The Year Series ‘81 is probably the most distinctive design of all the Year Series. These electric acoustics have a cutaway for upper fretboard access, volume and tone controls, a transducer under a brass bridge, an input jack stacked next to the strap end pin, oval sound hole like the model ‘80, and a negative shaped bottom like the Headhunter H-555.

Caribous and Gazelles were available in six or twelve string configurations. The Caribou was available in three colors - Wine Red (WR), Tinted Tan (Tan), and Brown (BR). In a Japanese catalog they are listed as THE’81C/WR, THE’81C/TAN, and THE’81C/BR. The Gazelle (THE’81G) was not colored and was a step up in materials with a spruce top and arched rosewood back and sides.

The tone and volume controls changed over the years. Initially the guitars had plastic tipped sliders for tone and volume. Later these changed to traditional knobs made of wood. The slider version has not aged well - the plastics and mechanism tends to become brittle, stiff, make poor electrical contact, or fail completely. This why you see many with aftermarket controls.

Like other Year Series models, brass was a prominent design feature - used in the nut, saddle, and fret markers.