K-serial Orvilles ...

[sixtiestele]

Japanstrat what's your opinion of the sound/playability of O.B.Gs in competition with Terada Orvilles? I'm interested in bidding for that wine red one but I akready have a Yamaha LP-400, a 1984 Mint Collection EG-500 custom and an 1988 RS-90 Super Real Project so I'm not sure if this one would sound a lot different. Maybe I'm just being greedy!!

[japanstrat]

The K Orvilles are basically the same as the G serial OBG's but the OBG's mostly get the better looking wood which has nothing to do with how it sounds really and the OBG's get a nitro finish and they get Gibson pickups and the OBG's are priced higher.
Some people like the Orville pickups and some don't.
I thought the Orville pickups were pretty good, maybe a bit plain, but I did replace them with a pickup from a Greco in the neck and a DiMarzio in the bridge.

I also saw a K Orville Wine Red go for about 40,000 Yen (approx $400 US) on Yahoo Japan about 4 months ago.
I think the K Orville Wine Reds go for more than the other K Orvilles because they are pretty rare and they look as good as the G serial OBG Wine Reds.
The G serial OBG Wine Reds are pretty rare as well.

You could hold out buying until a OBG Wine Red comes up.
I havn't seen many OBG Wine Reds but you never know if one will come up next week.

[UITA]

Maybe I'm just being greedy!!

Now come on that's just silly talk.

[japanstrat]

I see the Wine Red K Orville went for $710 US.
If I was going to buy another OBG or Orville I'd buy a Wine Red one.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Orville-LPC-rare ... dZViewItem

I don't understand why this Orville has been pushed up so high. It just looks like a standard FujiGen Orville to me, no big deal.
Maybe they are in a bidding war like sharks at feeding time.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/VINTAGE-JAPANESE ... dZViewItem

[japanstrat]

K Orville Pots

The pots I'm talking about here are the pots that came standard when the guitar was bought new and not pots that have been changed.

There are 2 main types of pots used on the K Orvilles and both types are the same types as Terada used on the G serial Orville by Gibsons and the Terada J serial Orvilles from 1995-1998.

The first pot type has a M500K(ohm)A printed on the top line with a XX number and a K printed on the next line.
These pots are used on all the Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons and K Orvilles from 1988-1992.
These type of pots are also on Japanese made Charvel and BC Rich guitars from the late 1980s.





These pots are also used on the Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons.







Then there are the K Orville "Made in Japan" pots which have A500K(ohm) on the top line and have "Made in Japan" on the second line. These types of pots start to appear around 1992





These pots are also used on the Terada J serial Orvilles like this Flying V.
Most of the Orville Flying V's are made by Terada and have a J serial like this 1996 Orville Flying V with a J6xxxxx serial number.
The Orville by Gibson Flying V's became just Orville Flying V's in 1995 when the Orville by Gibsons were stopped.
These "Made in Japan" pots are also used on some Japanese made Tokai Love Rocks.







The FujiGen no letter ink stamped serial Orvilles from 1993-1998 mostly seem to use small pots but sometimes use the same pots as Terada (M500KohmA printed on the top line with a XX number and a K printed on the next line).

What it all means is that the two different types of pots that were used on the K Orvilles were the same type as the two different types of pots Terada was using for the G serial Orville by Gibsons and the J serial Orvilles so the K Orvilles could not be from Korea.

[japanstrat]

Here is what was a Black K Orville Les Paul Custom.
It's a K Orville because of the custom headstock shape and the inlay pattern and the neck heel arch size. The custom headstock shape, inlay pattern and neck heel arch size of the K Orville Custom LPs are the same as the Terada G serial Orville by Gibson Custom LPs.
The custom headstock shape, inlay pattern and neck heel arch size are different on the FujiGen (no letter serial) custom LPs which have a smaller headstock shape, a closer together inlay pattern and a larger neck heel arch size.

The owner has changed just about everything.
They have changed the regular sloping nut to a brick shape nut, they have changed the bridge and sanded the finish back and given it a oil finish.

So under the original black finish of this K Orville Custom LP was a 3 piece top which I'd say would be the usual amount of pieces for the White and Black K Orville Custom LPs and also for lower priced Japanese made guitars in general like the lower priced Greco custom LPs etc.
3 piece tops are occasionally used on some lower priced Orville by Gibsons as well.

