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Friday, August 7, 2020

Vicente Arias Event and the 1899 example.

 

A special Vicente Arias event has been held in Florence 2005.
This marks the growing popularity of this important builder.
There are 28 instruments known in existence all over the world.
13 instruments were to be seen at the event. I was invited but
I had a performance. Organized by Stefano Grondona.








As far as I know one out of three Vicente Arias' guitars with
a  double back. I bought this one on a flea market in Belgium 
being not fully aware of it's value and tonal qualities.
Arias was the only luthier in the 19th century whose work
came close to rivalling that of Antonio deTorres.

I would like to ask your attention for the Orfeo magazine 
and the publisher / Photographer Alberto Martinez. He 
wrote a book about this remarkable luthier and his 
photograph work simply is gorgeous. The two pictures 
here above are from his hand.

This was the last label used by the later Madrid based luthier.
This guitar dates from the year 1899, the same year the instrument
of Raphaƫlla Smit has been built. The resemblance of the
tonal color of the different Arias guitars is remarkable
in spite of his experiments. 

Vicente Arias was really praised for his beautiful rosettes:
They all are different and this particular instrument has a 
beautiful decorated lining as well.




Though it's not the back of the 1899 guitar it can be
clearly seen that the typical darkcoloured Rio Palissander
was used being so common in the 19th century.
The tuners are a replacements.
Arias often equipped his guitars with violinlike
tuning pegs because of the lightness of his guitars. 


Luckily I found another picture. The back from the 1899
Vicente Arias guitar. As this guitar has adouble back the
inner back can only be seen around the label. It was out 
of one piece of Brasilian rosewood.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Chitara (Replica) 2000 / 4000 B.C. (Mesopotamie - Africa)



A lot of Guitar related books start with a story about
the instrument and its' history. As a young guy, more 
interested in electric guitars I tend to overlook those
chapters but in fact they are interesting as well in the 
development of the guitar as it is to these days.


The "soundbox" consists of a turtle shell that has been
covered with what most likely was a goat skin. The neck
already was a "neck thru body" construction as it holds 
the 3 strings as well. In this case the strings are nylon
ones but in history they must have been made out of gut.
The strings can be tuned but weren't ment to be fingered
on a neck like this
  • The carvings as have been done on this neck have a mere 
  • ornamental function and probably different each time and 
  • in correspondance of a certain tribe that made them.

The bridge construction consist of a simple wooden bow that
has been been carved for the support of the three strings.

In the Forderer collection an identical example can be found 
on youtube however the "soundholes" made here are not present 
on that instrument. Probably a new invention later in time? 
As the Oud is a more well known predecessor of the guitar, 
I figured this simple instrument deserves a place here.


Augustin Claudot Romantic Guitar / Manuel Contreras 2A Concert guitar



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 





This is a 1983 non signed label premium concert guitar from
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.

Epiphone "ES 230 TD" Casino (More photo's - more details)





Being the model John Lennon used to play and later on Noel
Gallagher this particular model remains popular among collectors.
It should be all original. This one came to me in a bad condition.
There were deep carvings in the neck and back. At that time it
seems to be cool behaviour to treat your guitar this way and
having placed DiMarzio's on it! On this guitar they did some 
work on the cavity for the bridge pick up but it is not visible
at the outside at this moment


Though not original I refinished both neck and back.
This instrument now has the old ease of playing again.
Due to the scratches and carvings the neck didn't
had a nice feeling anymore and I figured it
had to be playable in the first place! The back of
the body has been provided with some layers of
clear lacquer so no staining process.


As this guitar has been put up for sale I will describe it as 
securely as possible. The back of the head with its' original
tuners. As for the screws: I don't know....


As I stated earlier the neck has been refinished and also the
stain had to be removed so this spot might be interesting to
potential buyers. For collectors it all comes about originality.


And another shot of this neck / body construction. Be aware!
This is the original neck and NOT a replacement. The number
on the back of the head is a match with the sticker inside.


This is a real player and if someone is planning to make 
it "road worn" - It looks a bit like a pity to me!


The back really wasn't that bad and then 
the original staining process still is there.


Another possible issue could be the neck / body angle
which can result in a too low bridge placement. To my
opinion in fact too high in order to have the magnetic
poles right under the strings so I placed a plastic ring
underneath the metal caps of the pick ups in order to
get a stronger signal.


The angle is a good one as this picture proves.


And here the neck pick up and the distance to the strings.


I haven't played this guitar that much though I know
that about the lowest 5 to 7 frets have been replaced.
The neck bindings however are intact! Width of the
nut: 41 mm what in fact makes it too narrow for 
me as a mainly classical guitar player. Never any 
damage there as a repaired neck is not uncommon.


The front of the head that has been refinished 
as well. Original truss rod cover and topnut.


It might be another issue: I'm not sure wether if all 
knobs are out of 1967. The switch is from 1967 as are 
the capacitors and pots. A lot of these guitars lost their
scratchplate and the prefix on it: "E". It is all still
there on this example.


This guitar came with a frequensator tailpiece in fact not 
uncommon on these type of guitars. In order to have less
tension in the higher strings once tuned, a player could
change the two parts. Original bridge and pick-up  caps.


This old lady aged gracefully so some traces in 
the lacquer are inevitable. It "crazed" a bit.
  

Therefore another spot that shows this effect.


The original blue label and the number of this guitar.
At that time the Kalamazoo workforce was responsible
for these guitars. Original model nr. E230TD. This
number corresponds with that printed on the back
of the head.


Fender "Precision" Bass guitar



This instrument is one of the so called L-series Fenders 
that are known for their qualities. Not all guitars of this
period (1960-1965) are of equal quality but this is one of
 them. Apart from the refinish job that has been done on
this instrument, it is fully original apart from a newly 
added scratchplate though the old one is still there. The 
old plastics used at that time are producing some 
destructive "gasses" while deteriorating. As a result
 the hardware oxydizes!


The tuners on these instrument are known for their reverse working.
This one is a nice player with that really old Precision sound.

Fender Strat plus





The Stratocaster plus was at first designed to be the
Jeff Beck Signature model. He finally got another one.
On this model Fender introduced the lace sensor pickups.
Though they are quiet they do not resemble the pickups of
the old days. This one has a Gibson 1968 humbucker added.
Serial number dates it to be at the end of the eighties.



The drilled holes for the strings in the backplate
disappeared and this model was fitted with more
deluxe Sperzel tuners as can be seen on this pic.

Fender Stratocaster Hard Tail




This is a hard tail version (non-tremolo) of the seventies
stratocaster. Still the uneven polepieces but a new scratch-
plate and of course the wide headstock. The seventies strats 
are known for being very heavy. This one is light as a feather 
(alder) but it's sound is awesome. The best sounding strat 
I ever had, even among the L-series I played in the past.


Quality control was quite poor during the seventies at
Fender. Note the strange way the bodypieces are matched.
Also the spraying on this instrument is of an average
quality. Yet the neck to body joint has been very tightly
done with no give due sometimes to the three-bolt 
tightening and the sloppy neck post routing.