HAND MADE IN 1974 RYOJI MATSUOKA M60 SUPERB RAMIREZ STYLE CLASSICAL GUITAR

Brand: R.Matsuoka
;Country/Region of Manufacture: Japan

HAND MADE IN 1974 RYOJI MATSUOKA M60 SUPERB RAMIREZ STYLE CLASSICAL GUITAR

Please read my 7 days return policy at the bottom of the page

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If you are thinking about a purchase of a used vintage guitar you need to accept the fact that such guitars may have cosmetic flaws solely associated with their age, but not related to any particular damage. For example their finishes change their look over the years and are not glossy and crystal clear like on brand new guitar. In addition, such guitars may require fret dressing, new tuners, string action adjustment or a simple repair before they can be fully enjoyed. I see guitars as musical instruments, not as furniture. When I describe guitar as being in excellent condition I don't talk only about its cosmetics but mostly about its structural & functional condition, sound and playability. If you are seeking a perfect looking, low maintenance guitar you should abandon a thought about buying used vintage one, especially from me.

I don't offer "sound samples" because they never reflect true sound of a guitar as we hear it playing in our own room. You can greatly change tonality of any guitar by using different strings.       

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            Ryoji Matsuoka M60 Figured Brazilian Rosewood B/S

Even though this guitar has no label, it was certainly handmade by Master Luthier Ryoji Matsuoka. Model M60 based on Ramirez blueprint with Kohno style double ebony reinforcement in the neck was made only between 1972 and 1974.  Tuners, rosette and bridge tie block decoration match other R.Matsuoka M60 guitars from exactly the same era. The number that you see through the soundhole is the part number, not a serial number of any kind. 

Very similarly looking Matsuoka model M80 from the same era had colorful purflings along soundboard's perimeter.

The only other similar in style (Ramirez blueprint, Kohno style double ebony reinforcement in the neck) guitars made at that time were LA ESPERANZA  guitars (classe 500, classe 600 and classe 700). However LA ESPERANZA guitars had different tuners, rosettes, tie block decoration, different style "horns" on the headstock e.t.c.

This guitar was priced 60 000 yen in 1974, a value close to Yearly Salary of Japanese college graduate.

What is also important to emphasize is that due to total lack of material guitars with colorful beautiful grain pattern of Jacaranda de Brasil are no longer made in Japan. Matsuoka workshop stopped making them by the end of XX century. Kazuo Yairi's factory kept making CY140 until year 2012. Right now such guitars might be available only by special order and priced no less than $5000. Guitars with solid Brazilian Rosewood made in Japan are priced no less than $10,000. 

This is in overall excellent condition for its age. It has several super minor cosmetic flaws: some super tiny dents and fine scratches, mostly on its top. Great majority of these minor flaws are visible from rather close distance. The most conspicuous, although not dangerous at all, are vertical ridges in the finish on the soundboard. They are not cracked and they are no associated with any cracks in the wood. Such changes in finish are actually very characteristic to many Matsuoka guitars from that era with tops finished with tainted lacquers . Another visible on the pictures feature is delicate cloudiness of the finishes. This cloudiness visible on the pictures made under the strong camera flash light, is practically invisible in regular light. 

All these described above changes in the finish are just another proof that this guitar was made more than 40 years ago. Even in case of very well maintained 40+ years old vintage guitar perfect finishes are super rare. Therefore I can describe the overall condition of this guitar as no less than excellent.

The guitar offers exceptional volume and response. It has very unique & sweet sound, with clear trebles and deep basses, with great sustain. It is definitely comparable with many guitar models available on US market in price range $4000 - $5000. It can easily compete with any Ramirez 1A guitar. 

All Ryoji Matsuoka models, including lower numbers, are high quality guitars with decent volume and very clean and balanced notes. The fact that the lower models have laminated back & sides is truly of very minor importance. These laminates are made the way that first of all is very hard to distinguish them from solid plates by naked eye and they do exactly the same job. The most important part of Matsuoka guitars is his original bracing of the soundboard which greatly enhances the volume and the sound quality.

Antonio Torres, The Father of Modern Era Classical Guitar, has made a great sounding guitar with cardboard back and sides just to prove their relative irrelevance as the factor influencing overall sound quality of the guitar. 

Specification:

* Solid Spruce Top with original Matsuoka bracing

* Figured Brazilian Rosewood Doubleplate for back and sides

Calling this construction "laminates" would actually be very incorrect and quite misleading. This genuine Japanese invention has really nothing in common with modern era cheap particle-board laminates. This construction is nothing but 2 solid wood plates glued together, hence in fact nothing but reinforced solid woods. Such plates perform no different from solid woods, while don't crack as easily, are much easier to work with, and allow for much lower prices of these instruments. Such guitars have always been and still are a true blessing for all guitar enthusiasts with limited funds.