[UITA]

This one has given me a warning about stripping the finish from the top. If you look at the black/white binding on the top you'll see it has gone, giving it a Standard look. Thinking about it it must be close to impossible to get the finish off without damaging the binding, a problem you wouldn't get with the OBGs as they're nitro and in my experience nitro comes off a treat. Hmm don't know whether to bid on it.

[japanstrat]

At http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa ... 1114116206

there is a japanese K Orville original owner that says he bought his K Orville in the spring of 1994 and it has a 1993 K 03XXXX serial number (the first number after the K and 0 is the year), so it's just more confirmation about when the K Orvilles were sold.

Translated

Less pole of o buildingBeing to like to hear concerningIt does, but spring 1994The new item it purchases at the musical instrument house

Manufacturer: OrviLle
Model name: LPS-That 75 (was, thought nowIt does)
Price: 75000 Yen
Serial: Head reverse side With K038490
Neck joint: Front PU Wall surface of head approaching of Edge of neck material being visibleIt increases (don't know if it's a medium or long tenon from that translation)
Neck: Mahogany1 piece (it succeeds, the heel)
Body top: MayPulling (Maple) 2 piece
Body back: Moth knee (Mahogany) 3 piece
Reverse side panel: CreamColor
Pot: Made in500 K of Japan (500 K pots with Made in Japan stamped on them)
Condenser: It is smallIt is, the ceramics make of green color?
Finish: Poly-Paint

Also there is this earlier K Orville dating thread where an original K Orville owner bought it in 1990 and it has a 1989 serial number K098376.

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php ... ville+date

Nice to meet you the mail thank you.
I am sorry when the grammar is wrong because I am not good at English.

I will talk about my Orville guitar.
I bought it at 1990.
K serial number is ?K098376?.

It bought when I was a high school student.
My most favorite guitarist is John Sykes,
and, a favorite guitar is Gibson '72 LES PAUL CUSTOM "black beauty".

Did you help you?

Thank You.

[japanstrat]

The Gibson Les Paul has a diagonal wiring channel that goes from the switch cavity to the control cavity, hitting the two pickup cavities along the way.
So the switch wires and both humbucker wires go through the same diagonal wiring channel and all the wires end up coming out of one hole in the control cavity.

The Terada G serial Orville by Gibson Les Pauls are done this way as well.

Terada Orville by Gibson diagonal wiring channel.
Switch and pickup diagonal wiring channel is the blue line.





Terada drill the diagonal wiring channel in the Mahogany body before the Maple top is put on the Mahogany body. The diagonal wiring channel is drilled in the Mahogany body at a depth that is roughly just below the pickup cavities depth. After the Maple top is put on the Mahogany body, the pickup cavities are routed and then Terada drills a small hole from inside the pickup cavity that hits the diagonal wiring channel (green arrow in the above image) so that the pickup wires can go through the diagonal wiring channel to the control cavity.

For some of the K Orvilles Terada don't drill a small hole to the diagonal wiring channel, instead they drill a wiring channel (red lines in the above image) up the centre of the body from the neck cavity pickup to the bridge cavity pickup and another wiring channel from the bridge pickup cavity to the control cavity. Maybe it's quicker to do it this way.

Terada K Orville wiring channels
Switch diagonal wiring channel is the blue line.
Additional wiring channels for pickup wires are the red lines.



The K Orville Les Pauls have a diagonal wiring channel that is identical to the Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons but they also sometimes have 2 additional wiring channels that are drilled after the Maple top is put on and after the pickup routing is done. The K Orville Les Pauls have a diagonal wiring channel that goes from the switch cavity to the control cavity (the same as the OBG's) but also sometimes have a centre drilled wiring channel that goes from the neck pickup cavity to the bridge pickup cavity and a wiring channel that goes from the bridge pickup cavity to the control cavity. So the K Orville Les Pauls sometimes have two wiring channel holes in the control cavity and the G serial Orville by Gibsons have only one wiring channel hole in the control cavity.

