The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    I have several Terada made Gretsch guitars with Bigsbys. They all stay in tune if the nut is cut properly.

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  3. #27

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    That double anniversary is a beautiful guitar my original one was a single anniversary and it was as uncomplicated as they come. I can'remember what amp I played through, possibly a vox ac, but I could get a real howling sound through that one pickup. I do remember I had no tuning problem with it, of course, because of the tailpiece. It also had a bar across the strings to add a vibrato effect, but I was too scared to try that often. A lovely guitar

    Davetad.

  4. #28

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    Ha, Just found out this tread is still alive and kicking. Great, seems like a blast from the past to me :-)
    Anyway, I'm still playing the Terada. It keeps on growing on me..

    Cheers,

    M

  5. #29

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    Yes yes, The F-holes, the headstock, the neck-inlays... all there.
    Did you find a serial number? How do you know it' from the early 80's? Maybe I can find out when mine is made.
    Also, the Grovers were a mod? Mine also has Grovers..
    I definitely would like to try mine side-to-side with a nice (priced) Gibson. I can't imagine a guitar with a better feel than this one, but hey, I might learn a thing or two.. or maybe not :-)

    µ

  6. #30

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    seeing as how i primarily play gretsches and elitist epiphones, i have a healthy about of terada guitars in there. and they are all pretty awesome. sort of take it for granted after a while. but i was at guitar center a few weeks back and grabbed a few randos off the wall- various mic and mik epiphones, dangelicos and such in the $500-1600 range and they all felt like crap to me. the woods, the components, the necks, the finishes... it just didn't work for me. i thought poly was poly but i was wrong. or i just greatly prefer mine to whats out there. i didn't plug any of them in as i wasn't really compelled to.

    i never did an apples to apples comparison between my elitists and their gibson counterparts but i did sell off my es333 when i got my elitist sheraton, and i never looked back. my guitars are too customized to really compare to anyway, but i don't really feel the need to seek out something better. i'm sure that gibson (or collings, more likely) can make "better" guitars than mine, but at those prices, i'll never find out.

    re: gretsch electronics- i'm not sure if they were the crappiest, but i did swap all of it out, for what that's worth. ditto the elitist components. but that mostly customization. maybe 80/20% between my tastes vs quality. or to look at it another way: i prefer higher quality stuff. so maybe it's 100%! don't have a real clear picture of it in my mind after all this time, but they were perfectly functional and lovely guitars before i got my stupid hands on them.

    as for the bigsby; i use pretty heavy strings and haven't really had major issues. they stay in tune about as well as anything else i own. if you start doing push ups on the thing then it'll go sideways a bit but that isn't me. otherwise, no better, but no worse, tuning wise. i use some graphite paste too very, very rarely and i'm not sure if that made much of a difference, personally. though i made the mistake of getting the stewmac stuff which is super hard to apply. get one with the little applicator thing. or now that i have them around, maybe i'll try a mechanical pencil.

    hey gary, it looks like the handle fell off your guitar, buddy. you may want to get that looked at.

    ps- some photos would be nice, guys.

  7. #31

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    Is your terada an acoustic/ electric acoustic archtop. Iam looking for a Vestax that was reportedly made by terada. Acoustic archtop. " modern acoustic es1500" see attached pic.
    Attached Images Attached Images Terada Guitars-img_1464-jpg 

  8. #32

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    Terada made/makes lots of great guitars. I have a Polytone Improv I guitar. It's an upscale version of the ES-345. The appointments are all very deluxe--ebony fretboard, gold hardware, binding is very multi, etc. Being a Polytone, it has unusual things, like a big, gaudy headstock, split "P" inlays on the fretboard, etc.

    I believe Polytone (of Holywood, CA) had these guitars--made in 1979-1980--build by Terada. The Improvs sure show Terada workmanship.

    I like my Improv MORE than I did my vintage Gibson ES-335.

    Terada Guitars-img_1250-jpg

  9. #33

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    THANKS, THE ONE i AM LOOKING FOR IS A THINLINE, ACOUSTIC ARCHTOP, NO VISIBLE PICKUP.

    OOPS, SORRY FOR THE CAP LOCK.
    Attached Images Attached Images Terada Guitars-zbizyggjpf8rxqqhyktg-jpg Terada Guitars-zmdpzpap2wjr3ezwyjjex-jpg Terada Guitars-yx2x6fauftcc4juvtvrz-jpg 

  10. #34

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    Hi guys, first of all, I don't know much about Jazz Guitars, that's why i need your help...

    A few years ago i bought some guitars including Gibson,Epiphone,Ibanez and that guitar i didn't knew about called Terade.

    I searched the web quite a lot, but didn't find the right answers. so i went to a luthier near by and he told me that Terada is a Japanese Factory who now builds for Gretch and that my guitar is from arround 1980 (fits arround the year the other guitars were build 65-1980) according to the logo and inlays.

    The guitar itself is in quite perfect condition, the headstock,the neck, the machine heads and the body. the pickup,bridge,tone and volume knobs need to be replaced.

    Now here is my question:

    Does anyone know something about this guitar? Are these good guitars? What's the price range for thoose guitars (maybe I'll get it fixed).

    I hope you guys can help me out! thx

    Here are some photos
    Attached Images Attached Images Terada Guitars-img_20200305_150343-jpg Terada Guitars-img_20200305_150546-jpg Terada Guitars-img_20200305_150559-jpg Terada Guitars-img_20200305_150536-jpg Terada Guitars-img_20200305_150513-jpg Terada Guitars-img_20200305_150428-jpg Terada Guitars-img_20200305_150332-jpg Terada Guitars-img_20200305_150318-jpg 

  11. #35

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    Nice score. First thing, like right now, get that pickguard off and stick it in a plastic bag well away fom the guitar. Getting a nice replacement pickguard won’t be hard. Chris Mirabella or our own DeaconMark are both good choices. Have whoever you choose install Schatten controls under the guard, hard to say what damage that guard did to the current parts. Get a decent replacement pickup and then have a tech do her up. I’m a big Ibanez collector and Terada is highly regarded.

    looks like you’re gonna be having some fun man !!!

