Daion 78 Heritage

I have no idea when this guitar was made, as I bought it used back in the late 80's. It has a solid spruce top. Sides & back are solid Mahogany or Rosewood. That's what the Luthier says that worked on it for me. It also has "Gotoh" Tuners, also verified by my Luthier. The previous owner had a new bridge installed by a Luthier in Louisville, Ky just before I bought it. The ones I have seen in the Midwest are well-known for having the bridge pull on them. Must be the humidity around here in the summer. The local music store here also had an order of ten guitars, that all sold very quickly. Mine is one of the ten. A friend has three more & knows where two more are. He's just waiting for them to come up for sale. I also know of one 12-string in the area. It's not for sale either.

The playability of this guitar lacks a lot. Since I am the second owner, many changes were made before I got it. I play bluegrass. The previous owner did too. He had the strings raised & the brass nut & bridge replaced. While the guitar has great tone & fantastic volume, it will eat your fingers alive. The neck had some bow in it when I got it, but most has been adjusted out over time. I thought that might get the strings down but it hasn't. Next move is to sand the bridge down & see what that does. Having said all that, this thing is a banjo killer. The volume & sustain are second to none. That helps a whole bunch when you're in a campground at midnight & 8-10 pickers are going at it with all kinds of instruments. Everyone knows when you stop....or make a big mistake. The bass tones are good, thanks to the high string set, but the trebles get too bright. It gets worse as you capo up the neck. However, most playing is either open or else with a capo on the second fret. That helps the sound hang in there.

I can't comment on the factory fit & finish since I never got to see it. Right now though, it just gets prettier & prettier as it ages.

This is where this ol axe makes the grade. Just put strings on it once in awhile & go have fun. I had this thing everywhere from a beach party in Florida to an elk camp in the mountains of Colorado & it has done everything I've asked & come away still ticking. It has some definite "character marks" in it, but thank goodness I haven't knocked a hole in it yet. I don't think it would hurt it anyway.

Company is out of business as far as I know.

I bought my first guitar in 1971 while stationed overseas. It was a Yamaha. I still have the little toy, but I have been playing this Daion since the late 80's & it has served me well. If it came up missing I would really be heart-broken until I found a good Martin that doesn't eat the end of my fingers off. I'm looking now & will probably be playing a '76 Martin D-35 in a couple of weeks. But the Daion will stay here in the corner.... just for the memories. Now, after I sand that bridge down.... well, you just never know. The volume is just hard to give up & man, does it have it, along with some pretty good tone.

Daion 78 Heritage, made in Japan, distributed by MCI, Waco, TX. I bought new in 1981, solid cedar top, mohagany neck, back and sides, brass nut and saddle, brass dot main and side positions, rosewood headpiece with hand carved inlay, maple bound headpiece fingerboard and body. These specs are right from the brochure I still have. Absolutely beautiful.

When I played it next to Ovation, much higher quality sound from the Daion. I played many guitars at the music store, and chose this one for sound and looks and feel. Can be played soft and has a mellow sound, play it rough and you can get a twagier sound if you want.

Set up was good, but I made typical adjustment of the neck to lower the action a little. No flaws, great wood, nice gold tuners and brass saddle and nut give a unique and very rich look, better than standard Martin, Gibson, etc. Thin neck feels like an electric, easy to play.

I've played this steady for about 5 years and then put in the closet. Strong guitar feels like you could play it forever, but I take good care of my guitars. Absolutely dependable to me.

Company went out of business, probably didn't make any profit building these high quality guitars for the low price.

But who needs it when you get a great guitar and take care of it.

I've played on and off for 20 years. I've have Fender Strat, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson Blues Hawk. This is the only acoustical guitar I own because I've tried others that don't compare.

If I could find other Daion models like Legacy or CARIBOU AND MARK electric series, I would have to consider them.

Japanese made solid cedar top,laminated mahogany back&sides.Maple
purfling&sound hole rosette.gold own brand tuners(very good).Brass
nut&bridge.Rosewood fretboard with brass dot markers bound in maple
binding.year of manufacture 1980.A very attractive looking
dreadnaught style acoustic with a clubby but not uncomfortable D shape neck.

