Suzuki W-300 Grand

This is a Japan-made Kiso Suzuki W300, the odd Martin d-35 counterpart with fake abalone (greenish Mother-of-Toilet-Seat!) all over the trim and fretboard hexagons, and striping the 3 back panels; with a fake take on Martin's a 3-piece back, the center of which is blond - possibly maple wood. The features are all covered in the other reviews. I mention what's different here since the model changed later.

Far as I can discover, this came from the early 1970s. 20 fret, solid top (probably) lam sides and back. Adjustable screw saddle in metal holder, which was changed later in the run to regular saddle. I substituted a rosewood insert with bone, and guess what? It sounded just the same! So then I put it back to stock. Why not??

The nut was carved with string spacing ridiculously close together for anyone with fingers...! so I popped in a stock Taylor nut. Fits perfectly! Saves a lot of notching, too.

The quality of the wood and finish is superb. The over-run of varnish onto the while binding (which includes the neck and headstock) has aged to a caramel shade, which you may or may not like. I'm leaving it alone, since trying to sandpaper it off and seeing haw hard it is to do. So it looks aged- okay, it's 40 years old. It looks like it!
The neck is fairly thin for its time. Nice. Slight V-feel.

It's bright and lively with a nice mid and bass that you hear only if you're across the room from it- inaudible to the player. It came with a really crappy passive undersaddle pickup so I pulled it out and glued in a set of K & K's. What a sound! The preamp is an old Fishman ThinLine
that I soldered up. Clean and loud, and very faithful to the acoustic sound now.
It's a bright guitar, but very even up and down the neck. Nice volume and no dead spots. It's no D-35, but more like a maple in sound, due likely to the laminate wood, which may in fact include the top.
The body had quite a lot of bellying, so I took some directions from Dan Erlewine's book and soaked the top from the inside with a clean sponge, then clamped the top flat with boards and two pipe vices. After evaporating out, the top had moved half way back to flat, and the action was better, so I left it. I had a Gibson bridge with bone ready to build in, but now it doesn't need it. If you have a cheap guitar with this problem. give it a try.

I like Suzuki's. They're a forgotten treasure with a soul all their own. This was a learning guitar, now a real player's guitar. My girlfriend - a stone Martin loyalist - says she likes it now. It's all she wants to play on at events!

Okay, this thing sat in Winnipeg for most of its life, and then was sent to me in Northern California. The neck was impossible, the top all bellied, and the back had a burst swelling at the edge of the bottom bout from a likely strap failure. I sanded the bulge, re-glued what I could under clamp pressure then used a two=part urethane called Insta Cast to fill in the voids. Then sanded again and painted to match the rosewood with oil paints, then varnished it. It's almost not visible...
The top was scratched and damaged, and i used Novus 1 2 & 3 to buff them down where feasible. Same for the pickguard. The hot soldering iron bearing down over a soppy paper towel helped life the worst dings. There were deep nicks on the underside of the neck, so I sanded them out then had to re-stain and polish to make the repair area match. I won't do this again. I'll just fill the gouges for tactile comfort. Oh, one luthier I know likes to sane necks down to bare wood then refinish with industrial SuperGlue. Especially old Gibsons and Guilds where the finish is cracking like M 7 M's thin candy shells. It's permanent and very nice to the touch, but radical sounding! I guess you have to be a player, not just a collector to make this drastic move.
The intonation's perfect as it was. The action was high, but now is milder, though not perfect - yet. Sometimes too much lowering can kill the bass and livelyness & volume, so I quit while ahead.
Oh, be aware the ratings I give are of the AFTER, not the BEFORE condition!!

Laminated back.side guitars are famously tough.
It's lasted 40 years. It'll outlast me!

It's like they never existed. All info on them is heresay. There's even two Suzuki companies of old: Kiso and Nagoya, and now there's another online selling guitars in the UK. I wish somebody'd straighten out this mess so I could know who's who and what's what.

