Yamaha GC(5 ) Grand Concert guitar 1979

A remarkable Japanese product is presented here.

A very good instrument at an affordable price. Above

all it is still in near mint condition but read all the

comments here beyond regarding this guitar.

Scale length: 650 mm. Width topnut: 53 mm.

Bodies own frequency: G which means 98 Herz.

Condition: Very good. Price: 1000 Euro's.

This is the real bottom as normally these guitars

are offered at Reverb between 1000 and 3000

Euro's depending on their condition and the

use of Brasilian rosewood on the earlier ones.

A closer look at the Yamaha branded guitar, type GC-5.

However, do not mistake yourself as this one can't be compared 

with the later GC-5 solely factory made guitars from this

company. Just take a look at the label here beyond as that

has been hand signed by the late great Hideyuki Ezaki.

He consulted Eduardo Ferrer, a historic dynasty of

guitar makers from Granada, for a few years.

And the label that has been hand signed by this venerable

luthier who worked for Yamaha until the late eighties of 

the past age. Later he started his own workshop and made 

premium concert guitars starting from 6.000 Euro's onwards.

Being this old this, guitar must have been a part of a 

collection as there is hardly any fretwear to discover.

Axes of the tuners are clinched to their base plate

which is a sign of quality.

Not any comments to give on this guitar so far, apart that 

it surprised me a lot sound wise. Full tone with lots of

volume and a nice even quality tone from the low to the

high registers.

Remarkable maybe as sides and back haven't been made

from solid woods, though rosewood on rosewood and any

comparison with all solid guitars in the 2000 / 3000 Euro

category (new) such as the Alhambra 11C was remarkable

as it simple can easily compete with that model.

The back of the  head is still in an undamaged condition.

The former player has treated this guitar with respect.

But he or she might even have kept it in its' case during

a long period of time.

Neck is absolutely straight with no dings or annoying

scratches. Tasteful edge inlays are there as well. And

let's not forget that the Jose Ramirez 1A guitars were

also veneered on the inside, often done to soften the 

tone a bit. For a lot of Japanese companies the laminated

woods used could in fact better withstand the inter-

national transports with ships and/or airplanes.

Nice rosette and a matching inlay in the string tie block.

The surrounded white binding prevents damage often 

due to the tension of the strings on the string tie wood.

And a closer look, now possible when you click on

this picture.

This 1979 guitar is spruce topped.

 

Alhambra 11C Concert Guitar (near mint)

 

One of the well known and reliable brands from Spain

regarding gut stringed guitars. They are producing student

guitars up to professional level ones. Search for their

website to find all the information around this brand. 

This one will be a little more difficult to find but in fact

it is a genuine 11P model. The only thing I have 

discovered that the C could stand for Cedar topped

or a C profile neck. I can't confirm one or the other

but I've read it somewhere. Scale length: 650 mm.

Width topnut 54 mm. Frequency body: 110 Herz.

This guitar is in near mint condition apart from 2 small 

dings.  And remember, I always buy the guitars on sound 

in the first place. Though Alhambra is a reliable company 

there can be remarkable sound differences, even between 

the same models. Price including foamed case with

ties for transport on your back: SOLD.

The head that is in an undamaged condition on both front

and back. As you can see the knobs are clinched onto the

axes of the tuners. 

Also the axe holders haven't been bowed out of the mounting

plate but clinched on it. A sign of higher quality. The prefix

A on top the tuners stands for "Alhambra" of course.

The higher end models have a head modelled differently

from the cheaper range of guitars.

A beautiful back with a rather straight figuring. The desire 

for a wild figured back certainly is there with several

guitar players but these straight figuring is not as prone

to cracks in the near future as a wild figured back

would be. Solid Indian rosewood.

I include this picture most of the time to show potential 

buyers that there is no wear on the lower frets. Straight

neck and carefully placed fretwork!

The body itself is showing some reflections due to the

mirror like varnishing of the top. And that counts as well

for the back and sides. Cedar top.

It is possible to ask the production date from the 

Alhambra company if there is a need to.

Two nice extra added fret ends for the demanding 

pieces. Of course placed in an ebony fingerboard.

What I particularly like is the surrounding of the string 

tie block. They will protect the bridge from damages in 

the future and is a pleasant sight at the same time.

With its' nice scale of 650 mm and a regular

width at the topnut of 52 mm this guitar is a

nice one to play. The topnut has been securely

carved though I've finished some rough ends

to make it look even more perfect. A good

bridge bone was needed as well.

And as always I will serve my buyers with assistance after 

the buy as I'm able to make all kinds of repairs in case that 

should be necessary.

