Norma was a budget instrument brand established in 1965 by Norman Sackheim, who ran the Chicago-based wholesale music firm Strum & Drum. The brand name was a feminized version of Sackheim's first name, and the line consisted of Japanese-made instruments imported for the U.S. market. Initial production was handled by the Japanese manufacturer Tombo, with designs drawing visual cues from Italian builders like EKO, Goya, and Avanti. As the catalog expanded, Sackheim sourced from a variety of Japanese factories, with some models attributed to Teisco.

The Norma catalog covered electric guitars, bass guitars, acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, and solid-state amplifiers. Electric models such as the EG 403-2, EG 405-2, and the four-pickup EG-421-4 were typical of the era's department-store fare, featuring multiple single-coil pickups, an array of switches and knobs, thick necks often without an adjustable truss rod, and flamborant finishes. A 12-string electric paired a Stratocaster-inspired body with a Rickenbacker-style headstock. Most instruments retailed well below $100 and shipped with chipboard cases. The headstock logo used a stylized music-staff design with the 'N' rendered as an eighth note.

The brand ceased operation around 1972 following Sackheim's death in a plane crash. Strum & Drum had also acquired the National Guitar trademark in 1969. Today, Norma instruments are collected as quirky examples of the 1960s Japanese guitar boom, valued more for their character and offbeat aesthetics than for build quality.

Norma has 18 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Steel-string Acoustic Guitars, Solid Body Electric Guitars, and Acoustic-Electric Guitars. Their gear is featured by 7 artists, with the strongest followings in Rock, Pop, and Classical. Notable users include Canaan Dove Amber, Clay Parton, and Andy Cairns.