I've played since 1965. At one time I had a funky old Kay, but it looked good, it was a dreadnought. The strings were like a hard-boiled egg slicer!! That high, and very sharp. $25 from a songwriter father of a guy in my band. This man wrote the lyrics to the Eddie Arnold hit, FOUR WALLS with this ax. Impressed me no end. Especially the ASCAP checks he got every month!
I like big boomy dreads, jangley 12's and rich harmony singing. Every Suzuki you save is a future treasure to posterity, so get them, revitalize them and keep them humming.

Remember Korla Pandit? He used to say:
"Music may not save your soul. But it will make your soul worth saving!"

Beautifull guitar which I bought it from the guitar teacher of my sister, who bouth it in Japan somerwhere in 1977. I paid about 800 Dutch guilders for it. It sounds very nice plays almost as smooth as a an electric guitar with the MArtin M170 strings I use. It looks wonderful with its three piece back. After 30 years still my favorite.

I play folk, traditionals, classic rock. Its sounds perfect warm and mellow. Clear and in tune in all positions. Sounds better then most much more expensive guitars (Martin/Gibson) I've played.

One word perfect

I've played it for more then 30 years. The only part that was replaced was the bridge 2 years ago.

Never had to deal with them

Just perfect

price paid 150? (about 200 dollarsI d'ont know much about the w300, it looks as if was made in the 70's but I'm not shure. I picked it up in a second hand shop in france. It is not in good condition , the neck was broken but repaired.

this was the great part, I play mostly picking or, light strumming, (james taylor or clapton unplugged) The sound was just ok untill I put on extra lights. Every note seems to full and clear.

I havent had time to properly adjust the bridge (it was just put on , no filing or adjustment) so the action is quite high, but I can feel there's potentiel there.

I d'ont know what the guitar has been through so ?

I've been playing it for 6 months now, I have an 35 year old angelica (imitation martin) with a sound that's difficult to beat but this w 300 sure comes up to it. I would buy it again and would certainly recomend this model to anyone. What I like best about it, the sound .

This is a W300 Grand,by Kiso Suzuki.
This guitar was made in Japan in the 70s.Its one of the most beautiful guitars in looks quality and workmanship,and the first time I seen it...I wanted it. It belonged to my old music teacher who taught me piano after school 2 days a week,and when we finished the lesson he would take this guitar out of its case and pick out a few tunes for me and show me ONE chord a month!!His piano was a Grand piano and he told me that this guitar was a Grand guitar and I fell in love with the abalone around the soundhole and the whole front.I adored the three piece back and Loved that sound.I paid him $400(a lot of money then) when he retired and got too old to play.Its a Martin D35 copy and this one is a Kiso Suzuki "grand"Its acoustic with no electrics

I play folk, classic rock, metal, traditionals, and a few classical peices adapted for guitar. It suits all of those styles well because it is a truly beautiful sounding guitar. Its very loud if you want it to be, very warm & mellow, and must of all, just very rich. Has exactly the "woody" sound i love from old classic rock records (If you like the acoustic tone on Led Zep IV you will not be dissapointed!). High E and B strings chime like bells. I give it a 10 only because Ive never got that sound from any other guitar except a $2000 Gibson.And this was a fraction of that.

It was all set up when I got it,and its beautifully made.The three piece back is amazing and the wood graining is just beautiful...a lot of care went into the making of this,but there again,it was a top end guitar in its day,and master luthier Kiso Suzuki wouldent put his name to anything less.This is quality.Everything is as it should be,with no cheapo shortcuts to be found.Thats why its called a "Grand"

This guitar will absolutely withstand live playing, again this guitar has been very well-used, and still plays and sounds excellent. I play acoustic sitting down, I would depend on it for live performances,and have done for many years.

Never had to deal with them

I have been playing for almost 25 years. Acoustics i've owned: an epiphone, fender, and currently own a Martin and a Taylor 810ce. My Taylor has a special place in my heart, my first high-end guitar, and I love it. But I will say without a doubt this guitar sounds even better. If it was lost or stolen I would definitely search high and low for another,but I think it was only ever made for the Jap market(my music teacher was Japanese) and Ive never come across one in my travels, I love the beauty of it. It has everthing I needed and wanted- beautiful acoustic tone. Im still searching for another.