Any experts on Kimbara classical guitars?

beed84beed84 Frets: 2403
I have a friend who has seen a Kimbara classical guitar in his local charity shop.  He's told me it looks very nicely made, in pristine condition and bears the model number FCN-140.

Well I've looked high and low on the net and can't find a 140.  160, 169 and 175 seem to pop up as do other numbers and have pretty good praise.

Also, are the models 'better' when the numbers go down, or the other way round?  Noob question, but I really don't know.

Anyway, I'm asking because if it's worth having at £45 then I'll tell him to get it.

Any thoughts?
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Comments

  • BogwhoppitBogwhoppit Frets: 2754

    Kimbara was the brand (i,e Logo) that Fletcher Coppock and Newman used in the 70s for their MIJ imports. The acoustics are hit and miss according to which factory and year they were made.

    Their first foray into original concept electrics - the exception being the Kimbara Strat copy -  were built at the Matsumoto guitar factory, and were of extremely high quality made from exceptional tone woods.  Some of the later folk acoustics were pretty good, but their classical guitars are an unknown quantity.

     


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  • johnnyurqjohnnyurq Frets: 1368
    Had a Kimbara Strat copy in the early 80's and it was really very good and I wish I still had it.

    If the Strat is anything to go on the acoustic/classical guitars will be worth a punt at that price.
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  • mcsdanmcsdan Frets: 451
    I have one but know nothing about them. Got mine in a trade from a work colleaugue and had played the guitar for a few months on our office jams. Says made in china so don't expect much from it but plays and sounds nice. I tend to use it for the summer sitting in the garden. If you can get one for £45 it is worth a punt.
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  • beed84beed84 Frets: 2403
    Yeah, I'm gonna take a punt on it.  He told me it's Japanese and 'handmade' so it can't be that bad.  I'm hoping he's misread the number and it's a 160/C, apparently they're pretty good and go for a couple of hundred quid.  Whatever it is, the worst case scenario is that I'll make my money back on ebay.  We'll see.
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