

I can't remember what series it was though OP, but the qaulity was very poor.
I would have no idea of value of them either.

I found this link too for you ; http://books.google.com/books?id=dn_wwsIX_mIC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=hondo+vintage+acoustic&source=web&ots=Vn9bcSCHss&sig=QjSyyitWvYPf4gRrYG7QfTUaZqU#PPA279,M1
TK

Dord

AKAIK Hondo's were originally made by Matsumoku in Japan but production moved to Korea. Some of the early korean instruments were good quality, I can't speak for Hondo though.

Doctor J

Did you buy it new or second hand?

There's a fair bit about Rvevivals out there, just put "Hondo Revival" into google including the inverted commas. Apparently, you should be able to see some information like place of manufacture and year on a label inside one of the F holes.

Blackhorse Slim

Doctor J wrote: »

Did you buy it new or second hand?

There's a fair bit about Rvevivals out there, just put "Hondo Revival" into google including the inverted commas. Apparently, you should be able to see some information like place of manufacture and year on a label inside one of the F holes.

Thanks Doctor J, the inverted commas has brought up more hits. I bought it new, but I don't know how long it had been in stock, and I don't remember the exact year. I started playing in '89, and this was my first guitar, but I did play bass for a few months first. So it was either 89 or 90. There is a label inside the f-hole, but it's very faded.

I'm not looking to sell it, it makes a nice change in feel and sound from a strat, just curious. I'm going to take the covers off the pickups to see whether they are branded, apparently they used to use Di Marzios at one stage. In almost 20 years, I've never taken the pickup covers off.