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Ti-To |
made |
info
updated 16/6/2010 |
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Raffaele
Tieri
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According to
Mandolin Cafe
Raffaele Tieri
started in Naples, Italy
and
trained at the shop of the Brothers Vinaccia.
One label on a bowl back:
"Raffaele TIERI Allievo del FRATELLI VINACCI
NAPOLI 1909". He
later moved to New York in the 1920s.
Raffaele
Tieri - Spring St. - New York
Working as a neighbor and during the same period as D'Angelico.
[Source and image courtesy of Lowell Levinger ,
Players Vintage
Instruments ]
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|
Joe Till
 |
1996 to present |
Joe Till custom guitars are
handmade in California, USA.
"I
first put my name on my guitars in 1996.
I build them in Westlake Village,
Ca. about 30 miles north of Hollywood.
Since about my 10th guitar I stamp
my name and the consecutive series number in the pickup
cavities. I started stamping 'serial' numbers on the outside of
my guitars - either on the last fret or, more commonly, on the
back of the headstock. It is common for me to include the series
number and the month and year. ( #123 0408 ) was my 123rd guitar
body and was readied for finishing in April of 2008.
I'm keeping better and better
records and I welcome inquiries through my website. [Source and
images courtesy: Joe Till, email 9/8/2009]
Images of guitar # 158 ebay Aug
2009.
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WB Tilton |
1850s-late 1800s |
William B Tilton manufactured
guitars in New York from 1853 to 1867. He was creative and
registered a number of patents which he licensed to other
manufacturers. [Source:
C.F. Martin & His Guitars, 1796-1873, By Philip
F. Gura ]
Builders included John C
Haynes & Co, Boston, A. B. Kitson
(Civil War era)
2004 Auction results for Eric
Clapton's Tilton:
Lot #21 - William B. Tilton Style
Grade 2 (circa 1865) $26,290
(Pre-Sale Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000)
Images 1890 Tilton Improvement
Guitar
Vintage Instruments:, mid 1800s Parlor -
Elderly
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Timber Creek
 |
2004 to present |
"I
started making these guitars under this brand name in 2004. I
make them in my shop in Beavercreek Oregon. There is a label
inside each guitar that is signed along with a model# and a
serial #. The first letter or #s of
the model # is the body style, the second letter of the model #
is the material the top is made of, the third letter of the
model# is the material that the back and sides are made of, like
the ones on my website GRK is Grand Auditorium body style
R/Redwood top K/Koa back and sides. I
have a new one coming out soon ,000SPH, 000body style S/spruce
top PH/purpleheart back and sides. There is also a serial # on
each label, A 6 digit #000108 this is the first guitar built in
2008 and so on The label inside each guitar has my logo on each
one and the logo is on each headstock and some also have the
logo burned in the heel cap. [Source
and photos courtesy of Terry Johnson Timbercreek Guitars, email
24/8/2008]
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Timberline |
Current |
Handmade
guitars, California, USA |
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Time Guitars
 |
1973-1980s |
The Company was located in several Vermont locations
from 1973 to the 1980's. Alan Slack
worked for a company called Mellisa Guitars in the 60's.
He built the first Time Guitar in Florida. In 1970-72,
Alan moved to Vermont setting up shop in
Waltham. Time Guitars was
founded in 1973. An arson attack
forced the firm's closure.
http://fancy.org/music/guitar/
Time
catalogs
http://www.vintaxe.com/catalogs_american_time.htm
Time Guitar Forum
http://www.timeguitars.com/
1985 Time guitars advertisement
eBay:
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|
Timeless Guitars |
1980 to present |
"Look thru the soundhole with a
mirror & read what it says, If there is a number on the back
waist brace, it is the date built backwards . yr mth day "
[Source: David Freeman, Timeless Guitars, email 21/3/2008]
Timeless is
also a luthier trainer and luthier supply stop.
Tugaske, Saskatchewan, Canada |
|
Timm |
1997 to present |
Jerry Timm makes (made?) grand
concert, dreadnought guitars, square neck resonators and a
traveling guitar in koa called, The Little Bear Traveler.