K Orville 2 wiring channel holes in the pickup cavity with the grey, black and red switch wires going through the top hole and the thicker black pickup wires going through the bottom hole. Usually there would be only the top hole (diagonal wiring channel) and all the switch wires and pickup wires would go through it.





The K Orville Les Pauls switch wires go through the diagonal wiring channel and the neck humbucker wires go through the neck to bridge pickup cavity wiring channel and then the bridge and neck pickup wires go through the bridge pickup cavity to control cavity wiring channel.

K Orville black and red switch wires going down the diagonal wiring channel and the thicker black pickup wire going down the neck to bridge pickup cavity wiring channel.



I have never seen the K Orville Les Pauls wiring channel scheme on any other guitar whether it was an American, Japanese, Korean, Chinese or whatever made guitar.

What it all means is that Terada were using the same Mahogany bodies for both the G serial Orville by Gibson Les Pauls and the K Orville Les Pauls and the Mahogany bodies were pre drilled with a diagonal wiring channel .


The K Orvilles have G serial Orville by Gibson bodies with pre drilled diagonal wiring channels that are later modified with 2 additional wiring channels after the Maple top has been put on and after the pickup routing is done because it's probably quicker and easier to do than accurately blind drilling the small holes down to the diagonal wiring channel as they do on the OBGs.

FujiGen no letter serial OBG and Orville switch and pickup wiring channels, green lines.



1998 no G or J letter serial number Fujigen Orville (Photo Flame) with wiring channel going down the right side of the pickup cavities.



There is really no need for the K Orvilles to have a diagonal wiring channel.
They already have a neck pickup cavity to bridge pickup cavity wiring channel and a bridge pickup cavity to control cavity wiring channel so all that would be needed for all the switch and pickup wires to reach the control cavity would be a switch cavity to neck pickup wiring channel like on the FujiGen wiring channel scheme above.
The K Orvilles only have a diagonal wiring channel because they have the same bodies as the G serial Orville by Gibson bodies. The K Orvilles and G serial Orville by Gibsons also have the same mixture of long, medium long and medium tenons.

1980 Burny FLG



http://www.japanguitars.co.uk/burny%20info.html

The K Orvilles wiring channels could have easily been done like on this 1980 Burny FLG where the switch wires are going through a switch control cavity to neck pickup cavity wiring channel and then the switch wires and neck humbucker wires are taken down the centre drilled neck pickup cavity to bridge pickup cavity wiring channel. Notice that the centre drilled wiring channel on the Burny is done the same way as on the K Orvilles. The centre drilled wiring channel is drilled after the pickup cavity is routed and you can see where the drill has left it's mark in the pickup cavity after drilling the centre wiring channel which is the same on the K Orvilles. If the K Orvilles were done like the Burny then there is no need for a diagonal wiring channel but the K Orvilles do have a diagonal wiring channel and so do the G serial Orville by Gibsons so the K Orvilles must be using G serial Orville by Gibson bodies. It's very strange to have both a diagonal wiring channel and a centre drilled wiring channel. The Burny just has a centre drilled wiring channel and doesn't have a diagonal wiring channel whereas the K Orvilles have both. Not all K Orvilles have the centre drilled wiring channel. Some K Orvilles just have the same diagonal wiring channel as the G serial Orville by Gibsons with no centre drilled wiring channel. Maybe some G serial Orville by Gibsons have both the centre drilled wiring channel and the diagonal wiring channel.

K Orville with no centre wiring channel and only a diagonal wiring channel which is exactly the same as the Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons diagonal wiring channel.











K Orville neck to bridge pickup cavity wiring channel drilled after the Maple top has been put on and after the pickup routing is done.



1980s Burny FLG-90 control cavity.



Here is a early 1980s Burny FLG-90 control cavity. If a diagonal wiring channel was used there would be a hole where the green circle is drawn. The wiring channel hole (blue arrow) is in the same place as the K Orvilles and the Burny only has one hole because it doesn't have a diagonal wiring channel. The small hole with the green wire going through it is a bridge ground hole and not important. So if the Burny FLG-90 had a diagonal wiring channel added to it, then it would have the same wiring channel scheme as the K Orvilles. So it looks like the early 1980s Burny FLG-240, FLG-150 and FLG-90 models were probably made by Terada as Terada uses this wiring channel scheme and it is quite distinctive and not used by any other guitar factory. FujiGen and Tokai for instance only have one top hole in the control cavity where the green circle is in the above image. The bottom hole pointed to by the blue arrow is quite unusual.

