Some time ago, my father-in-law very generously donated his six-string acoustic guitar to my classroom, asking that I give it to a student who seemed interested in learning guitar. For some reason or another, no one ever took me up on the offer. Many of the kids wanted an electric guitar rather than an "old person's" guitar, and, quite frankly, the thing was just too big for most of them.

There was also some sentimental history associated with the guitar. He had purchased it shortly after returning from Vietnam, and he always speaks with such joy about playing guitar, even while he was actively serving in the military. Something just seemed wrong about getting rid of it. Anyway, I had other guitars in my classroom I could give away, so I brought it home.

The most striking thing about the guitar is its manufacturer. Tama. As in Tama the drum manufacturer whose sets are/were used by such groups as Dragonforce, Nirvana, Slayer, Primus, The Police, Styx, Metallica, Black Sabbath, and you get the picture. Tama – who lists no guitars of any type on their website. Some time passed before I discovered any more.



Anyway, I decided to learn to play it, but the e' string broke as soon as I tried to tune it. It was very brittle as it had been in storage for literally decades. (There's a funny story about that broken string that I'll save for another time.) This led us to eventually take the guitar to a local Sam Ash to buy a new string, and I wanted to learn how to take care of the instrument properly. Once there, Ryan came to our aid.

He was quite surprised at the name on my guitar, and he confessed to have never seen a Tama guitar before. Neither had the other individual working with him at the counter. Ryan was very helpful and friendly in explaining how to take care of the neck and frets as well as change the strings, and the instrument looked brand new by the time he was finished. Fortunately, it was already in pretty good shape.

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After some more researching, I have discovered that Tama did, in fact, produce guitars during the mid-1970s. Digging through mailing lists, and message boards has provided me with the insight that those who have them like them, and Tama guitars on eBay can fetch a decent bid. Truth told, I care little about the value, but I am happy to find out that Tama guitars are good instruments. I'm excited to start learning. Perhaps those many hours playing Guitar Hero can actually count for something!

(Updated with image links to higher quality photos of the guitar.)

Tags: guitar