1960s Terada-T Haruo C-312 Folk Guitar Sunburst Solid Spruce/Maple Nylon String, Luthier Restored

Terada C-132 made by Mr. Terada Haruo (T. Haruo) in the mid 1960s. Perfect for finger-style playing with a Martin feel but nylon strings.

Teradas are quite rare in the USA because they didn't have Terada labels over here. The Terada-made guitars sold in the US were made for Gibson, Gretsch, Ibanez, Epiphone and Martin and had those companies' labels. I included a Terada/Martin label for comparison. Terada brand guitars were sold to the rest of the world market, but not allowed in the US. My guess is that a G.I. bought it while on leave in Tokyo and took it home.

She's an odd bird. Looks like a small flattop, like a Gibson B-25 with the Gibson-style sloped corners, but not even close. She's a western/classical hybrid. She has a flat fretboard and a classical-style bridge and takes gut/nylon strings. BUT, she has a sunburst finish, maple back and sides, folk-style tuners, a pickguard, a strap button and Gibson-style binding. She also has un-classical medium tall frets and a fairly narrow neck. Has great multi-ply binding, a multi-ply rosette and a bound fingerboard with side markers. The bridge and fingerboard are real Brazilian rosewood. Since she was made in the 60s, the rosewood is legal with SITES. The nickel-silver frets had zero detectable wear.

The top is solid 1-piece spruce, the back is 2-piece book-matched birdseye maple. The sides are solid figured maple. The maple back and sides were used in order to show off the sunburst. All of the parts are original.

The previous owner put steel strings on her but it's designed and braced for nylon strings, so the top was badly bellied. I had to install a Bridge Doctor­® to rotate the bridge back to level. The Bridge Doctor couldn't bring the top back to being perfectly level, see the picture. I levelled, crowned and polished the frets. Then I rounded and smoothed the ends till they feel like glass. The neck has a classical-style internal reinforcement under the fretboard, not an adjustable truss rod. Then I put GHS La Classique™ classical strings on her. The neck joint is solid. The action is now at 3.25mm.

I filled some of the small nicks in the lacquer and buffed the whole guitar. The tuners didn't need any work; they are in great shape.

Comes with her original Terada hardshell case. The key is missing, so the latch by the handle won't close.

Henry Nelson Luthiery stuff might cost more than other listings, but we think it's worth it. We're not going anywhere. We stand behind our gear. We do research and accurate descriptions. We test our stuff and usually do restoration work; sometimes light, sometimes intense (read our item descriptions for details). I'm an experienced luthier and I use traditional techniques and materials: hide glue and nitrocellulose lacquer. I even make my own French polish and shellac from scratch. In addition, our vintage gear holds its value, unlike new stuff. We have a no-hassle return policy. The return shipping is on you, but the item price and shipping to you is refunded. Simply return it in the same condition in a timely manner.