Tora guitar info

[slurpieboy101]

my grandmother recently found a tora classical guitar and bought it , but, i no nothing about them. if anyone has any information they could give me that would be great also if anyone else has one pls post pics i love seeing others guitars thnx!!!!!!!

[slurpieboy101]

someone reply pls

[shnitzl]

Sorry I googled it and nada

[DOGMA Dunn]

What's it look like?

[slurpieboy101]

how do i upload photos

[slurpieboy101]

do i use photobucket or what cuz i cant seem to get it

[slurpieboy101]

[slurpieboy101]

http://s1089.photobucket.com/albums/i355/slurpieboy101/

http://s1089.photobucket.com/albums/i355/slurpieboy101/

[slurpieboy101]

i got it these are the picks

[KevinB]

Nice toes

And it's a shame that all but one of your photos are badly out of focus.

And, it's a "Taro" not a "Tora", which is why nobody is finding anything!

From the vintaxe forum...

Taros were imported into Canada from Japan in the 1970's. The Taro brandname was used on classical guitars as well as copies of American classic solidbodies. I think the Taro brandname was probably exclusively Canadian but I'm not positive about that.

It looks to have a mahogany back and sides, which probably means it wasn't their most expensive instrument. Take a look at the wood at the very edge of the soundhole. Can you tell if the top is solid or ply? If it's solid it would be worth a lot more. I wonder who actually made them? Possibly Terada?

It looks like a nice instrument and is certainly is great shape for being 30-40 years old! Put some high quality nylon strings on it and play it!

[slurpieboy101]

sorry my bad on the spelling i meant taro

[slurpieboy101]

thnx

[slurpieboy101]

and how do i tell if its solid or ply

[slurpieboy101]

my grand father says its ply hes good with wood and i no almost nothing about it

[slurpieboy101]

wood and the making of guitars that is ps if you dont mind could you give me an estimate of what you think its worth

[KevinB]

I'm far from an expert here, so take this for what it is...

It's a classical guitar made in a large, Japanese factory in the 70's. The manufacturer (possibly Terada who made most of the acoustic Fenders of that time) probably made them for several/many different distributors, and branded them differently by using different paper labels. The Taro branded ones apparently were exclusively sold in Canada. In fact I have a Taiwan-made Yamaha that looks very similar to your Taro. I bought mine in 1979 for $125. They are "student/beginner" guitars made using laminated tops and (probably laminated) mahogany bodies. Better models would have had solid spruce tops and solid rosewood bodies.

They are quite nice guitars though. They are sturdy, well-built and sound quite good. Yours looks in particularly good condition, as if it's been kept under a bed for most of its life. Mine, by contrast has been out on a stand for all its life, it has a few dings and the top has darkened due to exposure to light. I think they are a great guitar to have around. The wide string spacing and nylon strings makes them easy to play for beginners and I still use mine for working out complex licks before "translating" them to steel string and electrics.

What's it worth? Well, you might get lucky and find someone who specifically collects Taro guitars but realistically I don't think it's worth more the $100 or so.