so, i got this old acoustic guitar that i got from my mom..
its bought sometime in the 70's and its an "Orfeo" guitar.
I was wondering if anybody has heard about orfeo cause i can not find anything about that anywhere. The guitar is an regular western with the hummingbird on it..
anybody that knows?
Full Version: name that guitar!
Hmm, I will name that guitar Alfred.
wow you definately stumped me there, ive never heard of that kind of guitar.
Now I will actually be helpful - I Googled Orfeo guitars and couldn't find anything about them, so it's probably just some small company that made cheap guitars.
I've seen "Orpheo" or "Orpheus" guitars before but not Orfeo.
Hej
funny to find this link, i just join this forum to respond to your post here...
I also have a guitar, with that name !, and the spell ise "ORFEO", ise acoustic guitar made in Japan. there are no date of produktion, but have a model number D7220,
This must bee a cheep build guitar, since the production where in Japan...
funny to find this link, i just join this forum to respond to your post here...
I also have a guitar, with that name !, and the spell ise "ORFEO", ise acoustic guitar made in Japan. there are no date of produktion, but have a model number D7220,
This must bee a cheep build guitar, since the production where in Japan...
QUOTE (jonas friis @ Feb 15 2008, 07:44 AM) 
Hej
funny to find this link, i just join this forum to respond to your post here...
I also have a guitar, with that name !, and the spell ise "ORFEO", ise acoustic guitar made in Japan. there are no date of produktion, but have a model number D7220,
This must bee a cheep build guitar, since the production where in Japan...
funny to find this link, i just join this forum to respond to your post here...
I also have a guitar, with that name !, and the spell ise "ORFEO", ise acoustic guitar made in Japan. there are no date of produktion, but have a model number D7220,
This must bee a cheep build guitar, since the production where in Japan...
First, welcome to GTU. That's consistent with back when some guitars were first being copied in the Orient, you'd find inexpensive guitars where the logo wasn't quite the same as the original manufacturer's. Sometimes they would be phonetic mistakes, or sometimes simple visual mistakes made by someone not familiar enough with the English lanuage or alphabet. For example I have seen Oriental-made "Gidson" guitars (a flipped around d) and "Vocks" guitars (instead of an x) and even a "Wartin" (I think the W was a mistakenly made upside down M). So being logo'ed Orfeo is consistent with mistakes like that in trying to copy an Orpheo or Orpheus.
QUOTE (paulronny @ Mar 4 2006, 06:35 PM)
so, i got this old acoustic guitar that i got from my mom..
its bought sometime in the 70's and its an "Orfeo" guitar.
I was wondering if anybody has heard about orfeo cause i can not find anything about that anywhere. The guitar is an regular western with the hummingbird on it..
anybody that knows?
its bought sometime in the 70's and its an "Orfeo" guitar.
I was wondering if anybody has heard about orfeo cause i can not find anything about that anywhere. The guitar is an regular western with the hummingbird on it..
anybody that knows?
So, we baught an Orfeo guitar for about 50 norwegian kroner (wich ecuals 10$). It is a very nice, jumbo, acoustic guitar from the late 60's, but we never really knew where it came from since we coudn't find any information about it.
So, my Godfather, who is an excellent guitarplayer, managed to find some backroud history about this guitar.
He found out that it was worth around 25,000 kroner (5000$), and was NOT a cheep made model.
The sound on this guitar is absolutely amazing, and the hand-craft is gorgeous! But it'e been sitting in a basement for
twenty years without beeing used other than on late after-parties, so it needs a little bit fixing.
But I just had to get this information out there, so if you have one, take good care of it!
A late 60's Japanese Hummingbird copy worth more than a vintage Hummingbird original? If someone offers you 25,000kr for it, I would take it immediately (and leave quickly before he changes his mind!). (Or even 250kr!)
I'd still say it's an inexpensive Oriental copy. Not much on the internet about Orfeos, just a few clicks of people asking about them after buying or seeing one (including this topic) and one a few years ago in Harmony Central from someone in Oslo (which might have been you or your godfather looking) with no answers. The only other link I could find regarding an Orfeo guitar was an inquiry about a Les Paul copy that said "Made in Japan" stamped on the bolt-on metal neck-plate and Orpheo on the headstock. (Jonas Friis, who posted above, has an Orpheo too, an acoustic stamped Made in Japan.) It was inquired about in the Experts-Guitar forum...
