Masaru Matano Asturias A5 1979

1979 Masaru Matano Asturias A5 Grand Concert Guitar

This beauty was created in 1979 at the famous Asturias Gakki, or workshop, which has been in continuous operation since 1962.

The current and original Asturias headstock was introduced by Matano in 1977. Previous models had a Ramirez style headstock. Additionally, Asturias guitars built before 1981 did not have a serial number on the label. The serial number system was not added until sometime in 1981, when the Rokkomann Company acquired the Asturias brand from Matano. He subsequently disappeared from the guitar scene in Japan and never returned.

Asturias has been in business in Kyushu, the southern island of Japan, since 1962 making fine instruments with limited production and only 15-20 employees. On average, Asturias only produces around 1500 guitars a year. This is why you don't often see them come up for sale, especially guitars in this condition. New Asturias classical models list at $2500-$6000, with a few priced even higher. Beautiful rosewood has been used for the back and sides and it has a  wonderful high grade spruce top, mahogany neck, rosewood bridge and fingerboard, and a Spanish heel neck joint (picture 5), which is usually only seen in the higher grade guitars and is considered the most highly developed neck joint in guitar construction. . Asturias is well known for only using high quality wood material which has been dried and matured over many years. This guitar is beautiful and has been well cared for with a few small dings and blemishes. As far as sound, it's a rich Spanish sound with singing mids, ringing trebles and warm defined bass notes. The guitar has a very beautiful tone and is very similar to those instruments of Kohno and Sakurai in my opinion.

SPECIFICATIONS

Top: High Grade Solid Spruce/Lacquer with a Torres Style Bracing

Back & Sides: Rosewood

Neck: Mahogany

Fingerboard: Rosewood

With at the nut: 51 mm

Scale: 658 mm

The guitar will be shipped in a case that is in fair condition. I pack all guitars I ship extremely well so no issues occur during shipping.

Guitars from this era are superior in quality in almost all respects to the guitars being produced today.

Japanese luthier built guitars from the mid 1960s to the end of the 1980s were of exceptional quality. Many of these luthiers operated small shops with anywhere from one or two master builders to perhaps 15-20 master craftsmen. Bans on certain types of wood were not yet in place, thus allowing these craftsmen to source incredibly high quality woods to build their creations. Additionally, many of the top names in Japanese guitar building were trained either in Spain or under Spanish master builders in Japan. There is no doubt that these guitars are a bargain in today's market, but locating top quality Japanese classical guitars from this era is not always easy, plus with the restrictions in place for exporting certain wood types across international boarders, it makes it even more difficult to obtain one of these gems. Guitars built using similar materials in today's market will cost you far more than what you pay for a guitar from the golden era of Japanese classical guitars due to the scarcity or complete bans on certain types of wood. Please have a look at what I have to offer and feel free to contact me if you would like additional information about any of these guitars.

I offer mainly vintage Japanese instruments from the golden era of Japanese classical guitar building. Guitars that range in age from 20 - 50 years are going to have cosmetic flaws that comes with age and use. In most cases, this does not affect the sound or playability of the guitar, but gives today's guitar enthusiast an opportunity to own one of these amazing creations at a reasonable price when compared to the factory built instruments being cranked out of China and other countries that have little to no concern about what a guitar can and should sound like. That comes with experience, the kind of experience that the great Japanese luthiers acquired and perfected.