My Kawais
Introduction: Joe contacted me from the US. Like many of the emails that I receive (and am very pleased to receive!) from Kawai owners all over the world, Joe had been searching for info on his Kawai "for a good long while now". Well, we're now the #1 Google hit for "Kawai Guitars", so I'm hoping that the site is getting easier to find ...
The guitar: A black Kawai Aquarius AQ 605
The story: Joe and I have swapped a few emails now, so I'll summarise his story ... It was originally bought - new - as a present for Joe from his father in 1984. It's is first ever guitar. Joe has modded the guitar a little, swapping the original (Schaller branded) pickups for a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck position and a Pearly Gates in the bridge. He's added a new Goto bridge with trem and swapped the original tuners from some Schaller mini locking tuners. All the pots & electrics have also been upgraded, so it's pretty much "all new" apart from the body & neck. (I'm guessing that the SD pickups make a huge positive difference to the sound of Joe's guitar). After storing the guitar for about 20 years, Joe dug out the guitar from a closet at his parent's house a few years ago and is now enjoying guitar playing all over again. As he says ... "I was married and spending more time at home than in bars, so I began to desire playing again".
Joe's description of the guitar is .... "it looks more modern and meaner, but sound very warm, sweet and vintage-ish. It also has an awesome bass growl, which is why I named her Black Thunder. It has wonderful sustain and beautfiul resonance even when unplugged".
An oddity about Joe's guitar, he says that the black paint on the neck also covers all the fret markers on the side of the fretboard ... wonder if that's a one-off or if there are other guitars out there with the same "feature"?
The photos:
Looks good to me Joe - congratulations!
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