Daion Power Mark-XX

I have 2 of this model guitar, 5 Daion's, and a total of 11 guitars, basses.
Paid $900 US for one guitar new in 1981.
Paid $700 US for one guitar on Ebay 2005.
Japanese hand made guitar.
Made in 1981.
Book matched front and back, with 9 piece neck thru design.
They tend to draw attention when taken out of case.
Always draw attention after playing.
22 playable frets
med width/med depth neck, rosewood fret board
brass everything. Solid brass frets, fret markers, nut; brass plated tuners, bridges, hardware.
One guitar has original case, one with gig bag.

Music Style - I like to jam - This guitar is very versatile. Can sound like Les Paul, or a Strat, or so much more.
Amp - Fender "Black Face" super reverb amp from 1966. No Frills - just rocks.
Effects - Morley Wah, DOD Performer Distortion, DOD Performer Compressor.
This guitar sounds great clean or distorted, unparalled sustain (9 piece body thru neck), can be funky, or dramatic.

I set up my own guitars, so the action is great. Flat neck for good skimming.
I played with the pickups for a couple of years, but this guitar sets up easily. Neck adjustment is beneath brass plate above nut, pickup adjustment screws easily accesible.

I would and do play live.
Hardware good, some tarnish of the prass plated features.
I have one gloss and one matte. The matte finish has some damage, but was caused by dropping.
good strap buttons.
Would play as only guitar.

Out of business in mid 1980's

I have been playing for 30 years. I have a variety of guitars - Daion is favorite brand.
If lost or stolen??? How about forced to sell to keep fledgling business going? Worked hard, business succeeded, searched Ebay for a Mark-XX w/clear finish, found one and bought. The guitar had a gig bag, so I called a local pawn shop to see if they had a case that would fit guitar. Went to pawn shop and saw the exact Mark-XX that I previously sold to keep business going hanging on the wall. Bought guitar - that is why I have 2 of this model. I have never played the guitar I bought on Ebay.
I have friends with Gibsons, Fenders, etc. who often ask to play my Daion's, I never ask to play their guitars.

1980 Model. Tons of tone control options. Great sustain.

Can play virtually any style or sound. Clean and bright sounds are particularly good.

I personally love the action, some of my friends think it's a little too heavy.

This guitar is absolutely solid.

I bought it used in 1988 from an individual for $200. I have never had to take it in the shop, so I can't rate this question.

I have been playing for 17 years. I have owned Peavy, Kramer, Westone, and Ibanez. This guitar is my all time favourite because of how solid it is, the beauty of craftsmanship, and versatility.

Probably made in the late 70's early 80's in Japan.
22 Frets of pure bliss.
Solid timber body stained green with a high gloss lacuered finish.
It's got 2 2way switches, 2 volume & tone controls at the bottom & 1 x 3 way switch at the top.
A full neck through body, don't know what type of wood but it feels damn solid.
All fittings are brass or brass plated at least, non locking tuners.
The fret board and neck have the best shape for any size hand and the action is very sweet. You get virtually any sound from this baby and it'll scream with ease.
I got it with the original case which is green with a grey lining.

This guitar has a great sound of it's own but you get nearly any sound you want out of it.
I'm not sure what type of pickups it has but a mate reckoned they were humbuucks??
I totally love this guitar.

The action has been lowered and the fretboard customised since it came out of the factory, other than that nothing else needed to be done.
The overall finish was exceptionally high from the factory so these machines were definately built to last

This guitar has been used for eaps of live gigs but all the hardware is still in top condition.
You can totally depend on this guitar

mmmmmm

I've been playing for 15 years and have'nt seen or played another guitar like it. The guy I bought it from is still kicking himself for selling it to me.
If I lost this guitar I'd cry for month, cause you'd be hard pressed to find another one.

