RARITY - MADE BY TAKAMINE & MASARU KOHNO - MAJESTIC ARANJUEZ No5 1972 - CLASSICAL CONCERT GUITAR

ARANJUEZ No5 1972

This guitar was made in 1972 by Takamine workshop under the supervision of Masaru Kohno workshop.

Aranjuez guitars line was founded by Masaru Kohno in 1968 (soon after he took over Takamine and delegated his pupil Mass Hirade to manage the company). At first these guitars were named Yamato and had identical design label as you can see on this guitar. Aranjuez guitars were designed exclusively for Japanese market. They were made by Takamine workshop under Masaru Kohno’s supervision until 1977. In 1978-1979 they were still made by Takamine however Kohno stamp was absent on their labels. In 1979 Takamine discontinued their Ramirez style Elite line and started making models with identical design and construction as Aranjuez brand, while Aranjuez line was discontinued for at least few years. The Aranjuez brand was resurrected in the late 1980s and made by Ryoji Matsuoka workshop. Their headstock was like on Mathias Dammann guitars. After the closure of Matsuoka’s workshop (2014) Aranjuez guitars are again made by Takamine co. under Masaki Sakurai’s supervision.

The secret of Aranjuez guitars is that they have always offered exceptional value to the player on a budget. Top Aranjuez models sounded better than many guitars sold by leading Japanese makers at 2 times higher prices.

Since the origin of this brand the very top models were assembled and finished at Kohno’s workshop. The bodies of those top models were made by Takamine or Matsuoka workshops, while soundboards were made by either Masaru Kohno himself or one of his associates, perhaps by Masaki Sakurai. Currently the very top Aranjuez model 725 is still being assembled and finished personally by Masaki Sakurai.

This Aranjuez No5 guitar was priced 50 000 yen in 1972 yen while it sounds on pair with many guitars from that era priced 100 000 yen.

From the early through late 1970s the top of Aranjuez line was model 7 assembled at Masaru Kohno workshop. The second from the top was model No6. Both models 6 & 7 were “all solid woods” construction. Although I have never seen or heard about one, I am confident that both models were already made in 1972. Therefore model 5 certainly wasn’t the top of the line even though its headstock closely resembles headstock used by Masaru Kohno on his top of the line models. I have sold several and seen hundreds of Aranjuez guitars yet never seen one with such a headstock.

What is also very important to mention is that while all Aranjuez models of 1970s had Cedar tops, all Kohno models had Spruce tops. Regardless of what some sellers believe and claim in their listings, Masaru Kohno wasn’t making Cedar top guitars until 1985. Those Kohno’s Cedar top models were made in very limited numbers (perhaps by special order only), their soundboards look very dark, rosettes and bridge decoration are different from those used on regular Spruce top models.

This truly majestic guitar offers exceptional volume and response combined with very romantic tonality. Its trebles are super sweet, round, yet very crisp. Basses are deep and full of overtones, yet relatively clean. All notes are well balanced, note clarity and separation fantastic, sustain amazing.

I am sure that every experienced player will agree that this guitar beats many “hand made in Spain” $8000 guitars available on US market.

This guitar remains in "practically mint" condition, without any sign of use. Only with a magnifying glass or falcon’s eye one can find a mark on its body. Original tuners also looked like new but were hard to turn and were replaced by brand new Gotoh set.  

Specifications:

Top: High Grade Solid Cedar/cashew lacquer

Back and Sides: Non-Solid Latin America Rosewood /cashew lacquer

Neck: Mahogany

Fingerboard: Ebony

Tuning Machines: high grade gold plated

Scale: 660 mm

Nut Width: 52 mm

Nut & Saddle: Bone

Strings: Savarez Cristal Normal Tension

Current action is set to 3.80 mm under E6 and 3.20 under E1 with still extra room on the saddle (about 3.00mm on the E6 side and 2.00mm on the E1 side).

It will be shipped in a lightly used hard-polyfoam case.

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