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 Raphaëlla 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.

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

And the tuning machine heads!

• 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.