Auburn, WA, USA |
|
Timtone
Custom Guiitars |
1993-2006 |
Tim Diebert,
Grand Forks, British Columbia Canada
Printed From the internet archive:
1998 Timtone
pricelist
2003 Timtone
Body styles
2003 Timtome
Body information
2005 About Timtone
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Timtone+Custom+Guitars |
|
Tippin Guitars |
1978 to present |
Bill Tippin,
Marblehead, MA, USA
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Acoustic+Guitar/brand/Tippin+Guitars |
|
Tipton |
1989 to ? |
Custom guitars
by Bill Tipton. He has built about 80 odd guitars to date
according to
Strings |
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Tix |
|
http://tix.gozaru.jp/other.html |
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Tobias
 |
1978 to present |
Tobias guitars was formed at the
Guitar Shop in Orlando, Florida USA in 1978. [Source:
Tobias guitars
the California years 1983-1992. ]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobias_%28bass_guitar_company%29
http://www.bassland.net/cat1.html
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Tobias
see MTD
for more info on Michael Tobias
Tobias mark
"Michael Tobias luthier, The Guitar Shop" courtesy of Charles
Naughton. This mark was found inside Charles' 1978 Taylor
guitar.
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Todt |
|
http://jazzgitarren.k-server.org/othersddr.html
http://www.musikkeller.com/d/todt.html |
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TogaMan
GuitarViol |
2003 to
present |
Janathan Wilson, San Fernando,
California
Guitar violins
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Jonathan+Wilson+Design |
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Tokai
 |
1973 to present |
Tokai Gakki Co., Ltd. (Tokai Musical Instruments) was founded in
1947 as a harmonica manufacturer. In 1965 Tokai started making
classical guitars and in 1968 started making the Hummingbird
electric guitar series and in 1970 started making the
Hummingbird Acoustic models. In 1972 Tokai went into a joint
venture with Martin to supply Acoustic guitar parts and also
build Martin's solid body Sigma guitars. Copies of US classics
started around 1976.
[Source:
music trade
]
http://www.tokairegistry.com/tokai-info/tokai-info.html
http://www.orangeguitar.com/abouttokai.htm
http://www.guitarsjapan.com/tokaiinfopage.html
Tokai articles
http://www.flyingvintage.com/
Tokai
guitar catalogs
http://www.tokairegistry.com/tokai-info/tokai-catalogs.html
http://www1.odn.ne.jp/tokaigakki/
1984
http://brochures.yokochou.com/guitar-and-amp/tokai/1984/jp_index.html
1975 Acoustic
catalog
http://www.t-shiga.com/sub7-5-1.htm
1980, 1986
http://freenet-homepage.de/bluezz_bastardzz/readme.htm
1981
http://guitar.webinjp.com/70guitar_catalog/tokai.htm
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Tokai
Tokai forum
http://www.tokaiforum.com/
Tokai headstock
image courtesy of stratmoto, Aussie Guitar Gear Heads forum
2008. Label 1970 Tokai Gakki label eBay:
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Tolvanen |
|
Tolvanen guitars are made by Timo
Tolvanen. Born in Finland but lives in Sydney, Australia.
"I have been building guitars
for over 10 years plus I have a long history playing, writing
and recording music. I bring to guitar building a working
player’s perspective rather than just a craftsman’s approach but
enough of this self –promotion J.
With regard to serial numbers, I really haven’t included this
with my fully hand-made models (JN316 and Rapture models)
possibly because they aren’t mass-produced so I didn’t see the
need. However, with my next batch I will be adding serial
numbers. Interestingly, I have written “Timo” with a smiley face
and date of completion onto the neck pocket of the JN316
although you have to take the neck off to see it.
As for the guitars that I finish from “shells” (guitars that
come to me with neck and body mostly finished but require
fretwork, saddles, bridges, nuts, electrics setup etc) I have
serial numbers. The Tolvanen Angel falls into this category eg
TA0910 (10th one built in 2009). There were only 12 of these
built. All have been sold. I am not sure if I will continue with
this model as I can’t get the same price for the shells anymore.
I would have to bring the price up significantly or build them
from scratch and charge $4000 plus. This would really go against
my philosophy of producing world-class guitars at affordable
prices.
