1976 Teruaki Nakade Model C15 Vintage Classical Guitar, Spruce & Brazilian Rosewood w/ Case

Up for sale, 1976 Teruaki Nakade Model C15 classical guitar in exceptional condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original hardshell case. This guitar was handcrafted in Japan by master luthier Teruaki Nakade, son of Sakazo Nakade; beginning as violin makers in the ‘30s, Sakazo Nakade and his brother Rokutaro traveled to Spain in the 1950s, where they studied classical guitar luthiery with Ramirez and Hernandez & Aguado. Upon their return to Japan, they became highly regarded luthiers in their own right, and Sakazo’s sons Teruaki Toshihiko, and Yukio eventually joined him in the family business. The Nakade family’s output is of exceptional quality and craftsmanship, and this 1976 Teruaki Nakade C15 is no exception.

This guitar has a fan-braced spruce top, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, and a mahogany neck capped by an ebony fingerboard. The tone is warm and clear, with great string-to-string balance and a sweet, rounded treble response that results in particularly sonorous melodic lines. The low end is full-but-tight, delivering plenty of harmonic complexity with just a touch of growl. Featherweight at 3lbs 8oz, this Nakade has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with normal tension D’Addario strings and ideal action.

The one-piece mahogany neck has a fairly substantial D-shaped profile carve with full, inviting shoulders, measuring .875” deep at the 1st fret and .945” at the 9th. The slab ebony fingerboard has flawless slender fretwire, playing cleanly up the arrow-straight neck in all registers. Action at the 12th fret measures 11/64” on the bass side and 9/64” on the treble side. The scale length measures 658mm, and the hand-carved bone nut is 52mm in width. The slotted headstock has a rosewood veneer and stock gold-plated tuning machines.

On the body, the rosewood bridge sits flush with the spruce top on all edges, and the saddle has plenty of height for future adjustment. String spacing at the bridge is 55mm, the lower bout width is 14 1/4“, and the body depth at the lower bout measures just a hair over 3 3/4“. The original label is visible through the soundhole, and the soundhole is framed by an ornate rosette. The label is signed by Teruaki Nakade, and dates production to 1976.

The top and back are framed by multi-ply purfling, and the bookmatched Brazilian rosewood back and sides exhibit very subtle flame figuring. This guitar is well-kept and crack free, with cosmetic wear limited to a scant few tiny nicks on the rims and a handful of faint finish scratches on the body as a whole, as well as some very light wear on the top along the strum path. The smooth gloss on the neck profile is nigh flawless, save for one tiny, shallow mark on the bass-side shoulder at fret 5 that is imperceptible to the palm.

The original hardshell case with red plush interior is included.