Official Luthiers Forum!

Does anyone out there know any information on a classical builder from Japan named Tamura? I have owned and played a lovely instrument made by him in 1969, but I know precious little about him. Any info about him would be greatly appreciated. His guitar label states simply "Guitarra Tamura " ano 1969, #30.

The Tamura brothers (Hiroshi and Mitsura) lived and worked in Nago-Yama, Japan, producing superior classical and flamenco guitars from the 1950s to the 1980s. Both brothers are now deceased. Hiroshi was the eldest.
Hiroshi Tamura guitars are rare and collectable apparently.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Thanks for the information, Colin. My guitar is an "Hiroshi" , and like I said its a lovely instrument. I purchased it in 1970 or 1971 from my guitar instructor who informed me ( a naive teenager at the time) that if I wanted to proceed to classical lesson #2, I would not be allowed to bring my steel string. He then graciously offered to sell me his Tamura, because he was expecting delivery on a custom built classical. By the way, this instructor attended a masters class with Alirio Diaz , who I think was one of Segovia's first students. Diaz apparently played this guitar and loved it.