82' DAION THE 82   A strong neck with nice action and good frets ready to play. Very mall scratches, nicks, and dings throughout the guitar, light wear paint edge neck and top headstock but overall it looks really nice. You don't notice them, really, until you're up close. Come in Hard Case. Code AC53

Always a positive experience with the Yamaki-made Daions of any stripe. Cedar tops with '50s-ish Martin-style bracing under the hood. This gives that direct, punchy, and loud "Martin-like" experience and adds some "instant vintage" to the sound through the use of cedar -- which tends to be warm, open, and sweet right from the get-go. Many cedar guitars age-in to almost too much warmth, but the Daions seem to age into a richer velvet on the bottom-end without much top-end sacrifice.

This model was the "year's special" in the Daion line (they made a special model each year that was different in body-shape and styling from their normal catalog fare) and it specs-out per the '82 catalog as "solid cedar top with rosewood-family back and sides." That suggests ply back and sides, which would be typical for most Daions. Like most Japanese-made guitars (fancy or not) of the time, ply back and sides were often the norm -- and were made from good-quality materials.

The guitar is basically built along the outline and handling of a J-185 -- it has a smaller 16 3/8" lower-bout than "true" jumbo guitars like the J-200, though it still has deeper sides and a wider waist than your average "archop-shaped" mini/small-jumbo guitar. It has a Martin-ish long scale and the neck is cut like a '50s or early-'60s Martin -- medium and C-shaped and with the cool diamond "volute" at the rear of the headstock.

Scale length: 25 1/4"
Nut width: 1 11/16"
String spacing at nut: 1 3/8"
String spacing at bridge: 2 3/16"
Body length: 20 3/8"
Lower bout width: 16 3/8"
Waist width: 10 3/8"
Upper bout width: 12 1/8"
Side depth at endpin: 4 3/4"
Top wood: solid cedar
Back/sides wood: rosewood
Neck wood: mahogany with diamond volute
Bracing type: x-braced, tapered rectangular ('50s Martin-style)
Fretboard: rosewood with brass-dot inlay, brass nut
Bridge: new rosewood with bone saddle
Neck feel: medium C-shape, ~12" board radius