Salvador Ibanez e Hijos (appr. 1910)

 Salvador Ibanez e Hijos (appr. 1910)

This is another, somewhat later Salvador Ibanez guitar.

It is an easy conclusion as the label states: Salvador

Ibanez e Hijos, a label that Ibanez started to use from

appr. 1910. A neatly built instrument but still a lot of

work to bring it back to life again. It is a concert model

with the dimensions that go with that: a 650 mm scale.

SOLD (Original case included)

A nice Brasilian rosewood back with some repaired cracks. 

Cedar has been used for the neck that is still straight. The 

action on this guitar wil be cured by shaving off the fingerboard 

towards the head. It has two advantages: a better playing action 

and the damages in the fretboard can be removed. And these

damages are allways present around the first two frets.

Curious on this bridge are the two inlays, later a trademark 

for Telesforo Julve. In fact not strange as Telesforo Julve 

took over the Salvador e Hijos workshop. Salvador Ibanez 

(the father) died in 1920. The took-over took place some-

what later. One small crack can be seen just at the right.

As the crack on one side of the bridge still closes a 

careful glueing process will do the job. Afterwards

two or three cleats will hold this crack and another

advantage is that the upper surface becomes per-

fectly straight again. As the bridge appears to be 

quite heavy, I'm planning to sand it down in order

to give the top more possibilities to vibrate.

A bit of a Torres shaped head with square ending slots.

Width at the topnut is 51 mm. The nut is a bit crudely 

made and will be substituted with an ivory one.

The knobs on the tuner appear to be from 

bone and they are locked on the axes.

A nice shot of the heel which is typical Valencian in

shape. The lower part of the heel however is made

out of hardwood as well though the cheaper solution 

in Valencia was to install spruce or another softwood

to speed up the building process.

Presented here is the label ftom this guitar.

For an even better impression: The same label found

on internet. 

A rather small rosette in width made with concentric

circles and inlayed with mother of pearl pieces. Salvador

Ibanez more than often worked with remarkable big ro-

settes but in fact a big rosette influences the sound in a 

negative way as it stiffens that part of the soundboard.

Sides that are still in a pristine condition. The yellowish

color is a result of the varnish that has been used and

over time gives this color on Brasilian rosewood. A

new lacquering process would give this guitar a

much darker and deeper coloured appearance as

can be seen by studying the back after a refinishing

process: The result is a much darker colour.

The first cleaning process allready took place but some 

discolourations around the bridge still have to be removed.

After that and the reparation of the crack near the bridge

the entire soundboard will be treated with a special liquid

to remove the dicolourations that still can be determined

at the moment. It is still absolutely straight probably

due to the bowed construction.

The relacquered back that shows the old beauty again

of the Brasilian rosewood. The original lacquer colours

the wood in a yellowish way but had to be removed as

some restorations were not properly executed. Always

trying not to sand the wooden parts of  the soundbox!

A nice shot of the newly finished back

And the difference in colour compared to 

the sides that have their original lacquer.

On this picture the fretboard has been shaved allready.

Afterwards new frets were installed and the cleaning

process of the soundboard is in a "second"  stage.

The difference with the older guitars from his hand

is the ebony fingerboard. In former times Brasilian

rosewood was used.

As the sleeves for the tuners were a bit crudely done that

could be fixed as well. Relacquering of the head after-

wards in fact was a must but again: The beauty of the

wood is there again to its' full potentials.

Second cleaning job before the first playing trial on 

this guitar. After restringing a guitar that was not

under tension for a long time means that you have

to wait a few days to be able to judge the sound of

an instrument. Adjustments can be made once some

elements are not accordingly your wishes. Especially

the bass tones can be boosted by thinning the sound-

board a bit along the edges.

So nice to see the wood again in its' beauty.

This picture has been taken to be able to study the colour

differences after the relacquer job on the back.

The crack that has been glued and provided with three cleats

inside. The split in the two halves is covered by one of the

7 fan braces. That will do the job.

A new ivory nut after the fingerboard has been shaved 

towards the head and the new frets allready mounted.

Not all imperfections of the soundboard have

disappeared but for a 100 year old one it is

in a very nice condition again.

The square filed slots for the tuners can be studied

here. The neck has been left the way it was.

As the wood on the head has a beauty of its' own

only a sanding and refinishing job will do.

The inner heel has been inscribed with Salvador Ibanez

 e Hijos -Valencia. Only visible from the inside of course.

The cleaned tuners that in fact are quite simple but

they still do their job in a sufficient way! They are

the same tuners as on the earlier concert models 

from Salvador Ibanez. (See next guitar!)

A rather small rosette but a tasteful one to my

opinion as opposed to the earlier quite ornamented

ones. A smaller rosette is better for sound results!

Salvador Ibanez e Hijos (Intermediate model)

This guitar is not part of my collection but I'll include it as

Salvador Ibanez e Hijos labelled guitars aren't always "high 

end". This one came to me from a friend of mine who was

curious to find out the qualities of this guitar as sometimes

the more simple instruments can be surprisingly good.

Of course the filed copper frets are a sign of a lower end

instrument but equipped with a nice rosette and a 5

fan bracing for the top it is not a "beginners" instrument.

As is often the case with these Valencia built guitars

this one is provided with a three piece soundboard. Most

likely a cost saving move and not because Antonio de 

Torres built guitars with a 3 piece top.

The bridgebone (plastic!) was lowered that much that

the strings didn't make any angle over it and even in

spite of that fact, it still sounded good! A heavy bridge

is not good for a good sound production. This one was

too thick and the sleeve for the bridgebone was really

not deep enough. I think to have won about 4 mm by

working on both elements: Lowering the bridge as a 

whole and deepening the sleeve.

Moreover the holes closest to the bridgebone were too

high, thus making any angle almost impossible. I lowered

the stringtie block and removed the upper holes. A new

layer of veneer was a must then and why not adding a

personal touch as Ibanez started with the two inlays one

can find later in time on almost all Telesforo Julve 

guitars. Abalone has been used for that.

When you reglue a bridge the compensation for a correct

octave pitch is the first thing to go for. So here you can see

I was forced to replace this original bridge 2 mm back-

wards in order to have a correct pitch. The bridgebone

will be set to the proper hight once the strings are under

the correct tension. Every neck seems to behave in its' 

own way, bending slightly forward.

Want to know more around this brand and in general

about the Valencia made guitars, just check this site:

www.guitarrasvalencia.wordpress.com