Mansfield

I have a Mansfield Les Paul copy. I'm in the middle of refinishing it. And I don't know anything about it except that it came with DiMarzio's in it. Wish I could help.

@Bear,Ibanez never made guitars with any other name but Ibanez.If it does not have the word Ibanez on it then it's not an Ibanez.In fact ,Ibanez did not even make it's own guitars in Japan.They were made by Gakki for Ibanez.As for the Mansfield name.....Peate Musical originated the 'Mansfield' trade name in the 1950s, named after
legendary Mansfield Street in downtown Montreal.
The Peate retail store was located on Mansfield street, in Montreal, and was the gathering place of choice for local and visiting musicians.
The original Mansfield guitars were produced in the best guitar factories in Japan, by makers who later became leading names in the industry.
The first ones were instruments were made to top level specifications and were among the finest instruments produced.They are still being sold in Montreal to this day but are now cheap Chinese copies for students...

I have a Mansfield since the 70s and it is a fine piece for sure. To help with the quest for answers .... search Ibanez model 863 and you will see the exact copy of my Mansfield which is an exact copy of the Gibson Hummingbird. Also known as the lawsuit guitar. My best guess is this is a guitar crafted by the same people who made the Ibanez 683 and simply added a different label inside the body and a different name to the headstock for the Montreal Mansfield issue. That's my best guess.

I'm seeing conflicting information on here about Mansfield guitars and the builders...can someone direct me to something substantial for the history?

I recall my guitar was purchased in the 70's and I received the instrument as a birthday gift from my Dad...41 years ago.

Just looking to get some solid information to attach the build history to an instrument I consider priceless

Thanks,
Howard

I have aTW2 Mansfield acoustic guitar I got in 1971 and I've been told it's a copy of the Martin guitar. If you look at the inside of it you will see its built identical to a Martin because I also have a Martin guitar..l heard that a worker that worked with Martin went to work with Mansfield back in the 70's and put is know how into Mansfield guitars but that's only hearsay and not gospel but it's worth looking into.R

Back in the late 70's early 80's, I sold my ovation and got a classical Mansfield C-136 for 50$. I got it in the East side of Montréal in a guitar shop (east of Papineau on a N-S main boulevard... forgot the name), and I still have it here next to me! Anyway, inside the label, very limited info. In the top left corner, it says "Craftsman made", and bottom right, Model No. C-136, and in the middle Mansfield (with its font), and below a bit to the right "Guitars".

Then after reading here a bit, I started looking at mine, and I noticed in the inside of the guitar, where you can see the end of the neck there is a number on it. 73361390. The 6 could be G...

So far as I can tell, the body is Rosewood, the top looks like spruce.

As far as my acoustic, it is actually a Ibanez, model # 1AE800TV, (AE = Acoustic Electric) made in Korea (does not say South). I got this one used at Long and McQuade on Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, back in the 90's. I think I paid 200$. It is a cut away. Needs a tune up though...

Ok, salut! et bonne et heureuse année 2018

Either late 1960s or very early 1970s I bought my Mansfield F411 Acoustic guitar in downtown Halifax Nova Scotia. I think it was $110 back then and it had really good sound for an instrument of that price range. I liked it most because it has a narrow neck and low action, something I needed because I was never good getting the fingers around to the strings. I've always put light strings on it and it keeps a tune for months on end in a constant environment. I love the guitar and it's the only one I've ever owned.

I was given a Mansfield MF120 but the last string is broken...any idea how much this model cost?

Ibanez sold blank Gibson copies in the 70's to music stores where they (the store) were allowed to affix their own logo, I have owned and do own and have seen many many Gibson copies with no apparent brand name, while some may have come off due to the fact that they were often glued on, blanks could have been sold as well, possibly in a catalogue mail order type deal like Sears, not to mention all the other brands made in the Japanese factories. Around the exact same time Gibson was making guitars in Japan 1970-78 including the J200 and the start of Gibson's overseas Epiphones. Ibanez later stopped using the exact Gibson form for obvious reasons of copyright infringement, and copied Guild instead. Most copies in the lawsuit era 1969ish-73ish are copying earlier guitars but in the case of the Ibanez 698 (Concord) or in my Dad's case a Mansfield 698 (the same thing) they are copying current Gibson production models (a bit more than the same thing). Because the copies were a little less expensive and often better sounding with relatively the same appearance they were out selling the real Gibsons which were not much more expensive. My Mom bought this Mansfield 698 for my Dad on sale for around $400 1/2 price with a hard shell case new in the late 70s. The guitar is still incredible and having a Gibson from the same period I can say the quality of the the guitar is very very close to the real thing.

I’ve learned more about Mansfield’s in the last 10 minutes than in the 18 years I’ve had my Dove, bought on eBay for $80. Mine is absolutely identical to the Ibanez 693 except the Mansfield logo is a plastic piece that is tacked in. Looks like it could even be covering up an Ibanez logo. One thing not mentioned here, but I’ll check some other Ibanez sites, there is the letter “S” stamped on the butt of the neck.
I’ve seen one other Mansfield Dove but it lacked the split trap inlays, the Mansfield name was an MOP inlay, tuners and bridge and headstock were different. I suspect that guitar was much newer than mine.

I have a Mansfield acoustic guitar model 684BK, serial number 771020. It's a 1969 Gibson Hummingbird Replica, jet black. Does anyone know the approximate value of this guitar?