Božo (Podunavac) B8 Classical guitar (Made in Japan)

 

A very well sounding Bozo B8. This luthier, in fact

more known for his steel strings also had his ideas

around gut stringed guitars and had them built in

Japan by Alvarez / K. Yairi and strangely enough also

Mr. Mass Hirade was involved who later built very

good instruments for Takamine under his supervision.

Scale length: 650mm Width topnut: 53. 

Body frequency:  G# (104 Herz.)

This guitar has a repaired spot that can' t be made 

invisible but it is stable now and won't affect the sound

in any way. I would subscribe sound quality being on

parr with guitars around 1500 / 2000 Euro's. This guitar

costed 1250 Dutch guilders back in 1981. It can now

be bought for 500 Euro's, sturdy bag included.

I will come up with some pictures in the near future

The sides and back are in fact laminated but rosewood 

has been glued on rosewood so what could be the point? 

They often did that for overseas transport reasons. This 

way of building guitars can withstand much more!

Ebony fingerboard and this range starts with the 

model B3 up to B15 as can be seen on the pricelist 

of 1981 here beyond.

A Dutch price list, confirming the higher end models of 

Bozo weren't that cheap at that time. You might take a look 

at my Juan Orozco Blog around prices for Japanese guitars.

As you can see on this picture it all starts with the B3. The 

next one in range is the B5. Along with the more luxury B8 

they all were equipped with laminated sides and back. The 

more expensive B10 had solid sides and back as has the 

B15 that even was equipped with an European spruce top.

As you may know in those times Juan Orozco didn't

built guitars himself anymore but simply distributed them.

Made by a rather small team of experienced woodworkers

still it could happen that a lower model sounded better 

than a high end one of the same brand from Japan. I once

had the choice between a Juan Orozco model 15, two 

models 10 and a model 8. One of the two models 10

was in a pristine condition as were the 15 and the 8 but

the model 10 with some slight cosmetic issues sounded

by far the best and brought the model 15 to shame!

Amalio Burguet Model 1A 1988 / Amalio Burguet Model "Maestro" guitar 2007

 

Presented another and probably the most popular

model in their range, the 1A model. Here beyond 

I will discuss the Maestro model which is discon-

tinued but would cost about a 1000 euros more.

These 1A models are really good value for money.

Scale length: 655 mm. Width topnut: 53 mm.

Price in very good condition here: 1500 Euro's.

They are equipped with either a spruce or a cedar top.

This one has a cedar soundboard. This guitar furthermore 

is provided with an ebony fingerboard. The string tie

block is surrounded by a hard material which will prevent 

any damages caused by the tension of the strings.

This guitar made his years so chances are little 

that unwanted cracks will occur due to an improper 

construction detail somewhere. Made in 1988.

Both the neck and the back are free from nicks, dings

and scratches. A good and straight neck with enough

neck relief to let the strings vibrate freely.

You can enlarge the picture but as always there

might be some strange spots due to reflections 

while photographing so no damage here on the

right side of the guitar near the waist.

Sometimes inevitable damages might occur when placing 

a guitar against a wall. Nothing to be seen here. The wider

ebony inlays in the back of the neck appear to be less wide

on more recent models. And let's not forget that the sources 

to obtain the right woods are diminishing nowadays.

No cost saving moves on the choice of the tuners though

as always with older Spanish or classical guitars, the plastic

rollers often are cracked after a period of time, often

due to the expansion of the metal parts inside when

temperature changes are involved. These cracked ones

have been replaced with newer ones.

A remark could be made here as more than often these

small damages can be seen behind the string tie block of

a bridge when the higher strings pop off. Some string

companies provide their higher strings with a small ball

to prevent the string from slipping. In other cases it is

advisable to make a knot at the end of the higher strings 

to prevent these damages. Simply filling  them with 

varnish and / or super glue will cause a dark trace 

especially on cedar topped guitars. It is better to colour 

them first with paint to match the rest of the soundboard 

and then use super glue that will mix very well with 

the lacquer surrounding the area.

The fret wear can be studied here and for that reason 

the second string has been pulled out of the topnut.

Amalio Burguet Model "Maestro" guitar 2007

Presented here is a beautiful Amalio Burguet guitar.

Some work on this one but nothing serious. I will explain

the damages later here. Model "Maestro" which isn't

in the collection offered today. It was two models above 

the model 1A and with a retail price what would be

3500 euro's nowadays, the price was much more 

agreable recently. SOLD.

In fact very little damages apart from the sometimes inevitable

dings behind the bridge caused by strings that sometimes

jump loose and that counts for the highest strings. This problem

can be avoided by making a knot at the end of the string.