Why didn't Terada use the centre drilled wiring channel scheme (instead of the diagonal wiring channel scheme) on the OBGs like on the K Orvilles or the Burny FLGs? Maybe Terada were trying to stick with the Gibson style diagonal wiring channel scheme for the OBGs as the OBGs were supposed to stick closely to Gibson designs. With the K Orvilles, Terada sometimes didn't seem to care about sticking to the Gibson diagonal wiring channel scheme so just drilled a centre wiring channel scheme even though the K Orvilles do have the diagonal wiring channel scheme as well. The K Orvilles have both the OBG diagonal wiring channel and the Burny FLG centre wiring channel schemes.

Looking at the guitar top here are the wiring channel schemes for different factories.

FujiGen uses a switch cavity to neck pickup cavity wiring channel and then a wiring channel running down the right side of the pickup cavities to the control cavity. There is one wire hole in the control cavity positioned towards the centre of the body (looking at the guitars back).
Fujigen use this wiring channel scheme on the Grecos and the Orvilles.

Tokai use a diagonal wiring channel from the switch cavity to the control cavity. There is one wire hole in the control cavity positioned towards the centre of the body (looking at the guitars back). This wiring channel scheme is like Gibsons.

Terada uses a switch cavity to neck pickup cavity wiring channel and then a wiring channel running down the centre of the pickup cavities and then a bridge pickup cavity to control cavity wiring channel. There is one wire hole in the control cavity positioned towards the outside of the body which is the opposite of where the FujiGen and Tokai wire hole is positioned.
Terada also used a diagonal Gibson wiring channel for the Orville by Gibsons.

The control cavity wire hole position on most Les Pauls is usually positioned towards the centre of the body (looking at the guitars back). The only exception I know of is the Terada wire hole position which is positioned towards the outside of the body (looking at the guitars back).

Have a look at this pages "Pickups in detail" section to see the different types (and different makers) of wiring channel schemes used on the Burnys over the years. http://www.japanguitars.co.uk/burny%20info.html

Here is a distinctive Terada pickup routing corner hump that's sometimes on the G serial Orville by Gibsons and sometimes on the K Orvilles but not on the FujiGen no letter serial OBG's or Orvilles.









Terada Orville by Gibson pickup routing corner hump which is the same as the K Orville above.







1. The K Orvilles were made in the same years as the G serial Orville by Gibsons. 1989-1993.
2. Terada made all the (G serial) Orville by Gibsons from 1988 to late 1992.
3. The G serial Orville by Gibsons and the K Orvilles have the same cnc computer controlled routed body shapes and necks and also have the same pickup and control routing.
4. The Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons and the K Orvilles have a mixture of long, medium long and medium tenons. The FujiGen no letter serial OBG's and Orvilles always have long tenons.
5. The Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons sometimes have separate neck heels identical to the K Orville separate neck heels.
6. The Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons and K Orville Les Paul custom models have the same headstock shapes and width and inlay spacing, meaning that they were both finished in the same factory.
7. The Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons and K Orville Les Pauls have the same wiring channels (as described above) and pickup and control routing, meaning that they both share the same bodies and were made and routed in the same factory.
8.The Terada G serial Orville by Gibsons and K Orville Les Pauls have the same Japanese made pots.
9. When there is only one guitar factory making the guitars for a music company there is often no real need to use serial numbers.
Terada were the only guitar factory making (OBG and Orville) guitars for Yamano Gakki between 1988 and late 1992.
10. Jim Donahue from Hoshino/Ibanez visited all of the main Korean and Japanese factories at the time the K Orvilles were being made and didn't see Orvilles anywhere except Terada and FujiGen. Jim donahue also solved the mystery as to why FujiGen didn't start making Orville by Gibsons until late 1992. It was due to Fujigen not being very interested in set neck guitar making in the late 1980s/early 1990s.
11. The K Orville regular LPs and SGs were sold for the same price as the regular ink stamped Orville LPs and SGs (LPC-75 = 75,000 yen, SG-65 = 65,000 Yen) and in fact the K Orville Les Paul Juniors sold for 5,000 Yen more than the ink stamped Orville Les Pauls.
12. It seems that a lot of Japanese and overseas guitar dealers don't know the difference between late 1980s/early 1990s Korean and Japanese made guitars and make their judgments on rumours and a sticker.

