Guitar Collector Forum

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and I registered here because last week I found this amazing old resonator style electric guitar. The minute I saw this thing sitting behind the counter at a local thrift store my eyes popped out of the sockets a little. It's in need of a lot of work, but I think it's repairable. The problem is, I can't find anything on it anywhere on the world wide web. The consensus among people locally that I've shown it to is that it's probably an ancient Japanese guitar. I'm inclined to agree, but I would still like to know when it was manufactured--pre or post WWII. The fretboard and headstock are pearloid and look low-end. The body was painted and most of what looks like damage is the paint peeling. It is cracked in a few spots also. There's something rattling around inside, but it has a bit of weight to it. I'm afraid to take it apart, but I realize at some point I'll probably have to. Some of the screws holding the resonator pan are missing. Anyway, it's a Tiger(or at least that's what I think that says). Has anyone out there ever seen one of these before? When was it manufactured? Where was it manufactured? Who manufactured it? Any help would be greatly appreciated...thanks