The sound is very bright with new strings,use phosphor bronze strings
or pure bronze,never 80/20 they sound awful.This guitar is a great
strummer,it fingerpicks quite well and flat picks better although the
bass is a little light.The treble is a little nasal,but i`ve become
use`d to it`s sound over the years and rate it pretty highly consider
-ing how much it cost.It`s great for TRAVIS type material.

I have never had to touch this guitar in the 20 years i have owned it.I also own a Santa Cruz H and the fit&finish of the Daion is
comparable.It has no scratch plate,so it carries some scars,but it wears them well.The interior is also very clean and tidy.The tuners
are far better than the mini Schallers on my Santa Cruz!

I have had this guitar 20 years now, i`ve played live with it(not often),But written nearly all my songs on it.I practice on it all the time.I have absolute faith in it,the build quality is next to
none in this respect.

Daion went out of business before i even bought this guitar!

I`ve been playing for 23 years,the Daion was the first decent acoustic guitar i ever bought,it has been with me through thick and
thin,I also own a Santa Cruz H(which is superb),and have owned a number of electric guitars over the years.I am amazed at how good this relativly cheap acoustic is!.If it were ever lost it would be nigh on impossible to replace,and including the Santa Cruz it is my
favourite guitar.

I bought this guitar in 1979 at Apple Tree Music in Shelby, NC it is made in Japan. They got a shipment of ten or so and I sat down and played them all and picked the one that sounded the best to me.
I still have the flyer that came with it so this info is from that.
"The 78 DAION HERITAGE GUITAR" Dreadnought body, aged solid cedar top with hand-stained mahogany finish, mahogany sides and back, brass nut and saddle, brass side and main position markers,Rosewood fingerboard and bridge, Maple binding and purfing, Rosewoodstring pins and end pin, Gold sealed tuning machines.

I have mostly played Bluegrass and folk music and have been happy with the sound. It has a real rich clear sound and real good tone. The treble is a little weak but I wouldn't think it was a problem. I let my old Pickin' buddy play it not long ago and he couldn't believe how good it sounds. He hadn't played it in twenty or so years. I have played and heard many other "major" brand guitars that cost three times what I paid and mine sounds better hands down.

Action from the factory was o.k. but Martin medium strings took a toll. They were a little heavier than the manuf. recommended. I still have the "limited lifetime warranty" card and it stated the string sizes. It has scalloped bracing that may be a little light for the heavier strings although they make the soundboard sing.

Several years and the action was too high to play confortably so I had a local Luthier shave the bridge and recut the saddle slot deeper. That worked for another three or so years and the high action came back. I began to dabble with guitars so I figured I didn't have anything to lose so I replaced the now cracked bridge with a replacement and then peeled the back loose and realigned the neck for a much nicer action. While I was at it I re-fretted it and replaced the brass position markers with MOP. Reliability wasn't good for me but I induced the problem with the strings.

I have played off and on for the last 20 or so years. I still really like the guitar. Sound is still great and I wouldn't want to part with it. If I buy another I will buy a good quality American made guitar.
I learned lots about guitars doing my own repair work on this guitar from resetting the neck, refretting, inlay work, and steam bending the replacement maple bindings.
It has been a great guitar but also a challenge.

This guitar was built in 1978, handmade in Japan. I purchased it in 1986. It has a laminated cedar top. The side are supposedly made of some weird kind of wood called ovankal (?!?). It has a brass saddle and a brass nut. Tuners are gold plated. on the front of the headstock is an engraving of what looks like a Texas Longhorn. Tuners are gold plated. I had a Martin Thinline Dot 2 pick installed in the saddle

The guitar has a warm rich bell like tone (sort of a Guild D-40 tone), that suits me very well. It does lack a significant amount of high end but in this day and age of effects processors that's just not a problem for me. The tone is well suited for folk or jazz.

I love the way this guitar feels. The fretboard is rosewood and is comfortably flat. The back of the neck is comfortably round. The action on this guitar is very good for an acoustic guitar, and the feel of the neck is actually my favorite feature.

This guitar seems solidly built and quite reliable. Have had it for 17 years and experienced no problems

They don't exist anymore.