Made in late 1970's I think.
22 frets
Made in 1979 in Japan I think
3 way selector, 2 tone, 2 volume, coil tap switches
Duel humbucker w/ coil taps
Passive
Strat-like...or more like a very sculpted Paul Reed Smith
String thru body i guess
nice green hardshell case with fuzzy gray interior
looks very exotic, clear and green stained wood...probably several types... neck-thru body
looks like machined brass fittings everywhere

Sounds like it's own guitar...i don't have a big enough parts vocabulary to compare it with anything.... you can get the bell like strat sound out of it, the warm hum, the grind, the clean funk.

This was my first serious guitar and I probably bought it because while in the pawn shop, looking at beat up epiphones for more money, there was this GEM with rusted strings in the back. If I had to compare it to something I would say it is similiar to a nice Paul Reed Smith.

This is from a long-dead Japanese company and I believe it retailed for about $900 in 1979. I have seen only one other one and it was a completely natural finish. I once found an ad for it in an old guitar mag at the library. I have never seen or known of anyone else with one of these ...obviously, if I had to do the first review of it. If you know more about this guitar than I, please post.
Anyways, this is an extremely well constructed guitar, I have no complaints or problems from it in 9 years of ownership. If some American boutique manufacturer were to make something of similiar quality today I have no doubt they would try and sell it for about $3K.

Top Quality or near top quality all the way.

haha

Basically, this is a very exotic looking and extremely well constructed guitar. I don't know much detail but the main thing is that nobody famous that I know of ever played one, the company is long gone, and you can either pay $3K for the PRS or $300 for this. If you can find one that is. I wish I could have gotten one in the all-natural finish, as the green stain and gold hardware seem a bit tacky to me these days. Again, if anyone can provide more detail than my pathetic review, please do.

Unknown manufacturing date. Rumor has it that Daion was a small guitar company in Garland TX sometime in the '80's. Apparently, their product wasn't marketed properly or something, because the company failed and everybody went to work for Ibanez (or so the rumor goes...

I've seen 1 other Daion electric guitar for sale in the Canada in 10 years...but i haven't really been looking either. They do have something of a reputation for their acoustic models and electric basses.

I love this guitar.
- 24 frets
- laminated top (an extraordinary job in craftsmanship...approx 11-12 total pieces of different woods.)
- neck thru body
- a little heavy
- 2 volume, 2 tone pots
- unknown pickup manuf.
- very nicely made, stamped bridge (string thru)
- Non locking tuners, very heavy duty, maybe Japanese made
- Fatter neck than, medium frets, perfect action, dunno the wood yet.
- A Daion case

As you can tell, I don't know much about guitars. Some people have a gift of discernment when it comes to some things...and mine's with this beautiful guitar. This piece is an example in very fine craftsmanship and the desire to express oneself via one's handiwork, but it may be that the actual sound is affected by it. The many laminates and hard gloss finish have caused some repair shops to voice the opinion that the guitar cannot "breathe" properly, which gives it the rather cold tone it tends to have.

I'm not really sure. I hope it's the pickups...

If anyone can tell me the story behind Daion please write me at miistro@prodigy.net

If you ever see one of these and don't buy it right then, I'll be very much obliged if you drop me a line :-)

Very bright sound, lacking warmth. I play it through a Roland JC 120 combo and/or Marshall 1/2 stack (Marshall upper cab and 100W JCM 900 series head).

Guitar is not noisy at all, the volume controls have way too much "play", I call it, in other words they almost go around full circle which limits me to using a volume pedal for volume tricks such as swells.

It was setup for .009 guage at the factory. Perfection. The hardware is very simple, but also of good quality and very strong.

I don't like the pickups they seem to bright. A caveat with this, however...it's the strangest thing I can sometimes bring out a very warm and deep resonant tone IF I use a plastic plectrum and angle it JUST the right way. This phenomenon has, so far, been limited to when playing a barred F# on the 2nd fret.

The action is GREAT when it's setup for .10 gauge. At .009 my technical limitations become apparent due to an overabundance of string buzz. Now? Just ever so slight pressure produces the tone all over the fretboard, including high on the neck.

