Kohno guitars

[eknick]

Think I'm doing an official Kohno thread for my first post. :roll:
Kohnos are wonderful instruments arn't they. I've been using a 1988 Pro-R model for the past five years and they never get tired to play. They have a very sweet tone that is hard to find within guitars in the same price range. What do you guys think about M. Kohno guitars?
I've been wondering about the Sakurai Kohno guitars, are they improved in volume in details? Also I've been experimenting with strings recently for my Kohno, Hannabach seem to work really well with my Kohno, they have really good intonation and last reasonably a long time. Any advice for strings?

[classguitar24]

hey eknick,
I absoulutely love kohno guitars. I just bought a Sakurai Kohno Pro J about a year ago. I agree with you completely that they have a sweet sound for its price range. The S. Kohno that i own lacks a bit in the volume department but the the tone and balance make up for it. I have played a few concerts with it so far and it hasent been a problem. I have never played a M. Kohno, but i can imagine them to be just as nice as a S. Kohno. Anyways about the string question, I use Agustine Regal Blue strings. I havent try Hannanbach though. I used to use D'addario on my other guitars but they just dont work well on my Kohno. Its nice to hear from other kohno players.

[innchean]

Hi there Kohno lovers,

I've also been a fan of Kohno for many years, and I've just received my S.Kohno Special last month with spruce top and she's just... beautiful. I'm surprised at the very good volume but still need time to settle down. Action is fantastic and now I can finish playing Bach in Emaj 1006a without having cramps!

I hope the she'll mature a little over the next 6 months cos I'm sitting for exam this December. How long did you guys played before setting the sound in?

Thanks for starting this thread, I hope more will join.

[Tim Miklaucic]

I love Kohno guitars, too!

Tim

[George Richards]

I've got a 1982 Kohno 30 that I've had since it was new. It was a great guitar new, but it's matured into a very, very nice guitar. I think these instruments are currently undervalued, and I've seen them used around $3500 several times over the past year or so. That's probably about half what they're worth. If John Williams played one this fall, the price would probably go up to about $10,000 practically overnight. The only thing that I wish I could change on my guitar is that it's 660 scale--I'd prefer 650 or even 640. I'va also got a Kenny Hill Hauser (USA) that's a 640 and it's a breeze to play, sounds great, and is plenty loud.

[Gojira]

I have owned two Kohno Specials (No.50) ’82 and ’89 in the past until I traded-in ’89 for a Hauser. They looked, felt, and played the same but ’82 had bigger volume, better balance, power in the treble, and the tone was much more clearer. The reason (I was told) is that ’82 was mostly made by Kohno himself and ’89 was mostly made by Sakurai. Back then; Kohno was considered to be better luthier than Sakurai. But, since then, I heard that Sakurai has improved a lot. So by now, Sakurai Kohno may be as good or better than Masaru Kohno.

[Tim Miklaucic]

Personally, I think they are exactly as good as the late Kohno guitars.

Tim

[cdikland]

Are Kohno guitars considered "Factory built"? I own a Sakurai Model Concert J and have wondered if this guitar was built by Sakurai himself or did it involve a group of people?

BTW: It appears that the Model Concert J (not the Professional) is sold everywhere but the USA. Is this right?

[Tim Miklaucic]

This is a matter of semantics, but I can assure you the Mr. Sakurai has a close eye on all guitars which go out under his name. Personally, I would call this a "production" concert guitar. "Factory" implies something which the Kohno shop would never resemble.

Tim

[George Richards]

I wonder what accounts for the relatively low-profile of Kohno guitars these days? GSI has a nice little bio and I've read a thing or two after searching the net, but it seems surprising that there's not more out there on M Kohno--his designs, innovations, the development of his guitars over the years. I also tried to find out a little bit more about my Hirade H8 guitar a while back and ran into the same thing--not much specific info to be found once you get past the product description on the (pitiful) Takamine website. Back in the 80s, there seemed to be lots of Sakurai guitars floating around, since they were a good value for players who could not afford a Kohno. Most of those guitars seem to be in hiding now (in closets or under the bed?).

Anybody got any ideas or info on this phenomenon? Is it simply that not many of the currently popular players use a Kohno or Sakurai?

[Gojira]

Kohno made his first guitar as his project for graduating from Chiba University. He enjoyed making the guitar so much that he decided to become a luthier. His first guitar was made in 1949. He was basically a self-taught luthier. His early guitars had head design similar to Torres and Hauser. In 1960, he traveled to Madrid and sat in Arcangel Fernandez‘s workshop and studied guitar making for six months. Seven years later his guitar won a gold medal for guitar making at the Concours National de Guitares in Liege, Belgium where Fleta commended by saying Kohno’s guitar sounds just like his. I am not sure if it was before or after this incident that Kohno’s head design became similar to Fleta’s. As he began to develop his own style of guitar making, he came up with his own head design and gradually departed from Spanish style guitar and his tone color became something between Fleta and Hauser. In 1975, Sakurai joined him and with other apprentices, began making student models and Kohno made the most expensive model. Kohno signed the guitar labels only those which he made, the rest of them he did not. Kohno was aiming to make guitars that could be played comfortably by people (Japanese) who have small hands and that could produce a big sound with little effort.

Somewhere around late 1986 to early 1987, Kohno sent his guitar to Segovia, which he liked it so much that he decided to keep it. He said that the guitar has great volume, tone color, balance and the craftsmanship was perfect. Segovia was planning to use it for concerts; however, he passed away few months later. Hauser II commended Kohno by saying that he would consider old Ramirez, Fleta, Romanillos, Kohno, and Friederich to be the best among the luthiers. Also, Ramirez III said that Kohno is the only guitar made by Japanese that worth a praise.

[Charles W]

My teacher has got two Kohnos from the early 70's (one spruce one cedar) that are really great. I think the spruce is a M-30 and the cedar M-15. He's played them for decades, so they're nice and seasoned. I just recently played the cedar top, so its sound is fresh in my memory. Really fun to play. It's very powerful and alive and clear. Kind of a Fleta type sound. I really liked it, and I played it right after playing my teacher's new cedar Ruck. Nothing lost by comparison.

[red]

Hi! I just got a S. Kohno Professinal J last week and I am very, very happy with it. However I have one concern. The original guitar case doesn't seem to provide adequate protection, specifically if it is checked-in during air travel. I plan to travel from the middle east to the USA this October and was wondering if I should get a better guitar case. I do not travel much though so a heavy duty case (e.g. expensive Calton, Accord, etc) is probably not justifiable. Have any of you replaced the original Kohno case just to provide better protection from extreme humidity changes, temperature and physical abuse during air travel? What would you recommend?

Thanks,

Ray