[Alf]

I love your detailed logic Japanstrat - I've started printing out your posts as a reference book! I've got an Orville which has the remains of a sticker on it so it's possibly a 'K' series. It has one duff pickup, so it's out with the screwdrivers and check the wiring channels!

[le juge]

Hi all, I know some guys are well informed here, so my question is : when did the orville's production start ? For me it's 1988 ?

One guy in France is selling an Orville (serial number : 612XXX) and said it was built in 1986...and gave me the following informations by e-mail (I doubt these informations are true !!!...) :

Orville and Orville by Gibson Guitars:

I’m not entirely sure how “Orville” guitars got their start in Japan, but it is safe to say that Gibson saw that there was a potential for profit in the Japanese market and went after it. Seeing Fender’s success with a Japanese division only must have spurred them on.

What I do know is that “Orville” and “Orville by Gibson” guitars both appeared on the scene together in 1984 and that production ceased in 1993. To my knowledge, they were made in the FujiGenGakki plant alongside many other brands.
The “Orville” guitars were equipped with Japanese replica PAF pickups of exceptional quality and likeness to the desired
Gibson tone, while the “Orville by Gibson” guitars were equipped with authentic Gibson USA PAF ’57 Classics. Other thanthe difference in headstock logo and pickups, there are no other hidden or outward differences that I am aware of. Some collector friends have said that they think the Orvilles have Japanese hardware (such as stopbar tailpieces, bridges, etc.)
while the Orville by Gibsons have USA hardware. I have not been able to prove or disprove this, as most models I've hadseemed to have the same hardware. There were many models made in various price ranges on both types and I thinkmainly that the model number and price of both versions dictated whether or not USA hardware was used.

You can determine the production year (and sometimes month) of Orville and Orville by Gibson guitars by the serial
numbering method. Some of the Orville by Gibsons have a letter beginning the serial number, which corresponds to the monthof production, i.e. A=January, B=February, and so on. The early Orvilles and Orville by Gibsons have as few as 5 digits for theserial number, and all 1986-1993 models have 6 digits. The first digit corresponds to the year of the decade within which it was produced, i.e. 801534 would be the 1,534th guitar made in 1988. But, they used the same method for models made in the 1990’s, which is confusing. The only way you know which decade it was made is due to the fact that production was only during 1985-1993. Had they continued to make Orville guitars into 1995, they would have had to change their system again, so as to not double up on any first digits.

Yes, this is all very confusing, and I apologize, but the chart below will (I hope) make it easier for you. *Remember, beginning in 1989, many models have the letter in front of the serial number to designate the production month:

Yes, there were some Orvilles made in Korea to fill the demand for cheap models. There were not many of these made, but they do exist and be careful, the craftsmanship is NOT the same on these. The serial numbering would follow the same pattern as in my chart, but the numbers were printed on a sticker that was applied to the back of the headstock. If you see an Orville model with no serial number, chances are it was made in Korea and the owner removed the sticker.

After 1993, Gibson changed the Orville logo to “Epiphone” Japan, but the guitars were essentially the same, with the Epiphones having the same Gibson headstock design. These didn’t last. Gibson gave up on this all together after a short stint and mandated that the Epiphones have the Epiphone headstock shape.

Today, these Orvilles and Orville by Gibsons are extremely rare, and unfortunately, are becoming as expensive as the real Gibsons themselves, due to collector interest. They are of equal quality in most cases and much more rare than their USA counterparts.

SERIAL NUMBERS YEAR


5 DIGITS 4 or 5XXXX 1984-85


6 DIGITS 6XXXXX 1986


6 DIGITS 7XXXXX 1987


6 DIGITS 8XXXXX 1988


6 DIGITS 9XXXXX 1989


6 DIGITS 0XXXXX 1990


6 DIGITS 1XXXXX 1991


6 DIGITS 2XXXXX 1992


6 DIGITS 3XXXXX 1993


NO SERIAL NUMBER OR K XXXXXX STICKER KOREAN-MADE



A + Letter + 6DIGITS Acoustic Guitar Same as Above

[le juge]

It seems to be taken from an old version of the history of Orville on a website which has been updated since.

