Andres Martin de Diego - Concert guitar 1960 (Signed / Dated).

 

You will not meet them frequently but Andres Martin made 

a lot of stringed instruments in his life. He has therefore been

mentioned in the Jose Romanillos dictionary as someone who 

learned his craft with Julio Bustamante and Marcelo Barbero. 

He was influenced by Santos Hernandez and Domingo 

Simplicio. He taught his brother in law, Javier Rojo Solar. 

His workshops were at the Rollo 3 and at Calle Divino Pastor 

22 in Madrid. He died in 1977. Scale of this guitar is 660 mm. 

Width of the topnut is 53 mm. Price: 950 Euro's

It must have been a lot of work to create a rosette like this...

And the same thing counts for the edge purflings.

                The scratch plate could point towards a flamenco model as

             does the cypres sides and back but classical Spanish music suits

              this guitar as well. Profound basses and a bit of the old school

              "wooden"  tone. A good example of this sound can be found on

                YouTube where Nikos Tsiachris plays a 1975 classical guitar

                    from his hand. The guitars' own frequency lies on a G#, 

                  about 104 Herz.

Here the signed label can be admired, stating that he already

was working at the Divina Pastor 22 location in Madrid.

To our believe the year written at the lower right on this

label mentioning the year 1960. Apart from that in the

inside of this guitar a stamp can be found on the upper

bout on the left side. Near the sound hole on the right

the guitar has been signed (by 2 persons?) and dated

1960 even being numbered 275 and no doubt within 

the handbuilt range we can confirm.

His graceful and immediately recognizable head, but also

showed here is the condition of the lower frets. Most of the

time an indication in what sort of condition the rest of the

fretwork is. He also used the typical Fustero tuners from 

that time. Fretwork has been levelled and polished.

                                            

Probably I will French polish the neck as it doesn't feel

that comfortable at the moment. Or leave it the way it is?

No, on the right it looks (and feels) better. 

Nice inlay work all around this instrument proving that

it is far from an entry level guitar. But that has already

been confirmed by the rosette itself.

And the Fustero tuners with the typical knob form

from the early sixties. The D tuner probably had a knock 

as it is slightly bowed. I left that way as it still works

to full satisfaction.

The Cypress back with only one small crack that already 

has been stabilized. Take a look at the lower right. Do not 

expect such imperfections to have a lot of influence 

on the sound.

And the front ands back of the head, reasonably free from 

damages. A new topnut was necessary. On later models

the small center point that sticks out, has disappeared.

That was prone to damages of course and as for me, I

would have that disappear but I know, not original any-

more than. Moreover, Martin did this later in time so

it is a confirmation for this guitar coming out of a

certain period.

This picture has been added as I used the string 

savers to get an even better angle over the bridge-

bone but they were in fact not necessary. A crack

running from the left wing of the bridge has been

repaired and is stable now. No need to worry about

that as it still was closing. No tensions there!

Another example of Andres Martins' work can

be found on YouTube: a 1975 model.

A "Marcos Escano" labelled guitar - 1999 (Flamenco?)

The repaired Marcos Escano guitar from 1999. Though

an unknown luthier to this day, details are convincing

it to be a good instrument and very lightly built. What

could have been expected the guitar gives lots' of 

volume. Scale length 645 mm Width topnut: 50 mm.

And the few cracks in the soundboard have been 

treated to my satisfaction. Price 450 Euro's.

Hardly visible are the cracks here, Even after a 

close inspection. On the left just above the bridge 

you can see some traces of damage when I needed

to remove the bridge. As it was repaired by someone 

else in an earlier stage but done with the wrong glue 

the bridge came loose again. All stable now but the

amateur who did this should be ashamed....

A nicely sculpted head what betrays work of a real

woodworker. Everything is showing a high degree

of workmanship. Ebony fingerboard and newly 

made topnut and bridgebone. Scale is 645 mm.

Width topnut is 50 mm.

The back of the head with the reinforcement 

all the way up to the top of the head.

A nice cypress back with no frills but strange thing is 

that nice inlays are made on the sides, a bit unusual...

Almost undamaged after 25 years of service.

Frets have been redressed and can deliver service

for years to come.

I think the tuners to be from Alhambra as the prefix "A"

can be detected here on the left. You need to know that 

there actually is a prefix there!

And the tuners on the right side of this guitar.

The simple label and maybe this luthier didn't built 

that many guitars. We hope to find out in the future.

Refently we heard about a Marcos Escape who is a 

a quite successful musician in Spain. Most likely 

he gave it a try: building guitars,

The blocks on the right from the label are a 

reinforcement of the two halves of the back. A lot

of extra work as a strip of wood would have done 

the job as well. This must have been done by someone

who is accustomed to wood working.

Mercian gelabelde gitaar - Klasse instrument!

Ter presentatie hier een "Mercian" gelabelde gitaar waar

wel het e.e.a. over te vertellen is. Doorgaans worden alleen

studiegitaartjes van dit "merk" aangeboden en daarbij dient

vermeld te worden dat het zeer waarschijnlijk een verzonnen

merknaam is van een van de grotere muziekketens. Logisch

dat de studiegitaartjes het eerst te vinden zijn want daar

worden er de meesten van verkocht. VERKOCHT.

