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!