I've been playing for 30 years. I love this guitar!!! I refer to it as my mistress!! For the price I paid it can't be beat. I've played considerably more expensive, Martin's, Taylors, etc., and once again for the price I paid nothing compares. If the guitar were stolen I couldn't replace it. Consequently, I'd probably spend a whole lot more money and buy a Taylor. This guitar isn't for everybody but it suits me perfectly

Daion 12string flat top acoustic.
14 frets to the dy,20 frets in total.
solid topspruce(?)fine grain.
shadow under saddle transducer(after market fitting,I believe).
passive electronics(remarkably high output for this type).
back and sides unknown,probably dark-stained mahogany(laminate?).
neckwood mahogany.(neck is bound with brown celluloid)
rosewood bridge(deep colour).
fingerboard rosewood (lighter in colour).
width of neck:-at nut 1 7/8"
at 12th fret 2 5/8".

would suit any competent flat pick style.
Fingerpicking would require special setup.
Have only tried a small practice amp(park G10),sound was rich and clear at moderate settings to avoid distortion.
sound is well balanced,but as with most cheap guitars,lacks depth and
tonal complexity.
not a bad tone overall,but do some wrist exercises if intending to hold down large chords for any length of time!!

This guitar is old,at a guess I would say about 30 years.
This is indicated by the fact that it needs a neck reset to be perfect.However, it could be rescued for a few years by shaving down the bridge and lowering the saddle height.I think the current owner
prefers to keep the transducer in situ,making this impossible.
I have just finished repairing this instrument,see my personal comments for further info on construction ect.

The owner has had this guitar for sometime,and knowing him as i do,
I can confirm that the finish has been serving iots intended purpose quite well.The strap button is a solid metal type,and is almost certainly part of the original `shadow`kit.
The current owner does rely on it as a gig guitar,albeit for specialised songs that he performs from time to time.

nothing known.see personal comments.

I (the repair person),have been playing for 37 years, and have had several guitars,most of them of the cheap type,so feel qualified to comment from a basis of personal experience.

Two of my guitars were of the 12 string type,first a hoyer(german i think),and then an hokada,imported into the u.k.by stentor music during the seventies.

Both of those models were at least as good as the daion,in spite of
in the case of the hoyer,having a finish so thick,that it cracked like a like a sheet of glass when i dropped it!!

As I said before,I have just completed substansial repairs to a daion,
The initial request from the owner,was to re glue the bridge,which
due to having been exposed to extreme heat(left in a car on a hot day),had come off,and to then do a refret.

However,on closer inspection,i found that again,due to heat,some of the bracing inside had come loose as well.This is when i made the
discovery that both suprised and apalled me.
Whilst flexing the top in order to see where exactly the bracing was
loose,i could see (via a mirror) that one half of an `X` brace was
apparently free floating,plus a sub brace to the rear of the`X`.

On closer inspection,the `X` brace revealed itself to be a Phony,
basically one half of the `X` was a complete spar of full length,
the other was TWO SEPERATE SHORT LENGTHS OF WOOD BUTTED EITHR SIDE
OF THE COMPLETE HALF `X`!!!!

Up until the heat damage this bodge up was covered by the small piece
of cloth which is always glued over the `X` joint.

At this sort of price level,many small compromises have to be accepted
but half an `X` brace?Not a chance!! I feel nothing but sympathy for
anyone owning such an instrument,and utter contempt for a manufacturer who could allow this to happen.

I have managed a repair,by making a small grooved bridgeing brace,which sits over the offending butt joint,but does not touch any
part of the belly wood.I`m happy to say that this has fully restored
the integral strength of the `X` brace,with no affect on the tone.

I shall shortly be returning it to the owner,and shall warn him
not to leave it anywhere hot again.

I presume that the '78' in the name dates the design to 1978. I bought mine 3 years after that. It was one of the first quality, original design, hand-made Japanese acoustics which was not just a close copy of a Western model. It is based on Martin X braced strutting with a dreadnought shape but with quite square shoulders.

Solid cedar table, which is elegantly dark, adorned by a simple maple inlay ring round the soundhole, and matching light maple purfling. No scratchplate. Back and sides are of solid dark, straight-grained wood. It may be mahogany or another tropical wood. It has a nice deep reddish tinge to it. The two piece back has the same thematic maple purfling and and matching central stripe.