Meteen al gealarmeerd door de verfijnde afwerking van 

dit instrument ben ik verder gaan kijken. Geklonken 

stemknoppen en een ingelegde ebben strip aan de achter-

kant van de hals die bovendien nog ter protectie van de 

fretuiteinden van een palissander lining is voorzien!

Scale van deze gitaar is 650 mm en de snaarhoogte 

staat nu afgesteld op 2,7 mm (hoge E- snaar) en 4 mm 

voor de laagste E- snaar. Het een en ander zorgt voor 

een meer dan prettige bespeelbaarheid met gewoon 

nieuwe frets als een bonus natuurlijk.

Wat daarnaast bij nadere inspectie opvalt is dat de hals ook 

nog eens is voorzien van een verstelbare truss rod of halspin 

zoals we het vaak in Nederland aanduiden. Een rechte hals 

is dan gegarandeerd al moet je wel altijd voor wat neck 

relief zorgen.

Misschien niet interessant voor de klank maar wel mooi

meegenomen: Een erg smaakvolle rozet. De extra fret is

op een gracieus gevormd stukje toets toegevoegd.

Geklonken stemknoppen maar daarnaast is er ook geen 

enkele beschadiging te zien op de achterkant van de kop.

Een nette brug waarin door mij een nieuw kambeentje is 

gezet. Op hoogte gebracht en perfect passend gemaakt.

Hier ziet U dat de uiteinden van de frets niet te zien zijn.

's Winters willen de frets bij de temperatuurschommelingen

nog wel eens uit gaan steken. Allemaal te verhelpen maar 

een binding aanleggen is wel zo'n charmante oplossing.

Een fraaie palissander achterkant en in tegenstelling tot 

achterbladen met een nogal wilde tekening een gelijkmatig

lopend nerfpatroon. Wilder gefigureerde bladen kunnen 

echter vaak eerder tot scheuren leiden. Massief uitgevoerd. 

De "eigen frequentie" ligt op een A (110 Hz) 

Strakke "Bouchet" kop, een van de meest vooraanstaande

Franse bouwers van de vorige eeuw. Ook de bebalking 

wijkt nogal af van de traditionele waaier (Torres) bebalking. 

Keurig geschaafd en gelijmd allemaal en het resulteert in 

elk geval in een mooi geluid! De topkam is net wat 

smaller dus als iemand daarvoor opteert: 50 mm.

Een shot van de mechanieken die ashouders rondom hebben

wat mij verbaast want ze zijn volgens mij toch uit de plaat

gebogen. Hoe krijg je dan het wormwieltje erdoor?

Deze foto genomen om de afwerking van de hak aan de 

binnenkant te kunnen bestuderen. Keurig afgewerkt zoals 

je dat meestal alleen tegenkomt bij de duurdere gitaren.

Natuurlijk nog even uw aandacht voor de mooi vormgegeven 

extra uitloper van de ebben toets waarop een 19e fret geplaatst 

is. Alleen al daarom natuurlijk geen beginnersgitaar...

Joan Cashimira "Model 145" All solid!

 

Presented here is a model 145 from Joan Cashimira,

a luthier that vanished in mystery around 2016. Apart

from that, his guitars are in high regard. Some remarks

have to be made around this model 145 as there seems

to be models with laminated sides and back and

others with all solid parts. This model from 2002 has 

the qualities that belong to a guitar in the 3300

Euro's price range when it is priced new. Availability

still remains the question. Price now: € 1500,- (luxe 

case included.) Feel free to ask a sound example.

SOLD.

Made with luxury materials and a delight to see in

reality, this guitar has a cedar top and solid cocobolo

sides and back. An ebony fingerboard that certainly

has to be there in this price range and a beautiful

inlaid bridge and reinforcement strip in the back

of the neck. 5 piece fan bracing of the top.

A better picture to take a look at the bridge. Just

click to enlarge this picture. The soundboard is 

attached to the sides by the use of individual 

spruce blocks while the back is attached to the

side by a glued and bowed spruce strip.

More beautiful details to be discovered as there

is the rosette of course. They often differ from

each other on this model.

The typical headform with the topnut: Width 53 mm

No damage on the head itself on the back. That

often occurs when placing a guitar against a wall.

The frets that still are in pristine condition. On 

a straight neck that supports a 650 mm scale.

And of course the striking use of the Cocobolo species

in the way a lot of his guitars are equipped with.

Luckily not too heavily figured because those pieces

of wood are prone to crack more easily. So, often more

heavily figured backs on the 145 models are veneered 

ones as the other woods used will support the 

layer of veneer in a sufficient way.

Simply to discover wether if the sides and/or back is

solid is by comparing the figuring of the wood from

inside as well as outside.

To my idea likely still the famous Fustero machine heads.

And a glance from the other side....

The label itself that has been handsigned. 09 possibly

stands for the month September. 02 is the year 2002.

Clearly the use of mahogany braces on the back 

and the mahogany center strip can be seen.

Here I've tried to photograph the outer part of the inner heel.