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dinsdag 15 juli 2025

Amalio Burguet Model AB (2006)




  

Presented here is the top model of Amalia Burguet,
the so called AB (Amalio Burguet) model. I'm not sure 
wether if every AB model has been equipped with a
so called "Doble Tapa" which means a layer of a softer
wood (spruce) sticked to the back, the way Manuel 
Contreras reintroduced. This one is provided with
this double top (or back). Besides that the sides have
been veneered with a layer of Cypress from the 
inside. Difficult to detect differences between these 
models and a 'normal" guitar but the response of the 
higher notes is beautiful rounded and very even in 
sound and in fact comparable to a Jose Ramirez 1A
which is no surprise as Burguet also built guitars in 
the "Madrid" tradition. Lot's of volume, a bit darker
sounding and a good playability at the same time. 
Scale is 650 mm. Playing action measured on the 
12th fret is 3 mm for the 1rst and 4,5 mm for the 6th
string with about 3 mm of protruding bridgebone to 
even lower the playing action. What is of even more
importance is that the strings are making a steep
angle over the bridgebone so no loss of tone when
altering the height of the strings. List price at this
moment: Around  5900 Euro's for this example 
Now: case included: Price € 2500,-


A question of trust of course but I guarantee a playing action
of 3 mm for the 1rst and 4,5 mm for the 6th string here.

  

The head presented here has the carving "AB" in
the furthermore graceful head design.


A fine grained spruce top with a bracing of its' own.
You can't describe it as a lattice bracing but it is also
far from a traditional fan bracing. More about this
bracing and a slight problem around it further here


The rosette as well as the edges are beautiful executed
regarding inlay work.


Enough bridgebone left to even lower the strings without
sacrificing anything from the tone as the strings are making
a steep angle over the bone.


I've included this picture as you can see a varnish
crack that runs from the bridge to the sound hole
on the left. As a restorer you would like to know
wether it is a crack all through the wood or just
in the top layer of the varnish. Therefore a light
bulb works well, especially with a spruce top as 
this wood shines through. Together with a close
inspection with a mirror the conclusion can be 
drawn: No crack on the inside visible but the 
cause became clear to me:

One of the braces for the soundboard in that area
came loose in the past, thus causing a weak spot in
the soundboard there as a result from the tension
of the strings. Regluing the brace was not a big
problem and strengthening the spot in this way
has been executed. It doesn't' has any influence
on the final sound.


For me a bit of an odd looking type of rosewood though
investigations learned that Burguet uses Madagascar 
rosewood for his premium model guitars.


Great tuners as well and I think we have to be grateful
the older Spanish luthier companies stopped using the 
Fustero tuners as the company no longer exists. They 
made beautiful tuners but mechanically spoken not the 
top. These tuners are the top line of Gotoh 35AR510P.
but also can be found on the internet under "Gotoh
Hauser" tuning keys. (See below)


For more information please click on the picture. These
tuners are far superior to any others I've come across, 
including the Fustero's and other brands.


And with their knobs clinched on the axes.


As can be studied here: No fret wear. In fact a guitar like new!
It comes together with a like new case.




woensdag 2 april 2025

Telesforo Julve "Intermediate model" 1945 / 1958.


A teleforo Julve that had an intensive restoration process.
As the sound was very promising already I figured it should
be worth it. All parts have been French polished after a 
good cleaning job. However, as the original lacquer had
disappeared at certain spots it becomes very difficult to
have an even coloured top after the polishing process.
I make my own so called "wood brightener" and as it is
also called oxalic acid solution I made it with oxalic acid
and water. Then you are able to determine the mix with
water yourself. It was needed several times.

The final result after this intensive restoration process is
a well playable and really surprising sounding instrument.
Scale 650 mm. Width of topnut 51 mm. Action on the
twelfth fret: 3 mm string 1 and 4 mm string 6.
The price now is 500 Euro's.


Much better now and after all it is not a new guitar
and thus doesn't have to be like that.


Walnut really can be a beautiful wood in itself. 
Anyway I like the back and the way it is figured.


Refretting is a must as the filed copper frets weren't in
a good condition anymore and moreover doesn't give
a great convience of playing. A new topnut made out
of bone, more carefully spaced enhances playability
as well. The thinning of the neck did the rest!


And most of the time the heads and sleeves for the rollers
haven't been done very symmetrically. As a new refinish
job is necessary, why not make corrections on those
as well and of course a cleaning job for the tuners.


This was were this guitar shines: No cracks anywhere,
a straight neck, good sound and beautiful figured walnut
sides and back.


This label picture has been taken through the sound 
hole. A better picture you can find here beyond where 
I'm talking about the restoration process



For those who are interested in the restoration process:



The back had to be lifted off as some glue work wasn't 
proper anymore. A check on all the details inside can be
done then as well.


Fairly easy to remove the back but you have to be prudent
when it comes to removing the back from the inner heel
tongue. Somewhat a little help from the inside of the sound
box is needed but all in all successful!


Ive included another picture of the label as here the label
can be presented complete. The telephone number on the
right (under the address) is pointing towards a guitar
made between 1945 and 1957 as is the address.


A good shot at the lower bout that makes clear the sound
board has been built up out of three parts. This has been done 
quite often en lets' remember: Even Antonio de Torres made 
some of his guitars with a soundboard out of 3 pieces.
On the lower right you can see through as a piece of the
edge inlay is missing. No bracing in this guitar but I
figured it to be a good experiment to give this guitar a
3 piece fan bracing in the style of Telesforo Julve.


The heel that is partly made out of the softer spruce.
The individual glue blocks are placed quite wide from
each other. It is known that higher end guitars have 
them more close to each other. 


So I've decided to place extra glue blocks in between. 
I've coloured them later but in fact not necessary. The
existing glue blocks have all been checked and reglued 
when necessary, together with the transverse bars.


Here the new fan bracing is visible. Of course the
additional advantage is that the part of the soundboard 
under strength and tension of the strings better with-
stands those forces. The extra glue blocks will enhance
the contact of the top with the rest of the guitar.


With the back off it became clear that the glue work on
the braces wasn't great anymore. I removed the braces and 
cleaned the surfaces of course before regluing. As I wanted
to replace the back in the Spanish way these braces are glue
glued to the sides first but at the proper hight so the back
makes contact along the entire braces.


Of course it could also be a method to glue the
transverse bars to the back first but here I only 
placed them in order to make a picture of it.


Here the body is ready to receive its' back again. It is
necessary to reglue them to the dimensions of the back.
Therefore careful measuring is a must during this process.


The two halves of which a back exists, were held
together with cleats though these newly placed
strips work a lot better. The better guitars all have
this kind of "protection' to prevent unwanted
splits. The grain of the wood of these strips 
should be on 90 degrees with the back pieces.


I've coloured the fingerboard the way it has to be.
(The cheaper models have a blackpainted fingerboard)
The copper frets that are originally mounted in these 
guitars are always filed but never rounded afterwards 
which makes the guitars a bit uncomfortable to play.

Moreover, this neck was way too thick so I remodelled 
the neck as well as I was planning to French polish
the whole guitar. And necks aren't that difficult to do.


As this guitar obviously wasn't a concert guitar and relatively 
cheap, the owner(s) weren't that careful with it as I often see.
So a new back plate on the head covers the marks incurred
during its' lifetime up till now.


A good cleaning of the tuners was another must and the 
axes being made with metal rollers makes this guitar
also produced from before the early sixties. Wether if
the lack of the two inlays on the bridge tie block is
pointing towards an immediately after second world 
war model I do not dare to say but it certainly could
be the case as there was a shortage of about everything 
after  the civil war followed by the second world
war (That is well known in Spain.)

dinsdag 18 maart 2025

Alastair McNeill "Hauser" model guitar nr. 204 from 1997

 


 

This special "Hauser / Torres" model Alastair McNeill 
made multiple times as he was already in an early stage 
interested in what the Spanish luthiers did regarding
guitar building. Provided with the genuine Torres 
head, a timeless design in itself, this guitar has been 
provided with a fan bracing of course. Moreover
however it is well known that Hauser stayed close
to the original Torres designs. Segovia played Hauser
guitars for a long time after he proposed Hermann 
Hauser to follow the Spanish way of building guitars. 
Those guitars remain iconic, also the Hauser II ones.
Price (case included) is 1500 Euro's being less 
than half of the price asked for another second hand 
Hauser copy (Nr. 203 on the Reverb site.) 


Nice attention to details like the rosette pictured here. This 
guitar has been French polished which is a sign of utmost
care on an instrument like this. Do not expect hughe
volumes coming out of this guitar but a perfect balance 
and beautiful rounded higher notes supported by a great
bass response as well. Funnily enough number 203 in
the Alastair McNeill serie is offered for sale on Reverb.
That is also a Hauser model. Same as this guitar equipped
with a 7 fan soundboard bracing but that is not different
from what Antonio de Torres did. Remarkable however
are the extra braces on the back in the lower bout that
are forming a cross and that way of constructing is 
pointing towards the Hauser method of building.


Also the inlay work is there on both back and front.


Quite typical are the braces that make a cross in the 
lower bout. That makes me think this guitar to be a 
Hauser copy. The brace that runs through this cross 
is scallopped in this guitar and more tiny executed 
than the other transverse bars on the back. This picture
of course is then from a genuine replica built one,
found on the internet.


The knobs are clinched to their axes and though 
not executed in "gold" these tuners work very well.
But being apparently Lansdorfer / Reischl tuners it 
is another confirmation of the guitar being ment as
a Hauser model as that dynasty of builders almost 
exclusively used these Lansdorfer tuners.


A special word can be said about the tuners used as they
are genuine Lansdorfer / Reischl tuners, among the worlds 
best and they were also used by Jose Romanillos,  Robert Ruck 
and Edmund Blochinger among others. They can be had in all 
kinds of varieties, plastic or pearloid buttons but it all  starts 
at about 350 Euro a pair! 


The back has been provided with a straight grained piece 
of indian rosewood which isn't a bad thing so to say. 
Moreover, these straight figured pieces of wood are less 
prone to cracks in the future. Same thing counts for the 
sides as well.


The guitar makes a somewhat smaller impression and 
regarding dimensions that is indeed the case. Moreover
this guitar has been provided with a 640 mm scale.


The purfling around the edges can be studied here
by clicking on this picture.


The Torres shaped head. Simplicity at its' utmost.
The topnut measures 50 mm in width.


The signed label by mr. McNeill living in Wiltshire.


The outer heel has been decorated with taste as well.


This picture has been added to be able to study the sides.


As can be seen: No fretwear what guarantees years
of playing pleasure as this guitar has a beautiful
voice apart from a perfect balance and good volume. 
And another plus is its' playability.


Even the rosette on the Alastair McNeill guitar is close 
to the original where in the inner and outer ring inlays 
seem to "move" in the opposite way, Take a look here 
beyond where an original 1960 Hauser is presented.