* Mahogany neck with 2 Ebony Stripes

* Body/neck connection Spanish Heel 

* Ebony fretboard

* Fine wood mosaic inlay around sound hole

* Hand Polished Nickel Silver Frets

* Rosewood Bridge

* Slotted Ramirez Style Headstock

* Bone nut and saddles

* Nut width: 52mm

* Scale: 650 mm

* Gold hardware

Guitar's action is set to 4.00 mm under E6 and 3.5 mm under E1, without much more room on the saddle for experiments with lower action. This however a standard action on classical guitars.  

This guitar will be shipped in lightly used hard polyfoam case in still excellent condition.

In order to ship a package with guitar to Australia at affordable rate +/- $150.00 (USPS International Priority Mail), length of such package can’t exceed 42” and its girth (2 x times width + 2 x height) + length can’t exceed total of 97”. If you want original or non-original hard shell case, the size of the package will qualify it only for USPS/Fedex Global Express Guaranteed  at $400.00 price.

Real Value of Japanese Vintage Guitars

The key to understand value of vintage Japanese guitars is to acknowledge galloping devaluation of Japanese yen in 1960s & 1970s. This devaluation was somewhat slower in 1980s. The best measure of this devaluation is Starting Yearly Salary of Japanese College Graduate (SYSJCG).

SYSJCG in in 1965 was 19 600 yen, in 1969 – 34 600 yen, in 1970 39 200 yen, in 1972 – 62 300 yen, in 1975 79 200 yen, in 1977 121 200 yen and in 1980 - 163 000 yen.

During 1960s and most of 1970s model numbers of Japanese guitars were strictly interconnected with their prices in Japanese yen. In late 1970s and during following decades model numbers were no longer strictly associated with their prices. Many Japanese guitar makers introduced model names instead of model numbers. Others were still using model numbers with addition of letter abbreviations or other symbols.  

The best and only logical approach while evaluating real value (real grade) of vintage Japanese guitar is to compare its price in Japanese yen with SYSJCG during the year guitar was made.

Any guitar priced 100 000 in 1970 (labelled usually as No10) would be priced 200 000 yen in 1975 (relabeled to No20 or 2000), 300 000 yen in 1977 (labelled as No3, No30 or 3000). Starting in 1977 Masaru Kohno introduced his model No50 priced at 500 000 (skipping theoretical model 40). Soon other famous Japanese luthiers did the same. By 1983 Kohno started using model names instead numbers and was raising their prices as he was pleased. Naturally soon other Master luthiers did the same.

Knowing all of that, you can bet on that Masaru Kohno No50 made in 1982 is practically the same quality as Kohno No15 made in 1972, or Kohno no20 made in 1975 or Kohno No30 made in 1977. I know it for a fact.

The lowest grade models currently made by Matsuoka workshop are M75 and MH75. They are commonly considered as “beginner guitars”. Matsuoka model M30 made in 1973 is simply far, far better instrument. It is naturally better than model M50 made in 1977, model 80 made in 1982 or model M100 made in 1990. At present, the highest grade Matsuoka models are M300 and MH300. They absolutely stand no chance in competition with model M150 made in 1975… or model M200 made in 1977.

It is very important to mention that if modern era luthiers are using 40 years old woods to make a classical guitar, its price is at least $8000. 

Some relevant info:

Ryoji Matsuoka was well known Japanese guitar maker who has been producing guitars in Nagoya, Japan since the 1960s. Nagoya is Japan’s 4th largest city and a major industrial port city located on the main island of Honshu in Aichi prefecture. 
The Nagoya/Aichi/Kani area (Kani is the prefecture next to Aichee) is one of Japan’s major musical instrument making centers. The city and the outlying areas have a long classical guitar making history with many small shops producing guitars. Major guitar and violin makers include Matsumoku Industrial, Suzuki, Takaharu, Sada Yairi, Kazuo Yairi (Kani), Daion, Yamaki, Ibanez/Hoshino, and Ryoji Matsuoka. Additionally, there are numerous small guitar shops and factories that contract to larger firms, such as Yamaha in Hamamatsu. 
The Ryoji Matsuoka guitar works was a small scale guitar manufacturer with less than 15 employees. For a few years during the 1960s and early 1970s, Matsuoka produced the higher end Aria guitar models for Shiro Arai, founder of Aria . These Aria models either have Ryoji Matsuoka's name on the label or are marked RM with a red stamp on the neck block. Matsuoka also made some models for Ibanez, including a few steel string flatop and archtop models.
During the early 1970s, Matsuoka produced Fleta, Hauser, Kohno and Rubio. The copies of Kohno guitars with 2 ebony strips in the necks and higher grade spruce tops were made in much greater numbers than copies of other luthiers. They were also sold at higher price.

