El Maya - Terada made 335

[TimeSnow]

Hello all,

Apologies for writing this in English; it is my only language

I recently bought a beautiful 335 made by El Maya. It was owned by a celebrity folk musician before me - I bought it from his estate after he died - so I am only the second owner.



I had done a small bit of research on the brand before I made the purchase. After I received it I was so blown away by the quality that I spent a few weeks contacting people, looking online and posting on forum asking for information.

One forum I found that seemed to have people taking about the brand was this one so I registered and today I was approved.

In the meantime however I discovered that this 335 was actually made in the Terada factory (Orville, Gretch Pro Line, Fender Japan, some Burny, Vesta, etc.) and was actually potentially a one-off.

The Terada link was confirmed when I noticed that for a few years all the Terada made 335s shared the same very distinctive f hole.

Vesta Graham (Terada) 335


Campbell (Terada) 335 (again you may need to zoom in):



Empeador (Terada) 335



And these aren't all; I've found at least two other "Brands" that are very similar, when you use the odd F hole as a guide!

Polytone (Terada):




Terada BRAND (Terada):



El Torres (Terada):



That little squared point is like a signature for the plant and time period.

Anyway, I hope someone finds this useful!

[Hendrik1970]

Congratulations,
Very fine instrument enjoy.
Greetings Hendrik.

[TimeSnow]

Congratulations,
Very fine instrument enjoy.
Greetings Hendrik.

Thanks Hendrik!

And I forgot to mention that it's condition is near new. There's two small dings which are so small they're hard to photograph. Otherwise it's like it sat on a shelf for 35 years.

[Tupelo]

Looks pretty darn good; briljant top.

[TimeSnow]

Congratulations,
Very fine instrument enjoy.
Greetings Hendrik.

Looks pretty darn good; briljant top.

Thanks! It's put together like a classic 335 maple laminate, 2 piece top and back, mahogany block and 1 piece mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard.





Lot's and lots of binding, including the bound f holes and a triple bound headstock!

[Shredder Mike]

Cheers, looks very nice. Did you buy it in the Netherlands or Belgium ?

[TimeSnow]

Cheers, looks very nice. Did you buy it in the Netherlands or Belgium ?

No, but there's a tonne of El Maya's there. I bought it from a dealer in the UK. The folk musician was part of the English band Pentangle, and when he died his estate used Chandler Guitars in London to sell it all.

There was some incredibly gorgeous instruments for sale... Mostly acoustic but some classic vintage Fender as well.

[Rogueny]

Damn son, that's a nice looking piece! Personally i've never heard of that brand before. The headstock reminds me somehow of Samick guitars. Anyways, congratz! Of course now this topic cant be closed without a sound sample

[telerocker]

Looks mighty fine, congrats!

[TimeSnow]

Damn son, that's a nice looking piece! Personally i've never heard of that brand before. The headstock reminds me somehow of Samick guitars. Anyways, congratz! Of course now this topic cant be closed without a sound sample

I will as soon as possible. And thanks!

El Maya were a premium brand sold mostly in Japan, but also in a few shops in Europe. Like two.

Top quality stuff mostly.

The Maya brand is utterly hit and miss. But there's the odd amazing ones.