This guitar has been built in the month September in the 

year 2007. Signed by the luthier himself. It is just under

their premium concert guitar (but sometimes might even 

sound better.) Comparing prices with their 2021 pricelist

the amount for the more expensive guitars went up to

about 33 %!

A nicely shaped head with good tuners and 

a newly made topnut as I'm always opting

for a bit more room from the first string to

the edge of the neck. Width topnut: 53 mm.

The rosette and the narrow grained cedar top can be 

studied here and a closer look at the rosette as well.

This is what happens when the strings jump loose.

Always the two or three highest strings because 

they are more slippery. The result is almost always

a kind of scratch behind the bridge. Not deep but

deep enough to expose the bare wood. Moisture

now has a chance to get into the soundboard but

filling the small gap with lacquer always results 

in a very dark (ugly spot) I always try to match the

color of the soundboard with oil paint and  I fill the

small gap with super glue that really hardens out well

and mixes with the lacquer surrounding these spots. 

Therefore the spot will be more resistant in the

near future for this unlucky accidents. Depending 

on how the light reflects it is more or less visible.

Another worry for guitarists are the condition of the frets

on the guitar. I will always make a picture of the frets,

especially at the beginning of the fingerboard and under

the second string as that place most of the time has been 

played a lot. With wear as a result. No wear here.

The back is in a pristine condition as is the back of the neck.

Beautifully inlayed and where these guitars shine is their sound

of course. Really Spanish and most of the time at a reasonable

price. Also the 1A models can be very surprising!

A closer look is even possible here.

And no damages on the head caused by placing the guitar

against a wall. No cracks or other vital imperfections. 

Visible here is the reinforcement of the neck that in fact

is identical to the more recent 1A models.

Daniel Roye Concert guitar 1980

Presented here is a Daniel Roye guitar, built in 1980.

Recently refretted and a neck / body angle correction.

This guitar is in a very good shape with no cracks or

whatsoever. Scale is 650 mm while the topnut is 

54 mm. Daniel Roye continued with building violins

and is quite successful with it. He learned the craft

from Nicolaas van der Waals among others. Own

frequency from the body is a G so 98 Herz.

Price: 1800 Euro's including original case.

What immediately is remarkable is the way Roye shaped 

the head. In fact the way a violin builder is supposed to

do. I can't find immediate advantages of it. The topnut

has been redressed after the fret job.

On par with the quality of a concert guitar the tuners should be

of pristine quality. And I can confirm that: They are! Clinched

with the axe holders to the base plate and very smoothly working. 

The lyre motif is there as has been made popular by the Spanish 

Barcelona based Fustero company but I think them to come

from Germany. And indeed they are: Daniel Roye confirmed

this: They are from "Sommer", a small workshop in Buben-

reuth. With this link you are able to find out more about

them:

http://www.music-strings.de/index.php?k=64&lang=eng

The body that has been built up with fine grained spruce

and beautiful figured Brasilian rosewood for back and

sides. Also the purfling has been done in rosewood.

The dull looking spots are simply reflections though 

there are some playing marks under the strings. 

Nothing serious but the guitars' top has been 

refinished with French polish but with the playing

marks still visible under it. Nothing serious but

it has to be mentioned to my opinion.

A surprisingly low bridge that hasn't been altered

by someone. The idea must have been that a lighter

bridge let's the top vibrate more freely. Moreover

the bridgebone is closer to the actual soundboard.

A newly made bridgebone adjusted for convenient

playability and stringsavers to get an even better

angle over the bridgebone though it was in fact 

not necessary.

The guitar from the back. Beautiful woods used here!

The back in all its' beauty. It almost looks as if the

back exists out of only one piece of wood. The 

seam is hardly detectable. The reflections are,

sorry for that....

A strange picture for classical guitar players I

suspect. The back of the head has been closed

with a layer of wood.

This picture is showing the recently placed new frets.

A 1980 guitar with a whole life in front of itself! And

with its' comfortable shaped neck it is an easy to play

guitar. As for sound: Not a very loud instrument but

it has a really nice low end and a good balance 

between the lower and upper registers.

In fact the Amsterdam Guitar Trio played most of their music 

on Daniel Roye's guitars so the sound can be judged there. 

Search for the Vivaldi: The four Seasons The Amsterdam 

guitar Trio. Soundwise I think the sound on this video is bit 

thin when I compare it with my guitar. But the idea in how 

a guitar should sound is changing over time. Also in the 

recording world as the digital era was just starting in 1980.

A more recent recording on YouTube has been made by

Alex Timmerman with a Manuel Maria Ponce piece.

In every detail it is becoming clear that the luthier

did his best to produce a beautiful instrument. I will

try to contact him and maybe I will get some more

information around several details.