Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,Dave Brown jr
Date: 02 Jan 13 - 09:23 AM

wow...most amazing and durable guitar ive ever held and had the joy to play...or rather she plays me...these things are magical...made by one man n the one i have was made late 70s early 80s ...i have a model xw45 shiraki dreadnought.. solid cedartop mahogany sides and back...mahogany neck..fully adjustable truss rod...rosewood bridge ...rosewood fingerboard.. Deluxe die cast chrome tuners...antique brown top finish...radiant bracing and filligrana c-2

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,Doreen
Date: 05 Jan 12 - 11:06 AM

To answer some of the questions on the shiraki guitar, i would like to say that i am the original owner to the XW60 model i purchased it brand new from a local music dealer in 1981 and i perchased it for 500.00 plus taxes canadian, it was the only Shiraki in the store and it came from Japan and were hand made and the sound hole was done by lazer, Japan was apparently the first Country to use lazer to my knowledge and the gentlemen that sold me the guitar also said that they used beads of rolling sand as well to make these guitars. The gentlemen i bought the guitar from also told me they made different styles of these guitars and very few of each style and due to the high cost of shipping these guitars to Canada my local dealer had only ordered the one Shiraki to see how well they would sell and i had purchased it and then he told me he could not get anymore and i beleive he said they were not making anymore because their was alot of work in making these beautiful rare gems, this is what i remember him telling me to the best of my knowledge,hard to remember everything he told me it's been over thirty years since i purchased it. One other thing i do remember is back in 1992 he said that my Shiraki would be worth around 2500.00 Canadian.

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,Doreen
Date: 05 Jan 12 - 10:45 AM

No i have'nt sold my Shiraki yet i am located in Barrie Ontario you can email me at [e-mail].

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 04 Nov 11 - 07:03 PM

Doreen have you sold your guitar yet.
I have an XW60.
Not sure where you live but I might be interested.

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Apr 11 - 04:49 PM

I have the XW60 model of the Shiraki guitar and i am the original owner and i would like to sell it if anyone is interested, it has hardly ever been played and is in great shape, always took care of my guitars, Doreen.

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,jeff
Date: 06 Mar 10 - 11:09 AM

Thank you for the link, leadfingers. These guitars look to be designed for the 'plugged in' acoustic sound. The ornate patterns on the soundboard appear to be anti-feedback bafflers and ports to allow air to move back and forth. Wouldn't think they would sound real good acoustically, but would wager they sound great plugged in.

Were I to acquire one of these beautiful instruments the first thing I would do is have an LR Baggs transducer and a Joe Mills microphone system installed to bring out the full sound. The Shadow, while a serviceable piezo is really no match for the Baggs/Mills combo w/a blender.

They seem like fine guitars not priced ridiculously out of the market. And they look great, too.

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 06 Mar 10 - 10:41 AM

There are some pictures and information if you scroll down on this Clicky

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,Dieter Jilge
Date: 06 Mar 10 - 08:38 AM

Hi there,
I have a Shiraki Classic Guitar, Model XG10. I bought it 1981 in Northern Italy.
Is anyone interested to buy it, as I would like to sell it.(no time to play) The condition is like new , it has been hardly played, always stored in a hard case.

Make me an offer..
Dieter

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,David Renwick
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 04:26 AM

I identified it from the info' supplied on the first thread on the Google search and mine's an XG20.

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,David Renwick
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 04:08 AM

Hello - David from Christchurch in New Zealand here. I recently acquired (read scrounged) my sister's Shiraki as I'm taking up the guitar after enjoying the ukulele. She swapped it for another guitar after the previous owner spat the dummy at her being present when another person played it without permission. Jeez - talk about sensitive!
As I know nothing about guitars I took it to Music World in Christchurch where it was restrung. They reckoned about KP$350-500 in (Kiwi Peso) value as it had a little ding on the cedar top. Beautiful rosewood sides and base and loverley tone says my friend the sweet Shelley Sweet.
Previous owner had a degree in classical guitar.
The guys in the shop reckoned the fret-work sound hole muffled the sound.
Reckon I might jes hammer it out - jus kiddin.

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,Cybergy
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 07:48 AM

There's a ton of Shiraki info over here...
http://www.guitarscanada.com/Board/archive/index.php/t-507.html

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: Bert
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 12:58 PM

I thought it was a mushroom!

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: Sorcha
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 11:30 AM

and I found out that Shiraki means "laquer ware".......

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 11:06 AM

This is one for the "guitar nerds".
Come in Thunderbird One (Fielding) and Thunderbird Two (Patterson)
A very quick websearch only found a jazz drummer with this name and the editor of Bass Guitar magazine!
RtS (more Parker than Brains)

Subject: RE: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: GUEST,Arjen
Date: 06 Mar 01 - 10:22 AM

Hello,

I am the proud owner of one shiraki like you discribed. Did you know that the body has been cut with a laser? The pickup is made by shadow. I am looking for more info on my guitar, so if some body know ananything about this rare thing, let me know. [e-mail]

Arjen The Netherlands

Subject: Ever heard of a 'SHIRAKI' guitar?
From: Carlzen
Date: 05 Jul 99 - 04:16 AM

A friend recently came across a slightly unusual guitar via an antique dealer. It is well made, with a nice bound fingerboard and what appears to be rosewood back and sides. What is so unusual about it is that it has no sound hole. Up on each 'shoulder' are iddentical scrimshaw sort of etchings in the top. They are both a kind of Asian style bird of paradise, kind of like something I saw on some of my grandmother's nice china plates at Christmas dinner. On the headstock is a logo which says "Shiraki". I've been fascinated by this instrument since I first saw it, and thought I'd try here to see if anyone could lead me to more information about the guitar, its maker, etc.

I'd appreciate it.