Guide / SELECTED VINTAGE GUITARS
Morris: history and F-18 / W-28 specifications
Manufacturer archive specifications and their limits when identifying older guitars.
Founded in 1967
Morris dates the brand’s foundation by Toshio Moridaira to 1967 and links its name to his nickname, “Mori”. Its history also records a NAMM appearance in 1974 and the introduction of the Tornado electro-acoustic series in 1978.
F-18: 630 mm scale
The F-18 archive lists a spruce top, nato neck and rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Back and sides are listed as “tōgu” (トーグ, the source’s term) or rosewood. Scale length is 630 mm; nut and saddle are plastic. “Spruce” alone does not establish a solid top.
W-28: 1979 catalogue specifications
The W-28 is a non-cutaway dreadnought. Its archive entry lists spruce, a nato neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, and Schaller tuners. Rosewood back and sides are specified for 1978–1979. Morris identifies the 1979 catalogue as its reference and notes specification changes over time.
One model name does not guarantee one specification
Morris warns that the same model number was sometimes used for different instruments in different periods; the archive is incomplete. We separate catalogue data from features confirmed on the actual guitar rather than infer its year, factory or woods from resemblance.