by Saiichi Sugiyama.

Saiichi Sugiyama aged 17, circa 1977, with his first electric guitar (which he received when he was 15), a 1961 “Les Paul” SG Jr., chosen for him by Tommy Hidaka.

I was in this particularly well-stocked shop in Tokyo trying out two “player condition” Gibsons on a very hot Tokyo afternoon. Surrounded by an army of lovely looking historic guitars trying out some old wood that the previous owners had done things to. Two pieces of old wood, to be more precise – one had a rather intimidating looking neck repair and the other was once the victim of a scary conversion attempt. Both of them had almost all the original parts taken off and had been totally refinished. I was initially lured there by an advert for the one that had had its neck broken, which was very competitively priced due probably to its rather sad appearance. I asked for another guitar to compare and met the other conversion.

It was mid-week during the summer holiday season and fortunately the shop was very quiet. The kind owner allowed me to spend hours with the two guitars comparing them. What was worse, this was probably my third visit there doing the same thing. A man of few words, he just sat there looking at his computer screen and let me get on with it. There was a zen-like quality to him.

The broken-neck one sounded lovely with a beautiful timbre in the higher register. The rather brutal refin guitar was warmer and had a speech-like quality in its tone. They were both great guitars. My 15-year-old son described the first as having a B.B. King quality, but it didn’t sound like me. The other one was more like me.

The shop owner remained silent like a figure carved in stone. No sales pitch from this gentleman. When I asked his opinion he just threw my internal turmoil back at me. He said, “That is difficult. You are listening to the sound. That is not easy. Most people who come here either buy for aesthetics or vintage value.”

His candid comment took me by surprise and I have reflected on what he said on several occasions since. I love vintage guitars as objects and their aesthetics please me very much. I can spend hours looking at Mac Yasuda’s guitar photo books or the like. I have also had the privilege of working with a number of vintage guitars – some associated with great musicians who loved and cherished these instruments – and have come to acquire some knowledge and intuition of what a vintage guitar in original condition should look, feel, sound and smell like. I have a fair idea through my exposure of the prices for which these items change hands. It has been a great privilege for that spotty 13 year old reading Tommy Hidaka’s guitar columns to have worked on some of the projects that I have been involved in. However, when it comes to my personal instruments, I must say that the aesthetics or the authenticity do not count as much to me as (the money, sadly, and) the sound.

All of which rekindles a reminiscence about my guitar hero and mentor, Tomiaki “Tommy” Hidaka, and the impact he's had on so many things and people. I hope you find the images and information below interesting and that you'll take a minute to read or re-read my previous article in which I talk about him and Tokai in greater depth.

Rick Nielsen and Tommy Hidaka in Japan's Young Guitar magazine. When this interview took place Cheap Trick was on the tour that produced the 1978 Cheap Trick at Budokan album. Young Guitar had set up an interview with guitar-collector musicians from the East and West in which they talked about vintage guitars.

That's Tommy Hidaka's 1954 Stratocaster (SN 0895). It's also the mother of all Tokai Strats - it's the guitar Tokai used as a template for their NC router.

Tommy Hidaka playing his 1958 sunburst Les Paul (SN 8-6798), which served as the mother of all Tokai Les Pauls.

Related Links:
Made-in-Japan Replicas
Power of the Blues: An Interview with Saiichi Sugiyama