[tonemobile]

No Orvilles were made in Korea. We all now know that as fact.

"There were no Korean companies involved with any of the Orvilles, there were only 2 companies involved and they were the same companies who made the Epiphone Japan guitars and they are Terada and FujiGen guitar factories.
Yamano is the orderer/distributor of the OBG's and Orvilles and Epiphone Japan and Yamano also run a chain of retail shops in Japan.
There are different serial number prefixes used on the OBG's and Orvilles.
There is a G which is on all OBG models up until 1992/1993 and then from 1992/1993 to 1995 the G is mostly on OBG Semi Acoustics, then there is a J serial number prefix from 1995 to 1998 mostly used on Orville Semi Acoustics, and then there are solid body Orvilles and OBG's with a serial number with no prefix (no G or J) from 1992/1993 to 1998.
The G serial number prefix and the J serial number prefix Orvilles can be traced back using the ES-335 model from the T serial number prefix used on the Epiphone Japan ES-335's to the J serial number prefix used on the Epiphone Japan ES-335's to the J serial number prefix used on the Orville ES-335's to the G serial number prefix used on the Orville by Gibson ES-335's.
All these T,J and G prefixes are Terada ES-335 Semi Acoustics.
All the OBG and Orville ES-335 Semi Acoustics have a G (OBG) or a J (Orville) serial number prefix.
Terada was using a G for the OBG Semi Acoustics and then they changed to a J for the Orville Semi Acoustics when the OBG Semi Acoustics were ended in 1995.
There are no OBG or Orville Semi Acoustics that have no serial number prefix (no G or J).
Therefore any OBG or Orville with a G is a Terada made guitar.
In 1988 when the OBG's started, FujiGen was at the height of their Fender Japan and Ibanez bolt on neck production and FujiGen was quite happy doing bolt on neck contracts and not set neck Gibson style contracts because set neck construction is more time consuming so Yamano gave the contract to Terada.
By 1992/1993 a lot of the FujiGen Fender and Ibanez contracts had gone to Korea etc so FujiGen was ready to take on new contracts like the Orville contract.
A Fender Japan employee talking about FujiGen factory expansion in 1992/1993 has said that FujiGen was trying to get the Orville contract around 1992/1993 and an Ibanez employee has said that FujiGen didn't get back into set neck Gibson style neck production until around 1991/1992 and also that he saw the Orvilles at Terada and FujiGen around 1993 (and not at other factories Ibanez used like Iida etc) and also on a Japanese forum someone has said Terada had the OBG contract because FujiGen was not making many set neck Gibson style guitars in the late 1980's.
So all 3 of the above agree with each other and point to Terada and not FujiGen for the 1988-1992/1993 OBG solid body models and all the OBG's from 1988-1992/1993 have a G so G = Terada and the backtracing of the ES-335 models from T to J to G just reaffirms it.
The K Orvilles end in 1993 and the Orvilles with serial numbers take over in 1993 with no serial prefix letter (no G or J) and this lines up directly with FujiGen taking over most of the solid body Orvilles and OBG's production from Terada and it also lines up with what the Fender and Ibanez employees have said, so no serial number prefix = FujiGen (any ink stamped serial number with no G or J is FujiGen).
The K Orvilles come from a time when Terada was making all the OBG models 1989-1993 so it would be logical to assume the K Orvilles were made by Terada.
The K Orvilles end exactly when FujiGen start making the solid body OBG's and Orvilles with serials in 1992/1993.
FujiGen took over most of the OBG and Orville solid body making in 1992/1993 from Terada leaving Terada to mostly make the Semi Acoustics which is the way it continued up to and including the Epiphone Japan models from 1998 to 2007.
Also the G Terada custom Les Pauls have headstocks with wide split diamond inlay spacing.
The no prefix FujiGen custom Les Pauls have headstocks with closer split diamond inlay spacing.
Also the G Terada custom Les Pauls have headstocks that have a pronounced open book curve.
The no prefix FujiGen custom Les Pauls have headstocks that have a less pronounced open book curve.
The K custom Les Paul headstocks are the same as the G Terada custom Les Paul headstocks and are not the same as the no prefix FujiGen custom Les Paul headstocks.
At the Terada Gretsch factory tour there are photos of Terada logos and decals for the guitars they make and there is a Orville by Gibson box which is the 2nd box on the top row.
The photos date from 10/27/03 so looks like Terada used the same Orville by Gibson decal box for the Orville by Gibsons G, Orvilles K and J and Epiphone Japan J and T.
By the 10/27/03 Terada were using a T on the Epiphone Japan models.