    Big

  12. #36

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    I have several later terada guitars from the 90s and 00s that say Epiphone and Gretsch on them. They are some of my most prized possessions.

    The closest thing out there to what you have are the 80s mij terada epiphones. Check them out on eBay and reverb, see what they sold for. That'll give you an idea. I don't think that a terada branded guitar is very common, though. Not in the us, anyway.

    I assume you'll be happy with whatever it is when you're done with it.

  13. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by feet
    I have several later terada guitars from the 90s and 00s that say Epiphone and Gretsch on them. They are some of my most prized possessions.

    The closest thing out there to what you have are the 80s mij terada epiphones. Check them out on eBay and reverb, see what they sold for. That'll give you an idea. I don't think that a terada branded guitar is very common, though. Not in the us, anyway.

    I assume you'll be happy with whatever it is when you're done with it.
    I had an Epiphone Elitist Broadway that was a Terada made guitar, and it was absolutely perfect in every way, like playing an L5ces. I can honestly say I felt and heard no important difference between my EEB and my L5ces through many, many, hours of playing.

  14. #38

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    Big Mike is right, get that pickguard off immediately. The pickup could possibly be saved by cleaning off the corrosion caused by the deteriorating pickguard, but it's impossible to say from a photo. The plating is probably gone, but that has no effect on the sound, if you can live with the way it looks. Replacement pickups aren't necessarily expensive, relatively speaking. It obviously needs a nut and a bridge, but those are easy enough to replace. I would expect it to be a fine guitar after minor restoration.

  15. #39

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    I purchased a new Epiphone Elitist Byrdland. Excellent guitar, sold it because I could not adapt the ridiculously narrow 1 11/16ths nut width nor the short scale.

    My friend and I compared it to his 4 Gibson Byrdlands ( to include one clearly marked as a 1954 prototype)
    We agreed the fit finish, workmanship ansdplayability was superior to Gibson.

  16. #40

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    This one is a laminate guitar, close to a single-pup 175. Terada also made the Vestax-era D'Angelicos. The carved-top NYS models were/are in high regard, pressed-top NYLs also fine.

  17. #41

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    In my Chet picking days, I had a Terada built G-6122-1959 and it was an excellent instrument.

  18. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by bohemian46
    I purchased a new Epiphone Elitist Byrdland. Excellent guitar, sold it because I could not adapt the ridiculously narrow 1 11/16ths nut width nor the short scale..
    Isn't 1-11/16" fairly standard?

  19. #43

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    It is pretty much the standard. Some makers offer 1.75" necks, which one either loves or hates, I guess. I have a couple of guitars with 1.75" necks, and more with the narrower necks. I like the wider ones for single-note playing, but narrower necks are easier to play rhythm on, using the thumb over the neck for some chords. It's a personal preference, either is valid.

  20. #44

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    It is pretty much the standard. Some makers offer 1.75" necks, which one either loves or hates, I guess. I have a couple of guitars with 1.75" necks, and more with the narrower necks. I like the wider ones for single-note playing, but narrower necks are easier to play rhythm on, using the thumb over the neck for some chords. It's a personal preference, either is valid.
    For sure. Nobody who knows archtops would refer to 1 11/16" as "ridiculously narrow."

  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by lawson-stone
    For sure. Nobody who knows archtops would refer to 1 11/16" as "ridiculously narrow."
    Yeah that's what I meant, I was wondering if it was a typo, because the original Byrdlands did have a really skinny neck.

  22. #46

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    Yes, Terada has used so many different names on their own production models over the years. They just hope to sell their own guitars not just OEMs, but they couldn't sell very well and then they'd change the brand name again and again....
    Japanese especially older people don't consider Terada made guitars as good instruments as their production quality was horrible in the past up until late 80s or early 90s I guess. Though they improved significantly since then. Once I brought a Vestax era D'angelico to one of my local luthiers for a basic setup, and when he looked at it he just laughed and called it a fake. lol

  23. #47

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    In 1972, my wife bought me Terada 12 .

    The inner label shows everything but the model number. Investigating , I believe it to be a 648.

    My question is where can I buy a pick guard and where can I get a headstock decal?

    tks

  24. #48

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    Hi, I am French and I love Terada Guitars.

    I bought my Terada in 98, in a small French guitar shop.

    It's similar to a CS335 and the sound is wonderful.

    I tested some Gibsons, but I prefer my Terada

    Terada Guitars-img_1248-jpg

  25. #49

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    This is an interesting thread. I couldn’t not show off my Terada built D’Aquisto New Yorker. While I no longer have it, I can say the craftsmanship of that guitar was second to none. I miss it. It was exquisite.
    Attached Images Attached Images Terada Guitars-8a0f11d7-114e-41f8-b868-7b77aeef920a-jpg Terada Guitars-0896662a-7c88-4ba8-b7e1-119975ae02bd-jpg Terada Guitars-f29302f6-1777-45b1-b93f-318fc5a79f44-jpg Terada Guitars-620ed35a-d841-4706-a892-2117399bb782-jpg Terada Guitars-961d0ec8-008b-45d4-b087-7a75b580df96-jpg Terada Guitars-ad73fb17-52ff-438a-b0d5-4c66bd888783-jpg 

  26. #50

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    I think that for the Japanese market, one of the brands they usted was Vesta or Vesta Graham.
    Unfortunatelly the related information is in Japanese.