A colleague of mine recently brought in his Kiso-Suzuki W65A Acoustic guitar for me to have a look at and possibly get it running a little better. Its a beautiful example of Japans quest for imitation perfection during the 1970's. There were many companies including Ibanez that were spending great quantities of time painstakingly replicating classic guitars. The Suzuki W65A is a replication of the Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar which was famously played by Elvis. This "copy" is so accurate that it features perfectly shaped Gibson headstock and inlays. In fact some of these copies where so close that Japanese guitar manufacturers face legal proceedings from western guitar companies. There are even people out there that insist that some of the Japanese knockoffs of the time are better than the originals. 

So what is wrong with the guitar? Well, the Finnish is fine, the frets and neck are in great condition, the bridge and nut have plenty of life left in them. So whats the problem I hear you ask? This guitar suffers from some serious action issues and some major fretbuzz. Clearly a truss rod issue, there is some noticeable back bow. Thing is, I know I'm not a pro guitar tech, so I am very concerned about the idea of adjusting the truss rod myself. I did attempt it (After watching a youtube video on how), but I found that it was so stiff that it would have taken force to adjust it. A wize decision to leave it alone. 

My question is....... If the truss rod is there to counter string tension, then perhaps all that is needed is a new set of strings? The strings that where on it where old and stretched. New strings would introduce more tension perhaps pulling the neck into position. Am I right in thinking this? Any guitar techs out there please answer below. I dont think this guitar is going to need a lot of work, if I can get the fretbuzz sorted and it is a very beautiful thing to behold. I'll update with some pics tomorrow when I start working on it.  For now Enjoy this pic of the Gibson version.