http://www.gretschguitars.com/terada/im ... G_4051.jpg

Terada Factory Tour,
http://www.gretschguitars.com/terada/

The Gretsch decal in this photo is applied in the same way as the Orville by Gibson or Orville or Epiphone Japan decals were.

From Mike Lewis from Gretsch who visits the Terada Factory

The headstock logos, steerheads, and such are not decals. They are mother-of-pearl, about 0.1mm thick, applied with a poly type glue.



So the Terada G Orville by Gibson Les Paul Customs and the Terada K Orville Les Paul Customs have the same mother of pearl split diamond positioning and spacing and they must both be coming from the same Terada decal technique and the no letter serial numbered FujiGen OBG's and Orvilles have different split diamond positioning and spacing to the Terada G J and K OBG's and Orvilles.
Also the G OBG's and K Orvilles mix up the tenons sometimes and the FujiGen no prefix OBG's and Orvilles have mostly (always) a long tenon.
Some Terada OBG's have a medium tenon and some Terada K Orvilles have a long tenon.
What Terada might have been doing is if a K Orville with a medium tenon turned out better than expected then it was promoted to be a OBG and if a OBG with a long tenon turned out worse than expected then it was demoted to be a K Orville.
So the K Orvilles are from Terada and Terada didn't stamp them and Yamano put the sticker on for warranty purposes and the K does not mean Korea it is something Yamano came up with.
Also a OBG has been found using a sticker just like a K Orville and it looks like what has happened is that Terada or FujiGen missed putting the ink stamped serial on, so Yamano put a sticker on the unstamped OBG for the warranty.
Yamano seems to have wanted to put there own serial number date code on the K Orvilles for some reason.

The Orville by Gibson's were released in 1988 and the Orvilles were released in 1989.
Why were the Orvilles released a year later in 1989 and not in 1988 with the Orville by Gibson's.
Maybe what happened is that Yamano did start the ordering of the Orville by Gibsons and Orville Les Pauls and SG's together in 1987/1988 but did not want the Orville Les Pauls and SG's dated with a serial number stamp because Yamano was not certain when it would release the Orville Les Pauls and SG's maybe because they were waiting to see how the Orville by Gibsons sold or maybe because they were waiting for a bigger distribution deal around Japan.
So maybe the Orville Les Pauls and SG's were premade and Yamano would release them when they wanted to with their own dated sticker for the warranty and did not want Terada to put a date stamp on them .
When they did decide to release the Orville Les Pauls and SG's a year later they released them with the Orville EB-3 bass which was ink stamp dated by Terada.
The Orville EB-3 bass would not have been premade in 1988 like the Orville Les Pauls and SG's and so would not have the Yamano date sticker.
Terada and Yamano kept to this system from 1989-1993 and it ended when FujiGen took over most of the Orville production in 1993.
Something like this must have happened because Yamano could have easily had the Orville Les Pauls and SG's dated with a serial number stamp if they wanted to.
They would just tell Terada to stamp them and Terada would do it.
So it seems the K Orville Les Pauls and SG's probably were made from 1988 just like the Orville by Gibsons but not released until 1989.

