BARGAIN - TSUNESABURO KUROSAWA CUSTOM 1968 - RAMIREZ 1a CLASS CLASSICAL CONCERT GUITAR

YOU ARE LOOKING AT A WORLD CLASS INSTRUMENT PRICED AT THE BARGAIN LEVEL.

CURRENTLY JAPANESE MADE BRAND NEW GUITARS OF THIS CLASS ARE PRICED MINIMUM $10000USD. THOSE MADE IN SPAIN ARE PRICED MUCH HIGHER. 

This terrific guitar was made in 1968 by Tsunesaburo Kurosawa, one of Japanese luthiers pioneers who (along with Sakazo & Rokutaro Nakade) started modernizing Japanese lutherie in early 1950s. This guitar has no model number, hence must have been a custom order.

Tsunesaburo Kurosawa was a great luthier himself, making terrific classical and flamenco guitars. He also trained many other great luthiers, including his famous nephew, Sumio Kurosawa (who later reached for the very top among Japanese elite luthiers). Tsunesaburo, however, had great business drive and in late 1960s established his own HITACHI guitar factory (in which Sumio had a leading position). In early 1970s Tsunesaburo started to build a chain of his own music stores all over Japan. As of today, Kurosawa’s network is the largest domestic distributor and retailer of musical instruments in Japan.

During those late 1960s and early 1970s Tsunesaburo was making rather limited number of guitars, many of which were custom made and waiting time for one was about 2 years. Many of his guitars were “one of its kind” with different unique headstocks and/or ornamental extras. All his instruments represent truly world class level.  

This guitar was made based on Jose Ramirez blueprints, yet it is more of Tsunesaburo’s own creation. Even though it wasn’t made with Spanish heel it can easily challenge any Ramirez 1a ever made. I strongly believe that most players who own, have owned, or have extensive experience with these famous Ramirez guitars will agree with my statement.       

This guitar surely deserves “Grand Grand Concert” title. It offers immense volume and superb response. Its sound is simply very majestic, with deep and rich (cello-like) basses and strong ringing (piano-like) trebles, all notes with their own overtones yet exceptional level of clarity and separation. All notes are magnified by very impressive sustain. 

Despite some visual imperfections the overall condition of this guitar can be described as “excellent for its age”. Its body is free from any visible scratches or dents. The only (light) dent is located on the fingerboard between frets 2 & 3. 

What is greatly exaggerated in the pictures and barely visible in regular light is the cloudiness of its finishes. In regular light the soundboard looks like milk chocolate. The most intense cloudiness is within the glaze coat of the fingerboard side bindings where they meet with soundboard. It seems that are a few short hair-like cracks within this glaze finish in the very corners (between the fingerboard edge and the soundboard plane). These finish cracks are not associated with any cracks in the wood nor any separation between adjacent parts. Very importantly its neck is straight, fingerboard and frets remain in excellent shape, its action can be set way below the standard and its finishes don’t show signs of any real deterioration.  

Specifications:

Total length: 99.50 cm

Body length: 49.00 cm

Body depth: 100-105 mm

Upper bout width: 290 mm

Lower bout width: 360 mm

Waist width: 235 mm

String spacing at the saddle: 57 mm

String spacing at the nut: 42 mm

Top: Solid Cedar/ Ramirez style bracing/ very thin coat of lacquer

Back & Sides: Solid Indian Rosewood/ very thin coat of lacquer

Fingerboard: Ebony

Neck: Mahogany

Scale 660 mm

Width at Nut: 51.00 mm

Its action is set to 3.20 mm under E6 and 2.80 mm under E1 with still plenty of extra room on the saddle.

This guitar will be shipped in a used original hard shell case in still decent condition.

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”. 

******************************************************

Here are the messages that I received on 05/31/2023 from a professional California flamenco guitarist, who is 79 years old yet still performs, just like he has been performing for the last 51 years in venues along US West Coast.   

“Hi Victor, I have purchased from you in the past. This Kurosawa flamenco interests me. I had two similar to it. I bought one in 1967 and the other in 1969.They were two of the best flamenco guitars I ever owned. They were very light in weight and had a powerful sound due to the cedar top. I played them professionally. I have played several other guitars made by famous Spanish luthiers. However, the Kurosawa had more power and volume. In 1969, I was at Candellas Guitar Store in Los Angeles. I had just bought my second Kurosawa. Sabicas was there. He played my Kurosawa and commented on the light weight and powerful sound it had. Another friend of mine, Lee Beeder, who owned a guitar shop in Hollywood, offered several times to buy my first Kurosawa. Lee built guitars and was very impressed with the volume of the Kurosawa. Three times when I was at his shop, he would always stick his hand into the sound hole of the Kurosawa, feeling for how it was braced. Also, in 1970, I was playing guitar at El Cordobes night club when the other guitarist, Manolo Vasquez, (famous at the time) played my Kurosawa and said to me, " Que sonido tan bonito y potente tiene esta guitarra", which means "What a beautiful powerful sound this guitar has." Two famous flamenco dancers also complemented me on the beautiful loud sound my guitar had, as did flamenco dance teacher Vilma Coral when I played for her classes in 1971. Lastly, my friend, guitarist Vicente Gomez, also liked the Kurosawa and how well the Japanese were making guitars.”

*****************************************************  

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 high end classical guitar models are priced at $20000USD level.