Cool Alembic-style Non-Alembic from Guitar Show

[lbpesq]

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]

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]

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]

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

[bigideas]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[blazer]

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]

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]

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

[staemius]

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]

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]

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