NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

[LtKojak]

I'd like to introduce you my new/old guitar:



That's a MIK 1980 Tamaki 335 copy.



The body of this guitar was made in the same factory in Corea and with the same blueprint as Clapton's 335 reproduction, which's based on the '63 model. The color is like Gibson's Walnut. Looks like is all-mahogany made.

The neck is a little bit thinner than my other guitars, Ibanez-like, but it's stable nonetheless. Makes me play faster than I'm used to, and that's NOT always a good thing.

Grover tuners, original bridge, lightweight tailpiece with locking screws, CTS 500K+ pots with coil cut in the tone pot, Mojotone .0022/600V PIO cap, Switchcraft Toggle and Jack.

This is the new home for my A4n/A8b Duncan Jazz set, which I've put original Duncan covers, just to please Rick, better known as blueman335.

This is my backup guitar. A more refined and polite complement to my #1, which is all-maple made.

Hope you like like it, folks!

[JeffB]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Neat! Dig the witchhats!

The rest of the guitar has aged well, gotta scuff up those pups covers or relic them somehow!

[TheLivingDead]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Pretty sweet!

[LtKojak]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

gotta scuff up those pups covers or relic them somehow!

Will do. I'll post a picture of the guitar again twenty years from now!

[BloodRose]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Will do. I'll post a picture of the guitar again twenty years from now!

LOL!! That thing will be wonderfully ancient then! Thats nice bro! how is that Jazz set??

[LtKojak]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

LOL!! That thing will be wonderfully ancient then! Thats nice bro! how is that Jazz set??

The A4/A8 Jazz set in this guitar is just what the doctor ordered... It's like a more polite and sophisticated version of the A4 '59n / Custom 8 I've got in my #1.

Less output, very 3D sounding, respond at every command precisely, mirrors every nuance (and sloppiness) of your playing like there's no tomorrow.

The chirp cuts through the mix like a knife in butter, without ever being sterile, shrill or brittle.

The clarity of the chordwork and arpeggiowork is outstanding.

In the next days I'll program some patches in my modeler exclusively for this guitar; let's see how it'll fare overdriven.

HTH,

[BloodRose]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

The A4/A8 Jazz set in this guitar is just what the doctor ordered... It's like a more polite and sophisticated version of the A4 '59n / Custom 8 I've got in my #1.

Less output, very 3D sounding, respond at every command precisely, mirrors every nuance (and sloppiness) of your playing like there's no tomorrow.

The chirp cuts through the mix like a knife in butter, without ever being sterile, shrill or brittle.

The clarity of the chordwork and arpeggiowork is outstanding.

In the next days I'll program some patches in my modeler exclusively for this guitar; let's see how it'll fare overdriven.

HTH,

Hey, this is a GREAT response! You know Im very familiar with the 59/4/c8 so this puts it into perfect perspective. the jazz is A5 stock right? i normally shy away from lower output pups, but I really love the jazz neck im my charvel and my Kramer Pacer.. I may have to try this set sometime.. Clips would be great. thanks!

[JOLLY]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Very nice. I like that color. Congratulations!!

[LtKojak]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Very nice. I like that color. Congratulations!!

You, sir, have impeccable taste!

[LtKojak]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Hey, this is a GREAT response! You know Im very familiar with the 59/4/c8 so this puts it into perfect perspective. the jazz is A5 stock right? i normally shy away from lower output pups, but I really love the jazz neck im my charvel and my Kramer Pacer.. I may have to try this set sometime.. Clips would be great. thanks!

You know, this guitar being all-mahogany is a bit darker than my all-maple #1, so I thought to try a very bright set and see how it'll fare with "my own" magnet combo, A4/A8. In this guitar, I hit a home run!

Anyway, this p'up combo is much more polite than the A4 '59n / Custom A8 in my #1, which is a lean, mean, rock machine that can also play clean like there's no tomorrow.

Once I dial-in some good preset in my amp, I'll try it overdriven; I'd like to hear how the bridge p'up behaves; I'm confident it'll have a voice like a mix between James Taylor and Pavarotti. Stay tuned!

[crusty philtrum]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Tamaki is a brand name i don't remember seeing down here (although we used to get brand names i never see mentioned here by the US bro's either). That guitar looks great, if it plays and sounds good, you have a winner.

I have two guitars with 59/Jazz hybrid pickups in the neck, and i always thought they'd be a great choice for 335's and big archtop hollowbodies. Further along those lines, i always thought a 59/Jazz BRIDGE model would make an ideal bridge pickup for semi's too. My thinking is that the articulation and 'three-dimensional' qualities of the hybrids would be sensational in hollows and semi's to capture the extra resonances of such instruments.

A few times i did gigs where i'd break a string and finish the set using the singer's 335. What i found was that when using some overdrive for soloing, there was a real soulfullness to the sound. I'm talking about classic 70s rock type sound, not high-gain metal or thrash/punk etc. The body would become highly sensitive with some volume and overdrive and i remember feeling it resonate in my hands and against my chest, like it was close to the verge of low resonant feedback, and every note literally sang, and could be FELT.

I guess that might have been the appeal Clapton found in Cream with the cranked Marshalls behind him. It's an extra dimension you don't really get with solid bodies. Of course for higher gain, it probably reaches a point where it's too much and can't be controlled and the guitar would squeal and howl, but for the more classic tones the 335 styles are a wonderful experience both clean and overdriven.

Of course modelled overdrive would be different if there aren't any speakers pushing air around the hollow body.

The old 70s band 'Budgie' were a pretty heavy band back in their day, and the original singer/ guitar player Tony Bourge always played a 335. Great guitars, and i really like this one, it looks like it's ageing nicely and has character.

[LtKojak]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Tamaki is a brand name i don't remember seeing down here (although we used to get brand names i never see mentioned here by the US bro's either). That guitar looks great, if it plays and sounds good, you have a winner.

The guitar was made in the same factory Ibanez used to commissionate semihollows at that time. It belonged to the same group where Samick was the Holding company, but it was an independent factory that made instruments by commission. Another brand the factory made with the same instruments is "Series A". There's one on E-bay now:

http://cgi.ebay.it/Series-A-335-guitar-set-neck-MIK-Aria-Vantage-Samick-90-/330573220290?pt=Guitar&hash=item4cf7b309c2

Mine is not one from the top-of-the-line, mind you. But I got lucky because it's made with good tonewood.

HTH,

[blueman335]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

Kojak baby, nice guitar. First thing that came to mind when I looked at the pic was Clapton at the final Cream concert in Royal Albert Hall. Nicely done. If you put stickers on it, you'll have that Alvin Lee thing going on. There's nothing like a 335. A lot of guys think they're 'old man guitars' (as I did when I was young), but once you play one and hear the rich tones, and feel how comfortable they are... you can get hooked. When I see a guy walk on stage with a 335, it's usually a sure sign he's a great player.

I've got a few 335's myself, and my favorite is an ebony Sheraton with a C8/'59N.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

I'm a fan of the fatter necks, but that's a sweet 335 clone, congrats!

[astrozombie]

Re: NOGD - 1980 MIK Tamaki

I dig.