This french early romantic guitar has been built
by Augustin Claudot who was a member of the
well known Claudot Family of violin makers at
Mirecourt. Though affected by wood insects this
particular instrument still has a wonderful sound.
The back of this Augustin Claudot guitar has been
done with maple as are the sides of this instrument.
This whole instrument has been treated with
Gamma rays in order to kill eventually existing
insects. It should last now for the future.
I allready published these pictures though the wood insert
haven't been made to the surrounding colours yet.
The effect of the first darkening of the wood may
last for one or two years. It is better to fix
the colourmatch after that period.
As on his violins Augustin Claudot allways stamped or branded his instruments.
His violins are said to be made with nice woods and great craftsmanship.
Manuel Contreras
the workshop of Manuel Contreras, that is, as we do have
to believe the label. When a Contreras label says Guitareria
it most likely is a student or intermediate guitar. The other
labels say: Constructor de Guitarras (older labels) and
Luthier or Lutherie and those are the handbuilt ones but
by who?? Ignacio Rozas built a lot of guitars at the
Contreras workshop (Calle Mayor) but most people
who have been there hardly ever saw Manuel Contreras 1
on the workbench being busy. He is said to be lazy...
Cedar topped guitar, ebony fingerboard, 655 mm scale.
The beautiful back of this guitar that shows us the Rio
wood used for sides and back. That is a bit of an odd
thing for a 2A concertmodel. As the plantilla also differs
from the later doble tapa models suspicions are there
that this guitar has been built in another workshop
though definately by hand!
On this picture the beauty of the wood is apparently but
also the outer heel is visible that it less sharp than on
his later models. We still have to compare this Contreras
to other, earlier models as it could well have been that
Contreras changed the plantilla (model of the soundbox)
together with other minor details such as headform and
outer heel when he changed to the doble tapa models.
The center inlay in this head is the same as on the 1A models
but the outer edges aren't that sharp. Of course genuine
Fustero tuners that are hand engraved from Barcelona.
The label of this guitar.
On this picture the rosette and the playing marks are
obvious. Moreover the guitar has a repaired crack behind
the bridge. This guitar was equipped with some self
cut scratchplates that in fact killed the sound a bit.
I removed them and also made a better fitting bridgebone.
The result was a much deeper and richer sound of
the lower strings and a very pleasant brightness of
the higher strings.
A nice shot of the sides and the great playing action.
The Contreras guitars are known for their comfortable
ease of playing. This one is no exception. As for the
sound it is typical Contreras and as saxophone players
often do but guitarplayers hardly ever: Play your
instrument pointed towards a wall about 1 meter away.
The sound will be reflected and you are able to hear
and experience the guitar the way a listener does.
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