The new Tolvanen OM Acoustics have a standard label inside the
soundhole with build date clearly listed.
Over the years I have also built quite a few totally customized
guitars or Strat and Tele style guitars. These often had serial
numbers eg TTG6103 (Tolvanen Tele Guitar 2006 number 3) or
TMB5102 (Tolvanen Moose Bass 2005 number 2). However, this
system was also a little random at times.
If anyone is uncertain if they have a genuine Tolvanen guitar,
they are always welcome to contact me. I remember every guitar
that I have built. [Source: Timo Tolvanen, email 24/4/2010] |
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Otis Tomas Guitars |
1980 to present |
"I have small business building
custom made one-of-a-kind instruments, mainly violins and
guitars. I started around 1980. All my instruments should have a
label, visible through the sound hole, dated with the year of
its creation." [Source: Otis, email 3/4/2008] |
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Tom
Bills
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|
St Louis, USA
http://www.destroyallguitars.com/tombills |
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Tomkins |
Current |
Custom guitars,
basses, lap steels and mandolins by Allan Tomkins. Australia |
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TommyHawk
 |
1993-2005 |
Tom Barth,
(The Music Box store) acoustic travel guitars, Succasunna, New Jersey, USA
From the internet archive:
"Established
in August, 1971 in Ledgewood, NJ, the Music Box has been a
crossroads for many professional musicians. Bob Benedetto (Benedetto
Guitars), Dave LaRue (Dixie Dreggs & Ernie Ball), John Suhr (Pensa
Suhr, Fender Custom Shop), Bruce Kunkel (Gibson Custom Shop),
and Margaret Taylor/Machum Notarile (Hiroshima, Foreigner, Pink
Floyd) have all worked with Music Box owner Tom Barth in the
early days of their careers."
Acoustic Guitar
Magazine Review (1996) of the Tommyhawk
New York
Times article (1999) Tommyhawk
Example from
Mandobar
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Tommyhawk
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|
Tommy's Special
Guitars |
1989 to present |
Thomas Metz, Viersen, Germany.
Electric Guitars
"I stated with my guitar store in
1976, when I was 19 years old. I've made Tommy´s
special guitars since 1989. - I make my guitars at my
guitar Workshop, which is included in my store. You
can see the date of manufacture in the neck pocket of
every guitar. You just have to loose the neck." [Source
and image courtesy of Tommy, email 14/9/2008]
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Tommy's+Special+Guitars |
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Tomson
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|
Tomson brand guitars were a mail
order item for a major Japanese magazine. Aimed at kids.
[Source:
Trade
Me Japan] Acoustics were made by Kiso Suzuki Violin Co.
Electrics were Fender copies. They had a very large product
range and there are lots of examples at Yahoo Japan eg:
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Tonaharp
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|
The Tonaharp guitar is one of two
instruments made by Edwin D Wilber of Quaker Street. [Source:
Duanesburg and Princetown By Duanesburg Historical Society]
http://www.harpguitars.net/history/patents.htm
Images 1916 Tonaharp guitar eBay:
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Tone King
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|
a Harmony Brand
http://harmony.demont.net/brands.php |
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Tonemaster |
1960s |
Italian made guitars (Crucianelli).
Distributed in US by The Imperial Accordion Company. |
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Tonesmith Guitars
 |
1992 to
present |
"GLF was the name of my company at first
before I made guitars. I was doing Repairs, Restorations, and
Custom Finishes. I didn't know what direction my business was
going to go. When I decided to come up with a name,
ToneSmith made sense to me since my last name was Smith and I
worked with Tone.
1992 is about when I started building ToneSmith guitars early
guitars are hand written dates and I Sign them all and still do.
SN codes such as this 005100 would be
51st ToneSmith and made in 2000
so first for places are for the number of the guitars made.
and the last 2 for the year this is the year it was started
since I have to put the SN in the guitar very early in the
making and if it took 6 months to get it done it may be the next
year it was Delivered. or if it was in a store for a while.
Less than 200 ToneSmiths have been made." [Source: Kevin Smith,
ToneSmith guitars USA, email 24/3/2008] |
|
Tonfuchs Guitars |
2005 to present |
Germany
"I built my first bass in 1994,
started a three year education as a guitar builder
(stringed-instrument-maker in Germany) at Schack guitars. I've
been building guitars professionally since 1996.
