Description: Tsunesaburo Kurosawa No.3 1969This terrific guitar was made in 1969 by Tsunesaburo Kurosawa, one of Japanese luthiers pioneers who (along with Sakazo & Rokutaro Nakade) started modernizing Japanese lutherie in early 1950s. 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 great experience with these famous Ramirez guitars will agree with my statement. This guitar (you are looking at) surely deserves “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 a few tiny dents and light scratches on its body and repaired crack(s) the overall condition of this guitar can still be described as “excellent for its age”. 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 deterioration. It is hard to determine if the crack in the soundboard running below the bridge has penetrated the wood all the way down. It sits right above the brace and none of the sides moves when pressed on. It has been stabilized by the glue applied from the top. When looking inside the guitar one can see a few inches long row of small cleats glued to the (upper right bout) side plate. The presence of these cleats suggests a crack repair yet there are no signs of any crack there. It is then possible that these cleats were used as a crack preventive measure. Such cleats are not present on the upper left bout side plate. The original tuners were defective and therefore replaced with new Gotoh ones.It seems that 3 position marks installed at 5,7 and 12 fret of the side of the neck are made from tiny squares of paper embedded in a drop of glue or lacquer. They feel like small bumps but are smooth in touch. I am sure that if not desired, they can be removed with some patience and skillful approach. Specifications:Top: Solid Cedar/ Ramirez style bracing/ very thin coat of lacquerBack & Sides: Solid Indian Rosewood/ very thin coat of lacquerFingerboard: EbonyNeck: MahoganyScale 660 mmWidth at Nut: 53.50 mmIts action is set to 4.00 mm under E6 and 3.50 mm under E1 however with plenty of extra room on the saddle.This guitar will be shipped in a used 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 have received on 05/31/2023 (one day after posting T. Kurosawa Flamenco No2 1970 guitar for sale) from Antonio M., highly respected Southern California flamenco master (a pupil of Mario Escudero) who in his late 70s still performs in venues all over US West Coast. "Hi Victor, I have purchased from you in the past. This Kurosawa flamenco interests me. I had two just like it. I bought one in 1967 for $146 and the other in 1969 for $300. They were two of the best flamenco guitars I ever owned. They were very light in weight but had a powerful sound due to the cedar top. Both had Ramirez headstocks and bigger than normal pegs. I played them professionally for 4 years. One came apart however when the bridge came off during a performance. The fingerboards were ebony but they both warped badly. "I bought a 1966 Ramirez, a 1966 Oribe and a 1962 Miguel Rodriquez which I used for the last 50 years. Jose Oribe gave me as a gift ( free) one of his $18,000 grand flamenco models when he stopped making them to retire. However, the Kurosawa was a favorite and I never had any other guitars that were so light weight with such a powerful sound"."My 1966 Oribe has held up for me and I still use it but it has no volume as good as the Kurosawas. I am the California Mission Guitarist and travel playing up the west coast to variious old missions playing concerts.""In 1970, I was at Candellas Guitar Store in Los Angeles. Sabicas was there. The owner of Candellas, invited me to meet him. He played my Kurosawa and commented on the light weight and powerful sound it had. Another friend of mine, Lee B., 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. The last time, he put a mirror into the sound hole to see the bracing. Also, in 1970, I was playing guitar at El Cordobes night club when the other guitarist ( famous at the time) played my Kurosawa during his show and said to me later, " 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 ( I was playing the Kurosawa) on the beautiful loud sound my guitar had. One was Maria Alba and the other was Conte de Loyo. Lastly, my friend, guitarist Vicente G., liked the Kurosawa. He was impressed how well the Japanese were making guitars."