My father passed away 8 or 9 years ago while I was going to school at the Art Center College of Design. I never grew up with him, but regularly think about my own innate characteristics, which I saw in him during the summers that I spent as a kid in the Bronx with him and his family. He was introverted, creative, and for better or for worse, he had a complexity that I don’t think anyone will fully understand.
My younger half sister Madison, who shares the same father with me but different mothers, recently visited her mom’s house and managed to grab and mail me my dad’s old guitar. So I’ve been trying to find out more about it this week just out of curiosity.
There’s not much on the internet about it but I did find out a couple things. If anyone has any info on these Montaya guitars, please email me.
It’s made by a company called Montaya and was distributed by C.H.K. Trading Company. The model number is F-70B (according to the sticker inside) – this is what I used to search for info.
It’s probably from the late 80’s or 1990 and made by a Korean company that ripped off popular guitars like Fender and stuff. This one was a knock off of a Fender acoustic guitar, hence the model number starting with an “F”. The company got sued and they may have gone out of business in 1990, so they ended production. When they were out on the market, they were pretty cheap guitars – maybe $50-100 (i saw this price on a forum, but i dunno what model it was referring to). Apparently they were pretty good sounding guitars – they just happened to be Korean knock offs of larger American or European brands.
Anyway, it’s pretty neat to have it and see the places where it’s been worn and damaged. It’s more meaningful than I thought it would be. I’m considering getting it restored, but half of me thinks it’s kinda cool in its fucked up condition. Again, if anyone has any more info on these Montaya guitars, please email me.
