This Matsuoka No.20 Classical Guitar was made in Japan, on Saturday 07/12/1974 as shown on the hill of the neck, but it was labelled as made in 1975 on the paper label, I guess the luthier took some time off over Christmas.
Model No.20 was renamed as M20 after 1975. Generally, No.20 is of a higher grade compared to the later M20 guitars due to depreciation and rising material cost.
It was originally being sold for 20,000 yen when the yearly average income of a college graduate was about $100,000 yen which is about 10-12 weeks' wage.
One of my all-time favourites, the No.20 is loud, clear on the upper register, and deep in the bass range.
The braces have been modified to be more flexible and responsive to achieve a wider dynamic range and more sustain.
There's only one small mark on the top which has been sealed and levelled with the original finish. This has no effect on the enhanced sound following the upgrade.
The N0.20 was part of the Concert series and was handmade by Ryoji Matsuoka and his family in Nagoya. It was made for the domestic market and that is why there are so few on the market.
I have several M20 in stock. This one is the best sounding out of them all. This particular model was renamed M50 to reflect its tone quality. No wonder it sounds the best out of all the M20 guitars in stock.