THUMB MW-30 – Natural, Lawsuit Era, 1980

Thumb MW-30 is a Japanese acoustic guitar, manufactured in 1980 at the Terada Gakki factory. The instrument is based on a Dreadnought body shape. This unit has been preserved in New Old Stock (NOS) condition, meaning that since leaving the factory over four decades ago, it was not played by an end-user and spent this time in storage. The guitar features a spruce top plate and rosewood back and sides. After our basic service work, which included installing new strings and cleaning the finishes, the guitar is ready to play.

Technical specification

• Manufacturer: Thumb
• Model: MW-30
• Year of production: 1980
• Body: Spruce / Rosewood
• Neck: Mahogany
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Frets: Vintage (Condition: 100% – factory, NOS)
• Pickups: None
• Electronics: None
• Visual condition: Very good (details in description)
• Finish: Natural
• Weight: 1.95 kg / 4.30 lbs

Body and construction The Dreadnought-shaped soundbox features a top plate made of spruce, with the back and sides made of rosewood. The instrument is finished with a clear lacquer (Natural). Inside the soundbox, a traditional X-bracing system is used. A standard glued neck construction (Set-Neck) is applied. Given the NOS condition, the lacquer coating in our workshop only required gentle cleaning from dust and the application of a protective wax layer.

Neck and ergonomics The mahogany neck features a profile similar to a "V" (Soft V). The neck is paired with a rosewood fingerboard. Due to the lack of previous use, the original Vintage size frets show no wear (retaining 100% of their factory height). The nut width is 43.3 mm. As part of the service work, the fingerboard was cleaned and conditioned.

Sound The instrument is a fully acoustic guitar with no electronic circuit.

• Characteristics: The combination of a spruce top and a rosewood body generates a frequency response with clear, legible highs and a defined bottom end.
• Dynamics: The guitar responds appropriately to varied articulation strength, maintaining clarity during strumming with a pick.

Additional information

The New Old Stock (NOS) condition refers to instruments that, after production, never reached a final customer and retained their original specification without secondary repairs.

The Thumb brand was an internal product line (house brand) of the Terada Gakki factory, intended exclusively for distribution in the Japanese Domestic Market.

The use of proven laminates in the construction (spruce and rosewood) was a standard in Japanese production of this period, which helped the guitar survive decades without structural damage.

The service work we performed was kept to a necessary minimum to preserve the authenticity of the NOS condition: a new set of strings (12-53) was installed, the lacquer finishes were refreshed, and a truss rod adjustment was made.

Hardware

• Bridge: Rosewood – the original, factory-fitted bridge with the original saddle.
• Tuners: Closed-gear Gotoh mechanisms. The chrome hardware has retained its original mechanical efficiency and coating without any focal points of corrosion.

Instrument condition

• Technical condition: The instrument is mechanically functional after a luthier verification. The truss rod works properly, and the frets have no signs of use (NOS condition).
• Visual condition: The guitar is preserved in very good visual condition. Only microscopic traces resulting from decades of storing the instrument in a case are visible. The wood has no structural cracks.
• Setup and Modifications: The instrument is 100% original, with no modifications or repairs. A basic setup was performed, including the adjustment of the neck relief for a new set of strings.

Why choose this instrument

• NOS Condition: A rare opportunity on the secondary market to acquire a guitar from 1980 that has not been previously played and retains 100% of its factory specification.
• No fret wear: The instrument does not require procedures such as fret leveling or replacement, offering the original fingerboard geometry.
• Rosewood body: The use of this wood species on the back and sides provides different acoustic characteristics (stronger bottom end) compared to standard mahogany designs.
• Terada Gakki production: The guitar serves as physical proof of the high assembly precision of Japanese factories from the turn of the 70s and 80s.