RARE - MADE BY SABURO NOGAMI IN 1974 - WORLD CLASS ALTO/REQUINTO CONCERT GUITAR

Description: Saburo Nogami Alto 1974This guitar was custom made in 1974 by legendary Japanese luthier Saburo Nogami. Saburo Nogami was the first ever apprentice at Masaru Kohno workshop. He was hired by Kohno in 1959 and left his workshop in the early 1970s. Saburo Nogami's level of craftsmanship was at least equal to Kohno’s, and he soon became a luthier legend on his own. During his long career besides making regular classical guitars he was also making alto, bass & contrabass guitars, lutes, vihuelas, and many traditional Japanese string instruments. Some of his instruments were greatly decorated with carvings and paintings. The great majority of his guitars were custom made, as "only one of its kind", hence their labels don’t bear any model numbers. Saburo Nogami's guitars and all other instruments are rather hard to find and highly priced not only in Japan. Over his professional career Saburo Nogami was also deeply engaged in making guitars for the average "boy and girl". From mid1970s through mid1980s Saburo supervised production of several solid top guitar models for Zen-On Music Co., for Niibori School of Guitar Ensemble, and for Nisshin Kogyo Co. From the late 1970s through late 1990s Saburo Nogami was very closely cooperating with Kazuo Yairi, supervising production of many of Kazuo’s models at Yairi's Gifu factory. This guitar produces truly wonderful notes, very clear, glassy, yet very colorful trebles, somewhat metallic basses, with all notes well separated, and all with very impressive sustain. Despite its smaller (alto) body, its volume is quite impressive too. The overall condition of this guitar can be described as “very good for its age”. While it is structurally sound and fully functional, one can find some minor cosmetic flaws on its body. Its soundboard shows several very minor dents and scratches embedded in its finish. These are visible only if looked at from a close distance and from certain angles. There are a several very light indentations on the back of the neck. Other surfaces are relatively clean. Very importantly its fingerboard and frets remain in excellent condition with only very minor signs of use (two light grooves in front of the first fret on the treble side). Its original tuners still work fine. Being priced 200 000 yen in 1974, it was a very expensive instrument. In that year only top elite Japanese luthiers (Masaru Kohno, Sakazo Nakade, Mitsuru Tamura and Yamaha) had their very top models priced 300 000 yen. For many other luthiers 200 000 yen was the maximum they could get for their best instruments. For less known makers 150 000 yen was their price ceiling. Back in that era alto guitars were usually priced higher than regular size models. Similar class brand new alto guitars currently made by Japanese elite luthiers are priced at least $8000. If made from 50 years old woods and with solid figured Brazilian Rosewood b/s their prices can reach $12000. Regarding the sound alone, this guitar is very competitive to $10000+ altos currently made by leading European or American guitar makers. If these luthiers were to use 50 years old woods including solid figured BR for b/s, you might need to sell a car to get one. Specifications:Total length: 860mmBody length: 415 mmBody depth: 98-102 mmUpper bout width: 245 mmLower bout width: 325 mmWaist width: 210 mmTop: AAA Grade Solid Spruce/7 braces fan/ cashew varnishBack & Sides: Solid Figured Brazilian Rosewood/cashew varnishNeck: Mahogany Fingerboard: Ebony Scale: 530 mmNut width: 52 mmString spacing at the nut: 43.50 mmString spacing at the bridge: 57.50 mmIts current action is set to 3.30 mm under E6 and 3.00 mm under E1, with very little extra room on the saddle.The guitar is currently strung with Hannabach Alto 8366 MT set designed for alto tuning. If you'd like to play it with regular tuning, you need regular classical guitar strings. You must not try alto tuning with strings designed for regular tuning. This guitar will be shipped in used original hard case in relatively good 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”. Guitar ensemble and guitar orchestra music has been developed and promoted by Hiroki Nibori since 1957 and is gaining popularity among guitar players throughout the world. Playing in a group is great fun. It is an excellent opportunity to make new friends and learn from the more advanced players. One of the most valuable aspects of playing in a guitar ensemble is that it gives students the exposure of playing on a stage in front of an audience. When you combine the sounds of alto, bass, and contra bass guitars with standard (prime) guitars, a whole new world of sound comes alive. Even the beginner will find it easy to pick up any of these guitars and enjoy a variety of new and exciting musical styles.An ALTO GUITAR is usually tuned a 5th higher than a standard (prime) guitar. Its open tuning notes sound the same as a standard guitar played on the 7th fret position: B,E,A,D,F#,B.BASS GUITAR is tuned 4th lower than standard guitar, one octave lower than Alto guitar: B,E,A,D,F#,BCONTRA BASS GUITAR is tuned one octave lower than standard guitar: E,A,D,G,B,EReal 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 the 1980s.During 1960s and most of 1970s model numbers of Japanese guitars were strictly interconnected with their prices in Japanese yen. 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. Others were still using model numbers with the 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 the 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 the 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: 2975 USD

Location: Alpharetta, Georgia

End Time: 2024-11-16T18:05:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD