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.

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 became 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.

And the French polish technique adds a lot to

the beauty of the final result.

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. A small spot due to the expansion of a

transverse bar has been cured from the inside by placing

a glue block from the inside on that particular spot.

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 and 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 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 black painted fingerboard)

The copper frets that are originally mounted in these 

guitars are always filed but never rounded afterwards 

which makes these guitars a bit uncomfortable to play.

It was customary inValencia in those days.

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.)

People may wonder wether if it has been worth all that

trouble but these guitars find themselves in a growing

popularity and for a reason. They simple sound good.

Let's look at the price list of what has been done:

New fretwork: At least 200 Euro's Cleaning.the

tuners: 30 Euro's. Regluing bars and glue blocks while

lifting the back: over 200 Euro's and finally French 

polishing the whole guitar: More than 200 Euro's.

Therefore the final price of 500 Euro's is more

than reasonable. I haven't even mentioned the 

reshaping of the head and thickness of the neck!

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.

The genuine Lansdorfer / Reischl tuners are among the worlds 

best and they were also used by Jose Romanillos,  Robert Ruck 

and Edmund Blochinger concert guitars 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. All those details are a

confirmation if McNeills' exquisite workmanship.

The Torres shaped head. Simplicity at its' utmost.

The topnut measures 50 mm in width.

The signed label by mr. McNeill living in Wiltshire.

When you google on "Alastair McNeill REVERB"

you will find another guitar from tis luthier, also a

Hauser modal and only on number away from this 

example although priced more than  twice as much.

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.