I doubt that the same Japanese knock-off company would sell inexpensive LP copies and also, conversely, extremely valuable fine Hummingbird copies. I agree with "Bill" above when he says... "But so what? If it suits your ears, hands, and eyes, that's all you can ask of any guitar, regardless of value or price... If, by some miracle, it still stays in tune and plays OK, take care of it, and Have Fun with it."
And welcome to GTU.
I'd still say it's an inexpensive Oriental copy. Not much on the internet about Orfeos, just a few clicks of people asking about them after buying or seeing one (including this topic) and one a few years ago in Harmony Central from someone in Oslo (which might have been you or your godfather looking) with no answers. The only other link I could find regarding an Orfeo guitar was an inquiry about a Les Paul copy that said "Made in Japan" stamped on the bolt-on metal neck-plate and Orpheo on the headstock. (Jonas Friis, who posted above, has an Orpheo too, an acoustic stamped Made in Japan.) It was inquired about in the Experts-Guitar forum...
QUOTE
To Expert: Bill Ruxton
Date: 1/16/2007
Subject: My guitar is?
Question:
Dear Bill,
I have an old guitar that i dug out of the attic after twenty years. It's a black Les Paul copy that says 'made in japan' on the metal neck screw plate. It says 'ORFEO' on the headstock. I remember buying it second hand in 1983 for a few £GBP's off a mate, it was a few years old then. The grover tuners do not look original to me and its in bad condition now though. But it was my first 'baby' and I can find no reference to Orfeo guitars anywhere on the internet. Is this just cheap junk? or a super rare musical legend!!! lol. Any info would be appreciated because it does look like a kinda cool wee guitar. Many thanks...
William
Answer:
William,
Orfeo was probably a distributor's name rather than a maker's. I think I've seen one or two similar specimens over the years, also with a black finish. They were inexpensive, mass-produced instruments when new, and now they're just old inexpensive, mass-produced guitars. They have no interest among players or collectors. But so what? If it suits your ears, hands, and eyes, that's all you can ask of any guitar, regardless of value or price. If it's actually been in an attic for 20 years, extremes of heat, cold, and humidity have very likely inflicted multiple mortal wounds. For the price of professional repairs, you could probably get a nicer new guitar. If, by some miracle, it still stays in tune and plays OK, take care of it, and Have Fun with it.
Bill
Date: 1/16/2007
Subject: My guitar is?
Question:
Dear Bill,
I have an old guitar that i dug out of the attic after twenty years. It's a black Les Paul copy that says 'made in japan' on the metal neck screw plate. It says 'ORFEO' on the headstock. I remember buying it second hand in 1983 for a few £GBP's off a mate, it was a few years old then. The grover tuners do not look original to me and its in bad condition now though. But it was my first 'baby' and I can find no reference to Orfeo guitars anywhere on the internet. Is this just cheap junk? or a super rare musical legend!!! lol. Any info would be appreciated because it does look like a kinda cool wee guitar. Many thanks...
William
Answer:
William,
Orfeo was probably a distributor's name rather than a maker's. I think I've seen one or two similar specimens over the years, also with a black finish. They were inexpensive, mass-produced instruments when new, and now they're just old inexpensive, mass-produced guitars. They have no interest among players or collectors. But so what? If it suits your ears, hands, and eyes, that's all you can ask of any guitar, regardless of value or price. If it's actually been in an attic for 20 years, extremes of heat, cold, and humidity have very likely inflicted multiple mortal wounds. For the price of professional repairs, you could probably get a nicer new guitar. If, by some miracle, it still stays in tune and plays OK, take care of it, and Have Fun with it.
Bill
I doubt that the same Japanese knock-off company would sell inexpensive LP copies and also, conversely, extremely valuable fine Hummingbird copies. I agree with "Bill" above when he says... "But so what? If it suits your ears, hands, and eyes, that's all you can ask of any guitar, regardless of value or price... If, by some miracle, it still stays in tune and plays OK, take care of it, and Have Fun with it."
And welcome to GTU.
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