MADE IN JAPAN 1979 - MORALES M500 - VERY UNIQUE - MARTIN D45 STYLE - ACOUSTIC GUITAR

MORALES M500 1979

This guitar was made in mid/late 1970s at Zen-On’s guitar factory in Suwa, Japan being the top model within Morales M acoustic guitar series.

Founded in early 1930s Zen-On Music Co. is a highly reputable Japanese music score and musical instruments distributor. Zen-On had its own guitar manufacture in Suwa, Japan yet some Zen-On instruments were made by independent workshops led by great Japanese luthiers. There have been countless guitar models and brands sold under Zen-On umbrella, from beginner level to highest end ones.

The best-known Zen-On’s lines of acoustic guitars were Morales and Roje, both discontinued by the late 1970s. While these guitars must have been made by various workshops none bears any signature nor stamp of actual maker.

Even though M500 is not “all solid woods” model it offers simply terrific sound, far better than many “all solid woods” guitars currently sold in USA priced at $4500 level. 

As of today, Japanese factory made solid top guitars of similar construction and looks are priced at $3000 level. However, in terms of volume and tonality they stand no chance against a 45 year old vintage guitar. Only guitars made with 45 years old woods could do that (after being frequently played for at least a couple of years). This will be rather difficult to order such a guitar, because woods seasoned for so long are very hard to find. Guitars made in Japan with (only) 20 years old tops are priced at $4500 level. A similar class solid top guitar made by a well-established individual American luthier, can easily cost you 50% more. If you'd like to add solid back and sides made with 20 years old Indian Rosewood the price may very well double. If, however, you wanted to go "all the way" and have old growth Brazilian Rosewood b/s you need to be prepared for the price at $25000 level. 

NONE OF THESE GUITARS WILL SOUND MUCH BETTER (IF BETTER AT ALL) THAN THE ONE YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW!    

Guitar offers impressive volume and great response. Its sound is rich yet not very sweet. Basses are quite deep but also very clean. Trebles are strong but also bright. metallic yet very sweet at the same time. Therefore, this guitar is great choice for rock and blues but not so much for romantic fingerstyle pieces (“it needs a kick to give a kick”).

Being priced 50 000yen in 1979 it was not a cheap guitar. In those years Japanese beginner could easily get decent sounding “all plywood” guitar for 10 000 yen.

Despite its age this guitar remains in "practically mint" condition, perhaps never really played before. Its body doesn’t bare any noticeable signs of use, and its tuners look “like new”. The only imperfection is the mild cloudiness of its finishes (greatly exaggerated on the pictures).

Specification:

Top: Solid Spruce /Martin style X bracing with not scalloped braces /ultra-light gloss finish

Back & Sides: Rosewood “laminates” / ultra-light gloss finish

“Laminated” is quite unfortunate term regarding Japanese made guitars. These plates were made from 2 layers of solid wood glued together with natural resins. They were made so well that they performed as good as solid wood while being far less expensive in guitar production and far more resistant to cracking in regular use. In recent years many guitar makers around the world adopted a new term "semi-solid" to describe these plates.

Neck: Nato with 2-way truss rod

Fingerboard: Rosewood

Nut width: 43mm

Scale: 655 mm

The action is set to 2.30 mm under E6 and 1.80 mm under E1, with very little extra room on the saddle.

This guitar will be shipped in a used hard-shell 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.      

IF YOU BUY A GUITAR, YOU MUST ANTICIPATE TAKING IT TO YOUR LOCAL GUITAR SHOP FOR FINAL ADJUSTMENTS CALLED “SETUP”. STRING BUZZ DOESN’T MEAN THAT GUITAR IS DEFECTIVE.

My posted for sale guitars are stored in climate-controlled vault already packed into shipping boxes, with loosen strings. Because the strings are loosened, they don’t pull the neck or soundboard, and the neck may relax (straighten more) and the soundboard flatten a bit, which may result with the string action being lower than my it was with my original settings and lead to buzzes and/or dead notes after guitar arrives to you. Such a change in neck curvature can also happen just because of vibrations during the shipment and/or temperature fluctuations. Therefore, you must be ready to make final action adjustment yourself and or have it done by professional. All that really needs to be done is the simple neck adjustment by using the truss rod (turning the truss rod counterclockwise will relief the neck and strings will move away from the frets).

THAT IS WHY TRUSS RODS ARE INSTALLED IN THE NECKS OF ACOUSTIC 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.