Shunsuke Yokoo Prelude 1992
A rare guitar with beautiful tone in unbelievable near mint condition. Hand-built in Saitama, Japan.
One of the most skilled luthiers in Japan Shunsuke Yokoo was born in 1946. He studied guitar making with the famous Masaru Kohno in 1964. In 1967 he established his own Workshop - the Yokoo Guitar Studio.
Sadly, Shunsuke passed away in January 2023. His son Masato, who is also a prominent luthier, is in charge of the worksop today. If Shunsuke was still alive, to order this guitar would be 440,000 yen and at least 6 month on the wait list.
I had a chance to compare it to several guitars in the 5-12K range and this one sounded the best.
The tone is incredibly rich with nuances, very impressive volume and sustain.
It's definitely a high end concert class instrument suitable for live performance and recording.
It is well set up and maintained, has a very comfortable neck, it'a a pure joy to play.
Set up with D'Addario Carbon High Tension strings
Specs.
Top High Grade Solid German Spruce
Back / Sides Solid Indian Rosewood
Finish Shellac
Neck Reinforced Mahogany, Natural Bone Nut
Fingerboard Ebony
Bridge Rosewood, Natural Bone Saddle
String Length 650 mm
Nut width 52 mm
Action at 12 fret (1st): 3.25 mm
Action at 12 fret (6th): 3.5 mm
Comes with original hard case
More general history on Vintage Japanese Classical Guitars.
From the late 1960s Japanese luthiers produced guitars of exceptional quality. These skilled craftsmen typically ran small shops, employing a handful of master builders who were often trained in Spain or under Spanish master builders in Japan. During this period, bans on certain types of wood were not yet in place, allowing luthiers to source high-quality wood for their creations. Although these guitars are considered a bargain in today's market, finding top-quality Japanese classical guitars from this era can be challenging, and restrictions on exporting certain types of wood make them even more difficult to obtain. Similar guitars built with comparable materials today would cost significantly more due to the scarcity or complete bans on certain types of wood. Most of those talented luthiers from the 70s and 80s are now retired or have passed away.
