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Alembic Club » Miscellaneous » Archive: 2005 » Archive through September 11, 2005 » Cool Alembic-style Non-Alembic from Guitar Show « Previous Next »

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lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 567
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 12:50 pm:   Edit Post

O.K., I've got my camera and computer on speaking terms again, so here is the treasure I uncovered at the World Guitar Show in San Rafael last weekend.

What we have here is a Daion Power Mark XX from about 1981. (Don't you love the name). The workmanship (or to be P.C. "workpersonship") is the finest I have aver encountered outside of Alembic. The neck is a 9 piece made of maple and rosewood. The fingerboard is ebony and appears to be macassar as it has some subtle striping. Position markers are inlaid brass, as is the tuning fork logo on the headstock. Gold plated brass bridge, nut and tuners. The body is an ash/rosewood hippie sandwich. It even has wood backplates, though not continuous as Alembic does. Electronically it is set up like a Les Paul with Daion h-buckers with coil taps. It also has a very unusual jack placement, as seen below.

I haven't had it down to the sudio yet, but acoustically it sounds wonderful and on a cheap amp at home it sustains until next Tuesday! These sold for $799 in 1981 (close to $3000 in current prices) and IMHO was quite a bargain at that price. From what I have found so far, the company was short-lived. Based in Texas and manufactured in Japan. The instruments were made too well for the price and the company went under. And now for your visual enjoyment:







Bill, tgo
bracheen
Senior Member
Username: bracheen

Post Number: 786
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 2:12 pm:   Edit Post

Very nice, I like the hidden input jack. I'm guessing the switch on the upper horn is similar to a Les Paul but what are the two little switches in front of the knobs?


Sam
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 568
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 7:24 pm:   Edit Post

Sam:

Yeah, the jack placement is way cool. Upper horn toggle is just like on a Paul: neck - both - bridge pickup selection. The two mini toggles are the coil cuts for the two pickups, respectively.

Bill, tgo
jalevinemd
Advanced Member
Username: jalevinemd

Post Number: 210
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 8:17 pm:   Edit Post

Beautiful guitar, Bill! I think my favorite part is that wonderful tummy contour.

Regards,

Jonathan
bigideas
Junior
Username: bigideas

Post Number: 46
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 10:10 pm:   Edit Post

here is the bass version. diamond strings has a few of these from time to time. there is a different kind of guitar on their stock list as well.
tom_z
Intermediate Member
Username: tom_z

Post Number: 162
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 12:50 pm:   Edit Post

Nice snag Bill. It appears to be in great shape, especially for a 25 year old guitar. Very pretty ash body lams - looks like a mat finish which works very nicely. Congrats.

Tom
bigredbass
Senior Member
Username: bigredbass

Post Number: 444
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 7:58 pm:   Edit Post

Don't you just love the saucer-shaped body rounding?

I came THIS close to buying the bass, and I'm still sorry I didn't.

J o e y
82daion
New
Username: 82daion

Post Number: 7
Registered: 5-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 8:36 pm:   Edit Post

Here are some pics of my bass:

http://photobucket.com/albums/a189/82Daion/?sc=3

These files are way too big for the forum, but it's a good look at the construction of these. The basses are passive, but they sound really really good. This one's sen(Japanese ash)-maple-sen in the sandwich. A friend of mine turned me on to these(his is almost identical, but it's green.) He bought his new in 1982. They're really good values, if you can find them.
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 574
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 9:59 pm:   Edit Post

Christopher:

I'd love to see your bass, but the link requires a password. The workmanship on these things is outstanding!

Bill, tgo
blazer
Member
Username: blazer

Post Number: 70
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 12:26 pm:   Edit Post

Sorry to be blunt but to me this guitar is "We-arleady-saw-that" one of those eighties Japanese made through neck guitars. All of them came from the Matsumoku factory which produced Aria Pro, Hondo, Antoria, Vantage, Washburn, Westone, Westbury and Daion.

They all shared the same construction and use of through body bridges and Gibson style electronics and for the money you can't possibly go wrong, they are the Danelectro's of the early eighties.