From 1975 to 1980 the company produced their own line of guitars: the concert, artist and artisan series.
The Concert series includes the M20 (laminated spruce top, nato neck), M30 (solid spruce top, mahogany neck), M40 (solid spruce top, mahogany neck). All 3 models have laminated rosewood back and sides and rosewood fingerboards.
The Artist Series includes the M50 and M60. These guitars have better quality spruce tops and were made in several versions. Some of them, less expensive versions, were made with laminated Indian Rosewood or laminated Jacaranda back and sides, ebony fingerboards and plain neck. On the other end of the spectrum there were also all solid versions with Solid Indian rosewood or solid Jacaranda back and sides, with one or double Ebony reinforcement in the neck. 
The Old World Artisan Series includes the M70 and M80, made with all solid woods and one-piece mahogany necks.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Matsuoka models included the M50, M60, M70, M80, M100, M150, M200, and M300 with Ramirez style headstock and models MH100, MH150, MH200, MH300 with Hauzer style headstock. All of them were made with solid Spruce tops. M50, M60, M70 were made either with laminated back and sides or as all solid guitars. All other models were all solid wood guitars.

In the late 1990-ties models M65 and M75 with Cedar tops were added to the production line mostly with laminated back and sides.

To make matters little more complicated, by the end of 1990-ties some Spruce top models were also made with Cedar top without any change on the label. So we can for example encounter model M60 with either Spruce or Cedar top. Most likely each guitar was sold with attached precise specification.

Since early 1990-ties Matsuoka has also been making guitars for Aranjuez label (launched by Juan Orozco) and lower priced cosmetic copies of a Mathias Dammann classical guitars (they were not exact copies). The top Aranjuez model M720 has been made in cooperation with Kohno/Sakurai workshop. Masaru Kohno and later Masaki Sakurai were making tops with their superb bracing, while Ryoji Matsuoka was responsible for all other parts and final assembly. This cooperation continues until today between Toshiaki Matsuoka and Masaki Sakurai. These M720 guitars with Matsuka and Sakurai labels offer exceptional quality of sound at moderate price. They are sold at Guitar Salon International in Santa Monica, CA for $2700.

Allexperts .com

Japanese luthier Ryoji Matsuoka offered good quality classical guitars during the 1970s. Guitars were offered as part of the M Series with models starting at M-20 and ranging by ten digit increments up to the M-100. They were distributed in US by Tornavoz Music in Santa Monica, CA. The higher the number of the guitar the higher quality materials were used. In 1975, prices ranged between $270 and $1,050.

Mentioned above prices absolutely don’t reflect actual value of these guitars, but quite beneficial for US buyers, money market exchange rates at that time. The exchange rate between USD and Yen in 1975 was around 300 yen per dollar. With current exchange rates the same guitars would be priced at $810 - $3,150.00. If these guitars were made in Spain their prices would be 3 times higher. It is also worth to mention, that since spruce tops produce louder and sweeter sound as they age, this guitar being 33+ years old is a true gem.

Returns

If you are not happy with your purchase you may return the guitar for a full refund.  The cost of return shipping will not be refunded.

All you need to do is to:

1.    Notify me within 5 days after delivery

2.    Pack guitar the same way I do it, using the same box and materials

3.    Ship it back to me within next 2 days

Another words I expect this “trail” period to occur within +/- 7 days. Naturally guitar has to be returned in the same condition as I ship it to you. This is simply honest offer for honest buyers. My goal is to make your purchase as risk free as possible. I know very well that spending $1000 of hard earned money is not emotionally easy undertaking for majority of guitar lovers. I am sure that reading my feedback can ease a bit your “purchase anxiety” but it still will be there no matter how hard I try.

Victor

P.s. If you'd like to check my other posted on E-bay guitars click on the links below:

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http://youtu.be/XNdeSWxb2nU

http://youtu.be/mecVgriaKJ0

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http://youtu.be/ceVTybPnq7c

http://youtu.be/Zyz8eZeTSRQ

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HAND MADE IN 1974 RYOJI MATSUOKA M60 SUPERB RAMIREZ STYLE CLASSICAL GUITAR

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