User:Cgl12322/sandbox

Masaru Kohno (1926-1998) was a Japanese luthier who made guitars from 1948 until his death in 1998. Many notable artists have performed with his instruments, including Julian Bream, Sharon Isbin, Leo Brouwer, Xuefei Yang, Oscar Ghiglia and Alexander Lagoya. Kohno studied with Arcángel Fernández in 1960, and his instruments were also influenced by Ignacio Fleta.

Kohno was awarded the Gold medal in the 1967 Elizabeth's Concourse luthiery competition in Belgium. Among the competition was Daniel Friedrich, and among the judges were Robert Bouchet and Ignacio Fleta. This same year, his nephew Masaki Sakurai joined his workshop as an apprentice. Sakurai maintains the workshop to this day and continues producing guitars under the Sakurai-Kohno name as well as his own line of instruments. In 2007, Kohno's grandson So Kimishima joined the workshop. Other apprentices of Kohno's include Saburo Nogami and Hiroshi Komori.

Distinctive characteristics of Kohno guitars include a traditional sound reminiscent of Fleta, double ebony strips reinforcing the neck, and a 660mm scale length in the 70's and 80's. From 1963-1982, the Kohno workshop used numbers to label their various models, which usually reflected the price of the instruments in Japanese Yen. In 1982 the models became known as "Maestro, Special, Professional, and Concert."