Up for sale is one of the rarest Japan hollow bodies, made by the legendary Hidesato Shiino. In fact until recently I myself had little idea about who this mystery person is, it was when I came across Vestax-made D’angelico that I came to know the name of mr Shiino san. (check out the label of D’angelico Vestax version at https://www.sharpenedflat.com/vintage-guitar/D'Angelico-NY-DC%20Limited%20Edition-0327/. H.Shi signature was short for Hidesato Shiino.) He was the co-founder of ESP guitars, brought Yamaha & Greco to globally competitive brands, established H.S. Anderson, then again found Vestax. The legend is still going on.

Speaking of this particular model, it is said that Shiino was keen to produce a 1-ply carved maple body, which is obviously much harder to make veneer plies. The impressive Grover tuner pegs are the reminiscence of D’angelico, and as for the pickups, some say it is also by Goto while some argue it is the original of Shiino Music Instrument Company.

As indicated by the photos there are binding wears, oxidation on metal parts, and holes left after pickguard taken off, but it doesn’t tell how galvanized and electrified you are once you put the fingers on the frets. While playing a sample tune, I found myself hypnotized to the spell cast by the God Father of Japan vintages. Lastly a trivia – later the same guitar was rebranded as Vesta Graham. My research finds the best match should be VGS-1200.