Red Japanese guitar... but what is it exactly?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I saw this red Japanese guitar on eBay and wasn't too sure of its identity. The seller didn't seem to know either, suggesting it might be a Yamaha, Teisco or Guyatone.

However, I knew I recognised those N-shaped inlays on the fingerboard and was pretty sure we'd blogged about one of these before, and knowing it was going to bug me if I didn't identify the guitar, I started checking through the Guitarz archives.

Luckily I didn't have to search back too far. In fact, it was only February last year that we featured a similar guitar. Yes, it seems we have here another Norma solidbody (although I'm not sure about the exact model designation in this instance). Norma brand guitars were built by the Tombo Instrument company in Japan and imported into the US by Strum & Drum of Chicago. I expect this guitar would date to the latter half of the 1960s.

G L Wilson

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