I'm sure for the expert guitarist this piece will do just fine at 009.

Except for the pickups I suspect the hardware on this pc will serve me well for years to come. As I mentioned, it's VERY sturdy, heavy (gold-"plated") metal for tuners and bridge. Frets are thick and medium height, almost no wear so far and this guitar is over 20 years old.

The strap buttons look like they were later add-ons by an owner, or hastily "stuck" on there by the UPS guy when he came to pick it up. It's really too bad, too, it's so perfect in every other way, again, as if someone were trying to make a point with this piece.

Company's no longer in business.

I've been messing around with guitars for around 18 years. I've owned exactly 3 guitars in my life, the first one I ever owned and this one I still have. A very cheap Classic guitar is still in the family but in someone else's closet.

If I ever lost this guitar I would most definitely shed a tear and mourne its loss for some time. If I could I'd buy as many of them as are left out there. I love it's solid feel in my hands, heavy true, but the +/- 11 pieces that make up this guitar give it a feel of being One piece of wood...I have an early 60's (62 - 64) Fender Esquire that I was given as my first guitar. It's now priced at $2300 in Calif. due to the fact that my first teacher stripped and refinished it at my request (I was 15 and they found the guitar for $150) I figured it looked kinda wimpy in that sea foam green color) and I believe I would take the worthless Daion over it in a heartbeat.

"Worthless" in the sense that the Daion has little monetary value even as an older guitar that's built better than ANYTHING else on the planet today that's not custom.

Do not know when it was made.This bass is some piece of work.

I play fast progressive metal,and this bass suits the needs of a technical player as myself.It has a mid range tone sort of like the okd Testement or Flotsom and Jetsom CD's.It sounds great onstage and in the studio.

I bought this bass used at a guitar show and it played so well I traded my 71' Fender presison for it.Enough said. The fretboard is rosewood and the body and neck are constructed of many layers of alternateing woods.It is mostly clear red with natural colored strips from the bridge through the neck.(Rudy Sarzo Aria Pro II look)

This bass is the highest standard of craftsmanship I have ever used.It has withstood countless hours of play time and still looks and feels the same as the day I got it.The ONLY problem is that the finish has worn through where I plant my thumb on the split pickup.

Have never delt with Daion.Have never seen another Daion.

I have been playing for 17 years and had numerous basses like a 71 Fender,Kawai,Aria Pro II,and ZON. I started with a cort (SORRY). This is by far the best bass I have ever owned. It look a little strange to see it being used for heavy metal,but looks are not everything. Anyone who has picked it up is awstruck by the workmanship and playability.

I have no idea when this bass was made. I think in the 1970's. It has 24 frets and sounds sweet all the way up. Its got 4 strings and I put a PJ set of EMG's in it so now it sounds like sex in a bottle. It came with 2 volume and 2 tone with a toggle switch for the pick-up selector. Now its got 2 volume and 1 tone.
The finish on the body if this glossy black that lets the grain of the wood come through. The neck (which is neck through) looks like it got 9 or 10 pieces to it, An Absolute Beauty.
I had to replace the tuners after I had it for about three years. I threw on a set of Carvin tuners.

I play alot of funk, jazz, blues, hip hop, and soul and with the new pick-ups it sounds fantastic. I use a SWR Redhead and love the way the setup sounds. Its got a rich poppy sound. I can get it nazly if I want it or deep and nasty. I've used this thing in the studio many times both mic'd and direct with plesent results each time.

From the first time I picked this thing up I loved playing it. I've considered other four strings but always go back to this one. I had to ajust the truss rod 2 or 3 years ago and haven't had to touch it since. When I bought it it had a ding in the finish on the back but nothing serious.

I've used this bass everyday for 6 years and have never needed a back up. It's very reliable on stage or in the studio.

The company isn't around any more.

I love this bass. I think of it as another arm or leg. The thing is built like a tank and sounds like an angel. If the bass was ever lost it would be very hard to replace.