Between 2001 and 2005 I worked for
Nik Huber and shared my know how in manufacturing guitars. In
this time, we pushed the production with 2 and 1/2 people making
2-3 instruments per week to 9 instruments with 3 and 1/2 people.
In the year 2004 I made the first
prototype of the Bulldog model. and in 2005 I worked under the
Tonfuchs brand.
I´ve changed my workshop two
times. and now I finished the first step of restoration of an
old barn in a small city near Heidelberg, called Eberbach.
It is owned by myself and constantly growing.
Dating Tonfuchs Guitars
The serial numbers are written on the headstock. it is a system
with eigt numbers. for example: 05076513 the first two
numbers(05) are the month, the next two numnbers(07) are the
year, the next (65) is the number of instruments, and the
last two numbers the number of the model.
so, 05076513 means it is build in may 2007, is 65th Tonfuchs
instrument and the 13th instrument of the series, a
Sportbass for example."
[Source: Uwe Scholch, Tonfuchs,
email 25/4/2009]
Image eBay:
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Tonika |
late 1960s-70s |
Tonika was the first electric
guitar made in USSR, and it was the first experience of Soviet
luthiers. In end of the 60's (most probably 1969) made in
Leningrad (st Petersberg). [Source:
Cheesy
Guitars]
Image eBay:
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Tonk American
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|
? 1930s
Image
Vintage Blues Guitar: |
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Toogood Guitars
 |
2003 to present |
Luthier - Chris Toogood (b 1975)
Ukuleles, guitars, electrics
Toogood guitars are made since
"2003, in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
Dating Toogood
Guitars
4 digit serial number on inner
label. AAXX. AA is the year of manufacture. XX is the rank of
instrument that year. So 0315 would be the 15th instrument made
in 2003." [Source: Chris Toogood, email 2/3/2009] |
|
Toon Guitars |
2006- |
Steve Toon, Cheltenham, UK
Building Toon guitars full time since 2006.
Toon Guitars at myspace |
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Top Tuner |
|
by Venlonia:
http://www.daisybelle.nl/nedgit.htm |
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Toredo
 |
|
? by Kiso Suzuki.
Images Yahoo Japan
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Antonio
Torres |
|
Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817-1892). Torres guitars are divided into two
epochs. The first, belonging to Sevilla from 1852-1870; the
second, being the years 1871-1893 in Almería. The guitars Torres
made were so superior to those of his contemporaries that their
example changed the way guitars were built, first in Spain, and
then in the rest of the world[Source:
wikipedia]
http://www.hillguitar.com/scripts/frameit.cgi?/website/news/articles/torres.html
Image:
Aquilacorde:
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Vicente Torres |
|
Factory built guitars, Spain
http://www.acoustic-guitar.com/issues/ag83/coverstory.shtml
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Acoustic+Guitar/brand/Vicente+Torres |
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Totem
Guitars |
|
see S for
Spalt |
|
Jens Towet
 |
1997 to present |
"I
started making guitars in 1997 in Germany.
I started a full time course for
classical guitarmaking in 1999 in
England after that i did learn violin
making.
Now i make classical and steel string guitars near by my
hometown in Germany.
The date of making is written inside on the
soundboard and back of the guitar.
The number is written on the Label until 2006. After that it is
written on the soundboard underneath
the fingerboard (use mirror). If
you`re not sure contact me via e-mail.
For each guitar I keep notes."
[Source and image courtesy of: Jens Towet,
email 10/10/2008]
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|
Toyota |
1972 - ? |
Toyota guitars were distributed in
the U.S. by the Hershman company of New York, New York. The
Toyota trademark was applied to a full range of acoustic,
thinline acoustic/electric hollowbody, and solid body electric
guitars and basses, (Source: Michael Wright, Guitar Stories,
Volume One).
Toyota
guitar catalog
http://www.vintaxe.com/catalogs_japanese_toyota.htm
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Acoustic+Guitar/brand/Toyota |
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T-Ta |
Te-Th
| Ti-To | Tr- |
