Hiroshi Tamura Classical Guitar 1972- Brazilian Rosewood./ Cedar

Description

Beautiful guitar beautiful tone.Concert Standard guitar.
Very beautiful handmade copy of Ramirez 1A guitar by one of Japan’s top luthiers who studied in Spain. Features include solid rosewood sides lined with cypress. Double thickness solid Brazilian Rosewood back. Ramirez 1A bracing. It was on offer at £1500 for a quick sale but due to complications from sales on other sites where pounds and dollars got mixed up I have decided to standardise the price at lower price of £1700 as I no longer need to go for a quick sale and this price is closer to the true value of the guitar. Still little interest so I will drop the price to £1399. Yikes.

This guitar the 1 A can still be made to order by Ramirez guitars and would cost circa £9000 plus an extra £8000 for the cedar/ Brazilian rosewood / cypress lined wood option. The guitar has been Cites cleared as there is documentary proof that it was imported into the UK before Brazilian Rosewood became controlled.

He won international guitar making prizes mainly for his Flamenco guitars. Well known in the 70s as very high quality but reasonably priced. Many top flamenco and classical guitarists owned one as interviews in 1970s guitarist magazine show. Brazilian Rosewood double layer back, Brazilian Rosewood sides lined with cypress. Cedar top. Kept in original case by single owner for 52 years so condition very good. Lovely tone. Refurbished by specialist Classical Guitar luthier. Set up and refretted. Owner was left handed but it is a right handed guitar and returned to original set up. Cites verified and certified to allow legal sale of Brazilian Rosewood as the full guitar’s history was available with documentary evidence to back it up. The cypress lining of the Brazilian rosewood sides is a step towards Flamenco guitar specifications and some flamenco guitarist preferred to use these guitars rather than a fully flamenco designed guitar. There are no cracks in the Brazilian Rosewood but there is a dent below the bridge which appears to have been carved into the kanji Japanese character for Tamaru? There are some light crazing marks in the finish which are very common in these guitars but the wood below is not involved and is unmarked. These were very popular in the 1970s and cost £220 in 1972 which with inflation would be circa £2500 in pounds in 2024. Many concert guitarists and Classical Guitar players owned one but few top Flamrenco guitarists chose to use them for public concerts. Cash preferred and collection from near Otley West Yorkshire.

I once owned a Yamaha guitar of similar quality which had a beautiful and rare Ezo Spruce top with incredibly fine grain but the tone of the guitar was disappointing. This Tamaru guitar doesn’t disappoint for tone or volume. With the relatively difficult to obtain article 10 Cites certificate and circa 70 year old Brazilian Rosewood construction the true value of this guitar should be £3000 but I am no longer going for a quick sale and will accept an offer of £2000 ( now dropped to £1695 ) to part fund the building of a custom Fylde guitar.

However the impressive volume, sustain and tone of this guitar will make it very welcome to remain for a few years as a jewel in my small guitar collection.
I am not really a classical player and it should really be appreciated by a really professional player but it’s such a beauty both to play and look at. Most 1970s Japanese guitars have a very sketchy history made in large factories with confusing different names. This is very different it is hand signed by one individual luthier. His exact address and his handmade guitar making skills are available in comments on other of his guitars for sale on line. It’s history in the UK as a single owner guitar for 52 years complement this and allow the Brazilian Rosewood to be certified as built and imported before Brazilian Rosewood became controlled in 1992. Some adverts seem to exaggerate the importance of Hiroshi Tamaru elevating him from one of the best luthiers to the best luthier. Kohno is normally accepted as the best luthier making vintage Japanese classical guitars or perhaps Sadao Yairi but an excellent article on the best vintage Japanese Classical guitar luthiers does include the Tamaru brothers in the top group.
Have had interest from the USA and Russia but prefer not to post the guitar. If interested come and check it out and play it to be sure you really like it.

Price not hard and fast, prepared to give a generous discount to a genuine classical guitarist or for preference a classical guitar student looking for a concert standard classical guitar.
Swap for 00 Martin or similar of similar value. If you know a youngster who is studying classical guitar or a guitarist that wants a classical guitar as part of their collection tell them about this guitar.
It is really a very niche market as this luthier although very well known amongs concert guitarists in the 1970s died in the 1980s so has been largely forgotten about. Word of mouth is the way for some aspiring guitarist to find this bargain and let the guitar sing again.

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