RARITY - MADE IN JAPAN 1977 - JUAN OROZCO 62F10 - RAMIREZ STYLE CLASSICAL CONCERT GUITAR - CEDAR/BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD

Juan Orozco model 62-F-10 1977

Guitar you are looking at was made in Japan in 1977. It is unclear who was its actual maker.

According to Juan Orozco’s published statements, he cooperated with several Japanese makers since 1969 through early 1980s. He mentioned names Tamura, Matsuoka, Yairi and workshops Takamine and Hoshino Gakki. Hoshino Gakki and Takamine Gakki were closely cooperating with Masaru Kohno workshop. Some Juan Orozco models made by Hoshino Gakki luthiers were exact copies of Kohno guitars.  

This guitar is certainly not a copy of Kohno guitars. Its scale, Cedar top, construction method and material selection suggest that it was most likely made by Hiroshi Tamura. After learning from Jose Ramirez, Hiroshi has mastered “double back” construction and used it to make his P80 and P100 models (sold in early/mid1970s). Hiroshi's nickname in Japan was "Tamirez", because his guitars rival all Ramirez guitars you can imagine. So does this instrument.         

If you decide to search the internet you will find some info describing Juan Orozco’s story and achievements. You will also find several reviews describing the quality of his guitars, sold in many countries. I have summarized this available info into a brief chapter.

Juan Orozco III (born on April 14th, 1937 and died February 15th 2020) was a Spanish luthier and guitar impresario who lived in New York from 1965 to 1995, where he had a famous guitar shop at 56th Street (in the vicinity of Carnegie Hall). This address was actually the third location of Juan’s guitar shop. Since 1960s his shop was moved twice to new locations. Juan was also known as the maker of Aranjuez guitar strings and guitar cases. He was also known as organizer of guitar concerts. He befriended many other luthiers and guitar virtuosos.  

Juan was the third generation in family of guitar makers. Juan’s father (Juan Orozco II) built guitars in Spain, Uruguay and Brazil and his son was also actively involved in these workshops.

Between 1969 and 1983 Juan Orozco closely cooperated with several famous Japanese luthiers (Ryoji Matsuoka, Hiroshi Tamura, Sadao Yairi, Masaru Kohno, Masaki Sakurai, Takamine Gakki and Hoshino Gakki. (Gakki in Japanese means Musical Instruments Company).

Guitar you are looking at was a part of Juan’s personal guitar collection. I was fortunate enough to purchase it directly from Juan’s son.

This instrument represents very high grade among all Japanese made Cedar top classical guitars. It certainly belongs to the high shelf among world class instruments.

It offers great volume, super response and sweet and romantic (very Spanish) tonality. Despite being made with Cedar top it offers exceptional treble note clarity, almost Spruce-like. Basses are relatively deep, almost metallic, rich with overtones yet quite clean at the same time. All notes are very well separated. While chords are played you get a great feeling of transparency.

Brand new Japanese made guitars made with solid tops and "non-solid" BR b/s are priced minimum $5500. Yet, in terms of volume and tonality they are no match to a vintage guitar made nearly 50 years ago. 

Very importantly this guitar is set with already lower than standard (for classical guitars) action, which still can be lowered if you wish. This is hardly achievable on most vintage guitars.

The overall condition of this guitar can be described as “excellent for its age”. While its body bears several minor cosmetic flaws (few small dents and several relatively light scratches on the soundboard, some “haze” and hair like scratches on the pack plate and sides) guitar is structurally sound, its neck is straight, fingerboard and leveled frets remain in excellent condition. Original tuners work fine. Mild cloudiness of its finishes is greatly exaggerated on the pictures. The only non-original part is nut, which I have custom made for this guitar. With my set up the guitar is super comfortable to play.  

Specifications:

Top: Very High Grade Solid Cedar /ultra-thin coat of urethane

Double Back: 2 layers of “non-solid” Brazilian Rosewood /thin coat of urethane

Sides: “non-solid” Brazilian Rosewood /thin coat of urethane

Neck: Mahogany

Fingerboard: Ebony

Scale: 650 mm

Nut width: 52 mm

The action on this guitar is set to 3.50 mm under E6 and 3.00 mm under E1, with plenty of extra room on the saddle.  

Guitar will be shipped in a used hard shell case in still very good condition on the inside and “less than great” on the outside.  

THE ONLY PURPOSE OF THIS CASE IS TO PROTECT THE GUITAR DURING SHIPMENT. I WILL NOT PROVIDE ITS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OR MAKE ADDITIONAL PICTURES, NOR I WILL ACCEPT ANY COMPLAINTS. IF YOU DON’T LIKE THIS CASE YOU WILL NEED TO BUY A DIFFERENT ONE.     

WHEN YOU BUY ANY GUITAR, YOU MUST ANTICIPATE TAKING IT TO YOUR LOCAL GUITAR SHOP FOR FINAL ADJUSTMENTS CALLED “SETUP”. DEPENIDNG ON YOUR PLAYING TECHNIQUE, THIS SETUP ON USED GUITARS MAY INCLUDE NEW CUSTOM-MADE NUT AND SADDLE. IF YOU HEAR STRING BUZZ IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT GUITAR IS DEFECTIVE. IF YOU PLAY HARD ENOUGH ALL BASS STRINGS WILL BUZZ OVER THE FRETS, UNLESS THEY ARE SUSPENDED VERY FAR FROM THE FINGERBOARD. UNLESS YOU PLAY QUITE GENTLY, YOU CAN’T HAVE LOW ACTION AND NO BUZZES. KEEP IN MIND THAT CELLO-LIKE BASSES ON HIGH GRADE CLASSICAL GUITARS HAVE THEIR NATURAL “BUZZ”. 

Real Value of Japanese Vintage Guitars

The key to understand value of vintage Japanese guitars is to acknowledge galloping price inflation throughout the late 1960s and 1970s with its peak of 25% in 1974.

During 1960s and most of 1970s model numbers of Japanese guitars were strictly connected with their prices in Japanese yen.

The same class guitar sold in 1970 for 100 000 yen (labelled as model 10), would be sold for 150 000 yen in 1972 (labelled as model 15), 200 000 yen in 1974 (labelled as model 20) and 300 000 yen in 1978 (labelled as model 30). Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised that two Yamaha GC10 guitars made 10 years apart are two instruments of totally different class. The same rule applies to all guitar models made by all other Japanese makers.

Japanese inflation slowed down in the 1980s. By the early 1980s and during following decades model numbers were no longer strictly associated with their prices. Some Japanese guitar makers introduced model names instead of model numbers. For several economic reasons, since 1980s Japanese made guitars were becoming more and more expensive, while their exports slowing down. Today (2025) Japanese highest end classical guitar models are priced at $20000USD level.