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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Yasuma guitars
Any one have any experience of Yasuma guitars from Japan,I know they did a copy of a Martin d 25 in the 70s but its difficult to find any other info .I aquired one designated BMJumbo 155 some years ago with a broken head stock which I repaired ,said guitar was just used to decorate a wall in my music room ,however since getting it back to the UK I'm wondering if it has any value.I've contacted the importers BM music but no reply yet.
Well Graham, seeing as how I have more time on my hands (these days) I did a little web-trawling and found some info on the brand. It seems K Yasuma built some very fine guitars in the 70s and depending on model have either plywood or solid wood tops (sides and back were laminated however)..... and they were of fit, quality and finish equal to Martin guitars of the time. Enough so that they got the pants sued off them in a lawsuit by CF Martin which drove them out of business.
Survivors are rare and in good shape, properly set-up, of a value that would put them up there with Yairi (another name from the law-suit)..... I have been finding three year old prices in the range of 500-1000 pounds depending on the top wood type. Generally comments are favorable from those who have owned or still own one. They "folded their tents" in 78-79 thereabouts. Could be a real gem!
ETA: The finish is nitrocellulose lacquer in case a little touch-up is needed and some guitar stand "rubber" can mar it from prolonged contact.
Sounds like you might have a possible gem there from what Doug found! How does it sound and play, Graham?
I got some info from the importer the other day backing up what Doug posted this model sold in 1971 for about 30 pounds so it was comparable with models like the Eko Ranger it continued to 1980 and retailed at 85 pounds.more than double its original price so taking into acount todays rate of inflation that would maybe equate to about 400 in todays market for a similar quality product.To answer Amys question it has a distinct resonance I'm playing with different strings to find what works best.As it has had a headstock repair at some time I'm being cautious asto how much tension I apply but it sounds pretty good with a slide ,,the actions a little high compared to my Lag and Eko ,the tone is some where between the two ie brighter than the Eko but not as bright as the Lag.I'll post a vid when I can
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Yasuma guitars