Nut, bridge saddle and fret markers are (unusually) of solid brass. Gold plated machine heads on a mahognay laminated peg head which carries an incised logo of a Greek lyre (no writing or company name), rosewood fingerboard and small flat frets, with a dark rosewood bridge and ebony pins picked out with abalone dots, make all in all for a very distictive and elegant looking instrument.

I use it for fingerpicking folk styles. Traditional, modal, ragtime, blues etc (Jansch, Renbourne, Ralph McTell, Gordon Giltrap). I have written many instrumentals on it, and a few songs. I have recorded with it both solo and with groups over the last twenty years. It has also been used and abused for bashing out community singing of many kinds.

Pros. It is a good all rounder, with a loud and chiming strum. But also produces a delicate and ringing picking tone. I originally got it because I fell in love with the bass tone, deep and wiry. (I really lusted after a Gibson J45 but couldn't afford one at the time!)The tone has improved even more over the years and the high contrast between low bass and high treble gives it a nicely rich spread of sounds.

Cons. The brass fittings and high shoulders can make the treble a bit too much at times. With new strings on it sounds somehow cheesy and clanging, but after a day it settles back into a nice rounded tone. The treble response also makes for some very marked finger squeak, which is a pain when recording. For this reason I aways use pure bronze strings (Martin lights) as phosphor bronze makes it too edgy altogether.

I have often considered changing the brass nut for bone to cure the problem, but in the end I accept this guitar for what it has to offer. It is partcularly good at open and altered tunings where I want notes to ring together in exciting and exotic ways.

The original action was too high for me, I like it low, and the string tension can feel quite high (the body joins at the 14th fret as on more modern acoustics) and filing down the brass nut and saddle was quite a job! Apart from that I have always found the intonation to be great. A couple of the carved ebony pins are now splitting at the sharp ends, but that's not bad for twenty years.

It has been a bit battered over the years, some sad lumps out of the sond board (which I am told lend it character) which I touched in with wood stain and a drop of varnish. It has been given a couple of fret dressings and the gold on the machine heads is a little worn. But it is still robust and reliable and has retained its character.

It has been in a repair shop a couple of times for minor injuries and maintenance on both sides of the Atlantic. Most people have never heard of a Daion but are pleasantly impressed by the sound as well as the looks.

I've been playing for nearly 30 years and it was my first 'proper' guitar. I have other guitars, electric and classical but this is still my main acoustic. I have often considered buying a better one (a stunning Larrivee passed me by once) A Martin or Gibson would be grea and compared to these the Daion lacks smoothness and top notch sound balance. It can be a bit aggressive and in your face as a sound with its penetrating treble and rich bass, but it is certainly above average and does fine for my needs.

I have very rarely seen or heard of anyone else who owns one. Although I did once see Bono from U2 strumming one onstage.

Handmade in Japan in the late '70's. Dreadnought body, aged cedar top with hand-stained mahogany finish, mahogany sides and two-piece back, brass nut and saddle, brass side and main position markers, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, maple binding and purfling, rosewood string pins and end pin, gold-plated sealed tuning machines. Inlaid maple ring around soundhole but no pickguard. Daion symbol carved out of peghead.

I play mostly bluegrass/folk/country rock type music. This guitar has served me well for the almost 20 years it has been with me. Very loud guitar which is helpful when playing with banjos and mandolins. A little stronger on the low end than high.

I have made very few adjustments to the guitar. The frets and fretboard are showing some wear. I have also worn some of the finish off the top about three inches from the 5 o'clock position on the soundhole (assuking the neck is 12:00). Otherwise a very easy to play guitar that is also very attractive.

As I mentioned above, it is starting to show some wear but I have played live with it on several occasions without any problems. I wish they had designed some sort of pickguard into the guitar. I just could never bring myself to stick something on - guess Willie didn't either.

I still have a promo brochure I got from them when I first bought the guitar but the company itself is long gone.

Over the years I have compared this guitar to many more expensive and better known axes and it has held it's own against most. Like most pickers with a bluegrass background I lust after a Martin Dreadnought but given the fact I play a number of other instruments including mandolin, bagpipes and shuttlepipes, I am quite satisfied having this instrument as my primary guitar and spending my "music allowance" on other instruments.
btw - when needed I amplify using a Yamaha combo magnetic/piezo pickup with built-in preamp - end pin plug-in.