I owned an Aria SB 700 for a little while, it was a good bass with a powerfull punchy sound but it also was a certified back breaker, I eventually gave my spine what it was begging for and sold it.
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 579
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 1:09 pm:   Edit Post

Blazer:

You might have already seen one of these, but in 40 years of playing guitar, I had never run across one and I thought some of the other people on this site might be interested. I have seen many of the 70s-80s Japanese neck throughs. I currently own a '78 Ibanez Musician and an early 80's Fernandes Masterhand. I seen Vantages, Aria Pros, Hondos, and Washburns. None that I've seen exhibits the quality of construction as this Daion. I've been doing some research on Daion and have yet to run across any info that they were made by Matsumoku. If you would kindly point me in the direction of your source for this info, I would geatly apprciate it. By the way, as far a being a "back breaker", I would agree that that definition surely applies to my Ibanez, but both the Fernandes and this Daion are reasonable weights and well balanced. Both are significantly lighter than a Les Paul.

Bill, tgo

(Message edited by lbpesq on August 11, 2005)
bracheen
Senior Member
Username: bracheen

Post Number: 790
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 1:22 pm:   Edit Post

Bill, have you had a chance to plug it in yet? What's the verdict from you and your bandmates?

Sam
staemius
Junior
Username: staemius

Post Number: 42
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 3:38 pm:   Edit Post

Congrats Bill - I had my eye on a Daion some time ago - but yours is really, really nice. I've heard nothing but good things.
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 581
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 4:28 pm:   Edit Post

Sam:

I've had it down to the studio for rehearsal once so far. While it is a gorgeously crafted guitar, electronically it is certainly no Alembic. Still, the coil cuts are the best I've yet encountered. On most guitars I've played with coil cuts, it seems that the single coil sound is just too anemic. On the Daion it really is usable. It will take me a few more times to get my amp and SF-2 tweaked for this guitar before I make any final decisions on keeping it stock or upgrading (WITHOUT drilling any new holes, of course). I'll have to spend some time in the studio by myself so I can tweak away without driving everyone else crazy.

Bill, tgo
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364

Post Number: 946
Registered: 9-2003
Posted on Friday, August 12, 2005 - 7:05 am:   Edit Post

Nice Bill! Enjoy! You can always change the pick-ups and wiring without destroying the guitar. A little work with a scredriver and soldering iron and it's stock all over again.

For sh*ts and giggles, ck out the Lindy Fralin site. Lindy's p/u's are second to none and he'll custom wind/wire any p/u to your exact specs. They are pricier than other mass-market stuff, but are hand-made to order by Lindy and are worth every penny IMHO. My Custom Shop Les Paul Elegant is getting a set of his '59 PAF-style humbuckers currently.

Cheers,

Kevin
82daion
New
Username: 82daion

Post Number: 8
Registered: 5-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 16, 2005 - 8:35 am:   Edit Post

These guitars were actually made by Yamaki and imported by the MCI corporation out of Waco, Texas. My password (ha ha) is markxx.
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 593
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Tuesday, August 16, 2005 - 12:12 pm:   Edit Post

Christopher:

Very nice looking bass. I particularly like the extended upper horn. I brought mine into Alembic yesterday and let them have a looksee. Susan was quite impressed with the quality of workmanship. She said if Alembic were to build an empty guitar (just wood - no electronics) of similar quality it would cost at least $3000. Enjoy your bass, at least until you get an Alembic! If you have any other info on Daion, please send me an e-mail - I'd love to learn more about this defunct company and their instruments. By the way, I have read they were based in Mydland, Texas, but who knows? My second Daion, an acoustic Caribou from ebay, is currently in transit.

Bill, tgo
ajish4
Junior
Username: ajish4

Post Number: 20
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Friday, August 19, 2005 - 5:37 pm:   Edit Post

http://home.att.net/~daion/Basses.html

check out the last bass at the bottom of the page.

I just thought it was neat..

Tony
jpetsalo
New
Username: jpetsalo

Post Number: 2
Registered: 8-2005
Posted on Friday, August 26, 2005 - 4:30 am:   Edit Post

I had a Daion 4-string bass, almost exactly looking like the guitar in the originator mail of this thread. Bought it at about -90 with a crazy bargain price of about $400. But when I got my Alembic, I sold it way too cheaply as I did not really need two bass guitars.. only recently I've understood the value of that little thing.

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