Sale Price:
$650.00
Original Price:
$750.00
1979 Cats Eyes CE 250 J
Serial # 961352
Made In Japan by Tokai
🐱 1979 Tokai Cat’s Eyes CE-250J – A Cool Japanese “Lawsuit Era” Martin 🐱
“If you know, you know.”
This is not “just another vintage Japanese guitar.”
This is a genuine pre-1980 Cat’s Eyes CE-250J – the legendary Tokai copy of a pre-war Martin D-28 that embarrassed Martin so badly they threatened lawsuits… and lost.
Built in 1979 in the golden era of the famed Nagano factory, this CE-250J is one of the very last of the true “block logo” headstock models before Tokai switched to the open-book design under pressure.
Tonewood perfection:
- Select solid Adirondack (Red) spruce top with the holy-grail forward-shifted, hand-scalloped X-bracing (exact Martin 1937–1944 spec)
- Solid East Indian rosewood back & sides – deep, dark, and heavily figured (borderline Brazilian-looking flame on the lower bouts)
- One-piece Honduran mahogany neck with adjustable truss rod
- Rosewood fretboard with classic pearl dot inlays – smooth, dark, and perfectly aged for that vintage vibe
- Ebony bridge with long drop-in bone saddle
- Ivoroid binding top and back, multi-ply herringbone top purfling, zipper backstrip – every 1930s–40s Martin cosmetic detail nailed to perfection
Condition: Honest vintage player-grade with gorgeous mojo
- 45+ years of honest playwear: light checking across the top, a few tasteful dings and scratches (nothing through the wood), cloudiness of the finish on the face of the headstock, typical pickguard shrinkage/crazing that screams 1970s. One small crack that looks to have been repaired years ago on the top running from behind the bridge to the pickguard.
The Sound:
Close your eyes and you’re holding a 1939 D-28 that somehow stayed in Japan its whole life.
Explosive bass that rattles windows, glassy trebles that cut like a knife, and that magical midrange bark only Adirondack + real rosewood delivers. Fingerstyle blooms like a grand piano; flatpicked it roars like a cannon. Louder and more complex than many actual 1970s Martins I’ve played – and I’ve played a lot.
Fresh Set Up and Ready to Inspire!
1979 Cats Eyes CE 250 J
Serial # 961352
Made In Japan by Tokai
🐱 1979 Tokai Cat’s Eyes CE-250J – A Cool Japanese “Lawsuit Era” Martin 🐱
“If you know, you know.”
This is not “just another vintage Japanese guitar.”
This is a genuine pre-1980 Cat’s Eyes CE-250J – the legendary Tokai copy of a pre-war Martin D-28 that embarrassed Martin so badly they threatened lawsuits… and lost.
Built in 1979 in the golden era of the famed Nagano factory, this CE-250J is one of the very last of the true “block logo” headstock models before Tokai switched to the open-book design under pressure.
Tonewood perfection:
- Select solid Adirondack (Red) spruce top with the holy-grail forward-shifted, hand-scalloped X-bracing (exact Martin 1937–1944 spec)
- Solid East Indian rosewood back & sides – deep, dark, and heavily figured (borderline Brazilian-looking flame on the lower bouts)
- One-piece Honduran mahogany neck with adjustable truss rod
- Rosewood fretboard with classic pearl dot inlays – smooth, dark, and perfectly aged for that vintage vibe
- Ebony bridge with long drop-in bone saddle
- Ivoroid binding top and back, multi-ply herringbone top purfling, zipper backstrip – every 1930s–40s Martin cosmetic detail nailed to perfection
Condition: Honest vintage player-grade with gorgeous mojo
- 45+ years of honest playwear: light checking across the top, a few tasteful dings and scratches (nothing through the wood), cloudiness of the finish on the face of the headstock, typical pickguard shrinkage/crazing that screams 1970s. One small crack that looks to have been repaired years ago on the top running from behind the bridge to the pickguard.
The Sound:
Close your eyes and you’re holding a 1939 D-28 that somehow stayed in Japan its whole life.
Explosive bass that rattles windows, glassy trebles that cut like a knife, and that magical midrange bark only Adirondack + real rosewood delivers. Fingerstyle blooms like a grand piano; flatpicked it roars like a cannon. Louder and more complex than many actual 1970s Martins I’ve played – and I’ve played a lot.
Fresh Set Up and Ready to Inspire!
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