Official Luthiers Forum!

Wondering if anyone has tried Hosco Japanese nut files? They seem to be priced well, not sure if they are outsourced to China or not.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

My local supplier carries them, as well as the crowning files ... I am pretty sure they are truly made in Japan .... the quality is excellent. I have procured many sets for my students, although I am still working on wearing out a set of the Sm files ... once these are done, the Hosco will be on the bench ...

I do have and use both the med and jumbo crown files though .. very nice..

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I've got a set, and they are fantastic. Lent them to others to try and they've ditched their old sets and bought these. So I guess most people will be happy with them.

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

Here is their home page. It states they are a supllier that suplies tools and other stuff from japan and china.
http://www.hosco.co.jp/HOSCO_ENGLISH/Pages/Aboutus.html

Where does one purchase these files ?

Yes, I would like to know that as well. But I can assure you of this... the ones that look like Hosco files on E-bay are not Hosco files. A number of complaints about ebay knockoffs exist.

So, OP, where did you find them?

Mike

Tony and Frei do not live in the US... so I guess we are out of luck. No US suppliers.

Uh, oh, I asked a guy on ebay, and he said they were made in Japan, and Hosco, but he does not advertise this. They are 10 for $89--

Man, they better be Nippon steel, I jumped through all the hoops and asked all the right questions...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Frei, I think you may be OK. Page 37 of their catalog show identical files!! I was thinking about the plastic handled files, I saw them on ebay with NO logo. Made me suspicious.

When you get yours, tell us if you can find the Hosco name.

Mike

edit: I looked over his offerings. It looks like all of his files are Hosco, I have questions in to him to make sure. But I think they are the real thing.

Yes, 10 for $10 bucks a piece would be a deal. And a case to boot...

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

The picture looks like a set of files I have. I can't recall where I got them, but the box has a number 4050 on it and says

SWISS PATTERN FILES
UO, CHIKYU
FILES.OF.MINUTE.USE
HIROSHIMA FILES JAPAN

Mine do a good job.

I have these and they appear to be the same and are cheaper. They show different sizes but look like they come from the same factory. By the way they work real well.
http://www.warmoth.com/Nut-Files-Set-of-8-P45.aspx

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

The gauged nut files I bought from LMI look identical as well. The box says "files for minute use" and "Hiroshima files".

Those would indeed appear to be Hosco... even the sku number is similar. The difference between Frei's find and these is two additional files and a different thickness schedule. According to the Hosco catalogue, NFS8 is not offered anymore, or perhaps it is a custom set for a specific distributor.

The LMI Ibinez set has 8 files and a different thickness schedule than the ones at warmouth. Its all a bit confusing. I think I am going to pull a pack of my favorite strings and see which one comes the closest.

Mike

Based on my string usage, the Ibinez (LMI) is the best set. The Hosco NFS-10 (Frei) comes in second, but is prolly best overall because of increased flexibility.

So, its the Hosco set on Ebay.

Thank you Frei for a timely post.

Mike ( I love Elixir, light-medium, nanoweb)

Ok, got them fast, 3 days, and they are 'Hosco, made in Japan!, man, are the smaller gauge nut files so flexible though? They are pretty bendy at the low end. Plastic case with name and made in Japan.
$96 delivered insured.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

I went to LMI and I didn't find anything called an "Ibanez" set. I seen the files that look like the Hosco ones.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

The Ibanez files at LMI are the files that look like the Hosco set. LMI lists them as FISET and below the picture of the files, it states "Ibanez Set: 8 joint files".
Sizes included in the LMI set are .010", .013", .017", .024", .032", .036", .046", and .056".

What Alan said.