There are a couple of very small surface cracks on the bottom of the body that I do have pictured, and there is some light scratching on the back, the pick guard also has some pick scratching. There are some screwholes that have been exposed due to the tuner change that you can see in the picture of the back of the headstock. This is all original with the exception of the tuners, those are off of an old Aria. The headstock also has a rosewood veneer. Solid spruce top, rosewood sides and back with a mahogany neck and a rosewood fretboard. Vintage MADE IN JAPAN Sango W-20S Acoustic Guitar with a very nice foamshell hard case. Brazilian Rosewood fretboard with real mother of pearl This guitar comes with its original case. Japans best.This guitar is RARE and not many of these have survived the decades since they was built. more is powerful and it plays very nicely with minimal play wear to frets or wood it is in very good-excellent condition in performance and cosmetics. Great Rich Exotic Woods used in the entire construction of this guitar and does absolutely project its amazing resonant tone. See the Tuners and the Diamond Volute on the back of the neck.This guitar is from 1970 and is very old and is in AMAZING condition.Gorgeous Hand work fit& finish. I would putĪll The best! SUPER RARE BRAZILIAN From Aria Pro 3 Japan Model A-c4 Good Old Wood is best!This example is the best of and has very nicely mellowed with age to a golden amber High Grade Spruce Top perfection to the Brazilian Rosewood back& Fretboard to Premium Mahogany neck wood this guitar screams out Japanese High Quality Workmanship using World Class Materials!In this time period in Japan several factories set out to build the best guitars in the world.these are among the best of the best"law suit" model era.
The tuners on this guitar work fine but, I'm guessing this guitar will go to a serious/ professional player. If you're familiar with these old Japanese guitars, you know the tuners are not the best. If anything, I'd raise the action on the low side a bit. The bridge saddle is fairly low, but I'd guess this neck stopped moving decades back(a neck reset will never be needed) The low E string sits two sixteenths of an inch above the 12th fretwire. This guitar has some dings& belt buckle rash I'd expect from a 35 year old guitar. The tolex on the case has shrunk& is pulling away from the wood in spots. Including the yellow lined case w/ the super rare leather Pro ii name tag on the handle. I can't say enough about how good this guitar plays& sounds. Please look at all the photos carefully before making an offer. I'm having a lot of fun playing this guitar& I'll hate to see it go. I strongly encourage you to read all my feedback& you'll see I describe my guitars very modestly. more know it sounds like I'm really playing the used car salesman pitch on this guitar. A solid Sitka Spruce top& Brazilian rosewood back and sides is usually a recipe for a fantastic acoustic guitar.
The attention to detail the folks at Matsumoku put into the design& construction of these instruments was painstakingly accurate. This guitar plays& sounds vastly superior to any 70's Martin I've played.
please spare me the lecture on what constitutes a"lawsuit" guitar) I have also owned many Martin guitars from the seventies. Lowered the saddle, tweaked the truss rod, greased& tightened the tuners, oiled the fretboard& cleaned her up) I consider myself to be very knowledgeable w/ these old Arias. too.I've got to pat myself on the back with the set up I just put on this guitar(polished the frets. If you do want to continue your learning in resetting necks get an old Harmony beater off e-bay - they had dovetail joints and used serviceable glues that will release just like a $5K Martin will. Unfortunately the value to you of this neck removal in terms of learning for possible future interest in repair work is useless since most shops would never attempt to reset a doweled neck joint. Mind you preserving perfect cosmetics is out of the question as well when having to saw off a neck, etc. The dowelled joint is king on these instruments and the only way to deal with it is much as you have. Many of the imports are built with glues that will not release with heat and steam making them, when you factor in the going rate for a neck reset unserviceable and as such disposable. Dovetail joints, bolt-on joints, etc and many variations can be serviced in that the neck can be removed in time and reset as in neck reset something most all acoustic guitars that last very long will need at some point. There is a lesson here and the lesson is the idea of "serviceability" where the best guitars are designed and built with the idea that they can be serviced as need be in the future. Dennis I admire your persistence with a difficult task.