*************************************************** Real Value of Japanese Vintage GuitarsThe key to understand value of vintage Japanese guitars is to acknowledge galloping price inflation (devaluation of Japanese yen) during 1960s & 1970s. This inflation slowed down in 1980s.During 1960s and most of 1970s model numbers of Japanese guitars were strictly interconnected with their prices in Japanese yen. By 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. Others were still using model numbers with addition of letters and/or other symbols. It is then important to understand that two Yamaha GC10 guitars made 10 years apart are two instruments of totally different class. The same applies to any other Japanese maker/brand. The logical way to estimate the true class of any given Japanese made instrument is to compare its price with the average annual salary of wage workers in Japanese private sectors. This salary was: 450 600 yen in 1965 - 825 900 yen in 1970 - 1 868 300 yen in 1975 - 2 689 000 yen in 1980 - 3 163 000 yen in 1985 - 3 761 000 yen in 1990 - 4 107 000 yen in 1995 - 4 082 000 yen in 2000. Any guitar priced 100 000 yen in 1970 (labelled as No10 or No100) would be priced 200 000 yen in 1975 (relabeled to No20, No200 or 2000), 300 000 yen in 1977 (labelled as No3, No30 or 3000) and 500 000 yen by 1985 (labelled as No50 or 5000). Starting in 1977 Masaru Kohno introduced his new models No40 priced 400 000 yen and No50 priced 500 000 yen. By early 1980s Kohno started using model names instead of numbers and was steadily raising their prices without changing model labeling. His very top model 50 became model “Special”, and a decade later it became model “Maestro”. Naturally, all other Japanese guitar makers were doing similar pricing (labelling) upgrades.Knowing all of that, you can bet on that Masaru Kohno No50 made in 1982 is practically the same grade instrument as Kohno No20 made in 1972, or Kohno no 30 made in 1975.In early 1970s the lowest Ryoji Matsuoka (all plywood) model was 10, followed by (solid top) models 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80 and (all solid woods) models 100 and 150. Models 50, 60 and 80 were made with non-solid figured Brazilian Rosewood (double) back and sides and top model 150 was the only one made with solid figured Brazilian Rosewood b/s.In 1980 the lowest Matsuoka model was (all plywood) 20, followed by (solid top) models 30,40,50, 60 and all solid woods models 80,100,150 and 200. By 1990 the lowest Matsuoka model was M40 and the highest was M300. By 2010 the lowest Matsuoka model was M50 and the top model was M270. You can bet that Ryoji Matsuoka model 50 from 1980 is of the same grade as model M100 from 2000, model 100 from 1980 is of the same grade as model M150 from 2000, model 150 from 1980 is of the same grade as M200 from 2000 and model 200 from 1980 is of the same grade as model M300 from 2000.It is important to mention that if modern era luthiers are using 40+ years old woods to make an “all solid” wood classical guitar, its price is minimum $8000.All vintage guitars made with Brazilian Rosewood are especially precious, including those made straight grain varieties and those with non-solid b/s.Because response and tonal properties of Spruce soundboards are improving over time, long seasoned Spruces are far more precious than long seasoned Cedars. It is not very difficult to find out what are current prices of such guitars made by world’s leading luthiers.Return Policy Buyer has the right to return purchased guitar within 2 days from receipt. General TermsItems must be returned in original, as-shipped condition with all original packaging and no signs of use. Buyer assumes responsibility for all return shipping costs unless the item was not received as described.Fees and ChargesBuyer receives full refund in their original payment method, less any shipping costs.Special conditionsYou have 48 hours of trial after receiving the guitar. 48 hours is enough time to inspect the guitar. 1 hour is usually enough to evaluate the guitar’s tonality and if you don’t like it right away you won’t like it a week later. If you realize that you don’t like the guitar enough to keep it, you have the right to return it. If you find a real problem not disclosed in my description, you are covered by eBay’s Money Back Guarantee. If that problem is damage that likely occurred during the shipment I will file an insurance claim with eBay’s Ship Cover Program. If you decide to return the guitar you must notify me within 48 hours after delivery, pack it and ship it back within 24 hours after "return notification". If you expect to receive a full refund, the guitar must be returned in the same condition as I have shipped it to you. If it arrives back to me damaged, I will not issue any refund but cooperate with you on your insurance claim. It is therefore very important that you ship the guitar fully insured. Victor K.
Price: 2000 USD
Location: Alpharetta, Georgia
End Time: 2024-12-30T13:58:13.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Brand: Tsunesavuro Kurosawa
Type: Classical Guitar