From 1989-1991 there were some 65,000 Yen K Orville Les Paul models and some of these have 3 piece tops and also there were some 60,000 Yen K Orville SG's and 65,000 Yen K Orville Melody Makers.
After 1991 the above models were discontinued and the K Orville Les Paul models are 75000 Yen and the K Orville SG's are 65,000 Yen.
From 1993 when FujiGen takes over the Les Paul and SG production with ink stamped serial numbers some models were added so there were Orville Les Paul models at 75,000 Yen and 80,000 Yen (flametop) and 85,000 Yen and the SG's stayed the same as the K Orville SG's at 65,000 Yen.
Interestingly the K Orville Les Paul Junior was 70,000 Yen and the ink stamped serial Orville Les Paul Junior was sold at a lower price of 65,000 Yen.
As you can see in the above post the K Orvilles have Made in Japan pots and bridges and tuners and probably Japanese Gotoh pickups so the only way any part of the K Orvilles can be Korean is the cnc machine carving of the body and necks might have been done in Korea (maybe, maybe not) because the K Orvilles are definitely assembled and finished in Japan.
Also Korean parts could have been used in the low end Orville by Gibsons as well.
Also the ink stamped Orvilles could have been made this way as well with neck and body parts from Korea because the K Orvilles and the ink stamped Orvilles were sold for a similar price so if Terada was using Korea for body and neck parts for the K Orvilles then FujiGen would have been doing the same for the ink stamped Orvilles.
Maybe Korean made bodies and necks were used and maybe not, even if they were used they would have been made under Terada or FujiGen Japanese control and not left up to Korean companies like Samick or Cort or Peerless to make them because the Orville contracts were with Japanese guitar making companies and not Korean guitar making companies.
The wood used in the K Orvilles is African Mahogany the same as the other Orvilles and OBG's, I know this because my K Orville SG is not made from Alder or Basswood or some other wood, the neck and body are made from Mahogany and as you can see from the above K Orville prices they were basically priced the same as the ink stamped Orvilles and are way above the prices in Yen for say the Korean Epiphones selling in Japan at that time.

Terada K Orvilles (Yamano serial sticker 1989-1993) K 09XXXX = 1989, K 00XXXX = 1990, K 01XXXX = 1991, K 02XXXX = 1992, K 03XXXX = 1993.
The ink stamped Orvilles.
Terada serial (G 1988-1995, J 1995-1998) G88XXXX = 1988, G103XXX = March 1991, J603XXX = March 1996, G3 XXXX = 1993,
AG203XXX = March 1992 and A stands for Acoustic.
FujiGen serial (1992/1993-1998) 403xxx = March 1994, 4 XXXX = 1994.

[tonemobile]

The Orvilles have been totally researched and the Orville by Gibsons run from 1988 to 1995 and the Orvilles run from 1989 to 1998 full stop, end of story, no more bad info from wrong info sites.

There are no Korean made Orvilles. Orvilles were managed by the Yamano Music company in Japan and they subcontracted all of the Orville by Gibson and Orville and Japanese Epiphone (made after 1987) making to the Terada and Fujigen guitar factories in Japan.
The G serial OBG's and the K Orvilles were made by Terada and all of the others were made by Fujigen. The Terada made K Orvilles were from 1989-1993 and the Fujigen made non K Orvilles were from 1993-1998.
The Orvilles did not become Epiphone Japan. Epiphone Japan was managed by Yamano and Gibson starting from 1987 and Epiphone, Orville and Orville by Gibson guitars were manufactured with the Yamano/Gibson Epiphones starting in 1987 and the Orville by Gibsons starting in 1988 and the Orvilles starting in 1989. In 1998, Yamano/Gibson decided to end the Orvilles and expand the Epiphone Japan model range and export more of them.

The Orvilles could not possibly have started in 1985 because Yamano Music only became the Japanese Gibson dealer in 1987 which is on the Yamano sites history page. These bogus sites just confuse newbies.

[tonemobile]

The Gibson Les Paul Book by Tony Bacon and Paul Day (1993) mentions that both the Orville by Gibson and Orville guitars, including the K Orville guitars (1989-1993) were made in Japan.

from wikipedia,
"When the (K) Orville guitars were released for retail sale between 1989 and 1993, Yamano Gakki applied a year dated (K) serial number sticker for warranty serial number tracking. The K serial number prefix letter stands for Kuramae which is where Yamano Gakki's wholesale division is located."

Please read the wiki entry for Orville guitars.

No Orvilles were made in Korea.

End of story.