Sunday, April 17, 2011

Norma (Japan) Viola style Guitar in Chicago for $100

I don't often highlight these MIJ Violin shape guitars because they are rather common and usually don't look, sound or play that great but this Norma is unique enough for a second look.

Norma was a relatively high end brand of the dozens of Japanese labels coming into the U.S. They usually had their own specific models and feature some neat style cues. Check out the headstock on the guitar - that is wild. And it has the oh-so-cool "N" shaped inlaid markers as well as some pretty nice looking maple woodwork. Those closed tuners are also a step above the usual MIJ import. The jury is still out on those Teisco square pole piece pickups but they have their fans. Here is a quote from one player on the Gear Page who likes them.

I've also used the (Teisco) square-pole pickups in a couple of guitars; they're under-rated, I think. Maybe a little crisper than the gold-foils — blackface versus tweed might be a useful comparison — but they sit well in a mix. I've got one in the middle position of a Coodercaster-style Strat, and two in a Hammertone Octave XII that sound better, to my mind, than the stock Tele-neck-style units.

The "slight back bow" in the neck is a matter of concern but this guitar does have a trussrod you can see the adjuster at the base of the fretboard) so who knows.

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Vintage Norma Electric Guitar Violin Shape - $250 (north side)
Date: 2011-04-11, 9:14PM CDT
Reply to: sale-apbhg-2319774605@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Vintage Norma electric guitar made in Japan 1970's. Good condition, some surface crack lines in the lacquer, working pickups, neck has slight back bow. No case. Located near Damen and Foster.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 1, 2011 at 2:02 PM

    Wow! Turns out there are two of these is Chicago. The other is mine. The one shown here is missing the trem bar. These are very light guitars. The headstock really needs that extra bit of mass IMHO. I bought mine at a pawn shop for $200 about 7 years ago. So many people have asked me to sell it, but that hasn't happened yet.

    Just stumbled across your blog today. Fun Stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownSeptember 13, 2018 at 1:44 PM

    What is the tuneing for this guitar,I see only 4 strings

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMay 17, 2020 at 2:49 PM

    IS THAT NORMA VIOLA GUITAR IN STOCK FOR SALE?

    ReplyDelete

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