Expert: James Koontz - 11/1/2007

Question
I have an old ensenada fg series guitar and i cant find any info on it. I was wondering who made it and possible market value.

Answer
Well, There were several factories that made the Ensenada brand during the 70's. All Asian, some Japanese, some Chinese, and even one or two korean. It was one of those floating names, that many manufacturers used, and am not sure who owned the name, although now Fender owns it, but they did not have anything to do with it during the time your guitar was made. Because it is an FG series, that dates it to the 70's. No way to tell exactly when it was made, but as for value, somewhere in the $100 range. I've seen them sell for $50 most of the time. Though, you can get upwards of $100 out of it if you market it right.It's all in the timing, and wording of the ad. Anyway, Most of them had a decent sound, build quality was good, not great, but good. Many had bracing issues, the glue that held the bracin in would come loose over time. Not all had this issue, especially the ones made in Japan. There was one Mexican company using the Ensenada brand also during the late 70's early 80's, that made nylon string classicals and jumbo steel string models. But I don't have a whole lot of info on them. I have only seen a couple mexican made Ensenada guitars, and they are quite different. You can tell them because there is not only a label inside written in mostly spanish, but there is a stamp inside the soundhole, below the neck block, that says Mexico and would have some numbers indicating the model.

      These are pretty rare, and all were handmade by a small group of luthiers in Mexico. The ones I've seen usually sold for around $600-$800 in decent shape, but the ones I've seen weren't very great either.

 Hope this helps
        JimK