Iwama model IW-45

[Greg Ellis]

I've had this beat-up old six string acoustic for ages. IIRC, my sister rescued it from a dumpster in Waterloo around 1985 or so.

Does anyone know anything about the Iwama brand name?

The name on the headstock is so baddly worn away that I can no longer read it.

Inside the body is a label which reads:

IWAMA
MODEL NO. IW-45
Made in Japan

I'll try to get some pictures. It's nothing to look at right now; needs a good cleaning and new strings. I'm debating whether to take it in for some proper attention; I see the bridge is lifting a bit at one end.

[Ship of fools]

I can't be 100% sure on this but pretty close, I do believe the name IWAMA, is a distributors name and not the makers, and if it is a Japanese maker from the early 80's you might consider having the work done right.
A lot of guitar makers who had Japanese factories building guitars for them had some really good success in that time period, so post some pics and lets see if we can't nail it down for you Greg.Ship

[Greg Ellis]

I think it might be 70's, but that's just a wild guess.

I cleaned it up today, put new strings on and played for a while.

It's not much of a guitar - it might be time to break down and actually spend money on something playable.

Here's the pics.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/GregEllisToronto/acoustic_front.jpg http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/GregEllisToronto/acoustic_headstock_noflash.jpg http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/GregEllisToronto/acoustic_label.jpg http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/GregEllisToronto/acoustic_back.jpg

[Greg Ellis]

And a few more; note the bridge lifting on the high-E side, and the finish cracking around the low_E side of the neck joint.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/GregEllisToronto/acoustic_tuners.jpg http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/GregEllisToronto/acoustic_bridge_lift_2.jpg http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/GregEllisToronto/acoustic_bridge_lift.jpg http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/GregEllisToronto/acoustic_neck_crack.jpg