Union Musical Espanola (Editores ANTES CASA) Labelled Guitar

A bit odd to start with a label as this is not a luthiers' 

label to our believe but most likely a guitar and other

musical accessoires supplier who had these instruments 

built elsewhere. Union Musicales Espanola had their

shops in different Spanish cities. Price: € 1250,-

Not a well known headstock for me but some details might

point to a Barcelona based luthier: The Juan Estruch company.

Recently I stumbled onto a 1970 guitar with the same headstock.

About the age of this guitar one can conclude that the later

ugly polyurethane finish is not present on the soundboard 

but is there on the neck, sides and back.

In the lower left there is some damage on the back and

after a good night sleep I decided to make some inserts 

for the cracks there. As it has to be levelled afterwards

the back as a whole will be refinished.

The yellow, red and green bindings are typical for Estruch

so possibly another Juan Estruch model. Contact with the

Estruch company indeed learnt that we are dealing with

a genuine Juan Estruch, one of the oldest guitar companies

in Spain though there are no "Estruch" named luthiers at

work anymore in the factory nowadays. Another luthier 

most likely bought the name and went on. On the other

hand, several luthiers learnt their craft at the Estruch

workforce among them Jose Grau, Jose Farre, Manuel

Condal and Antonio Picado. Also the later Antigua Casa

Gol is one of them. Closely related to the Estruch 

company is the Taurus Workforce. So a lot of different

luthiers could have been responsible for the building

of this guitar.

This headform resembles the much copied Ignacio Fleta

head but not exactly. That might give more direction towards

the luthier who constructed this guitar. But on the other hand

several details were more than often copied especially by the 

luthiers from Barcelona who worked for Estruch. The multi 

coloured bindings, Estruch is known for. Inlay in the bridge 

and even rosettes often were made by independent factories 

who supplied several luthiers in their country.

Nice clean rollers and refreshed frets. Alass this guitar 

has to be refretted as the neck is showing a serious backbow

which I have never found on a classical guitar until now!

And the only way to make a proper correction is to treat

the fingerboard by shaving it. In a most worst case the

fingerboard could have been replaced after having lined

out the neck. Most of the time not necessary.

A nice rosette and a spruce soundboard that is "crack" free.

And a matching inlay in the string tie block.

Fustero tuners that are in good condition.

Some spots on the outer neckblock but nothing fundamental.

In fact the case might give an idea about the age of this

guitar. Anyway a lot to be investigated still but a start

has been made by judging its' sound: Someone hightened

the bridgebone by putting some paper under the bridge

bone. A disaster for a good sound. Moreover the bridge-

bone was broken but that has been solved already.

I don't know the brand of strings but to my opinion

this guitar will sound even better with Savarez Corum.

The volume it can provide is already there now!

Here the label on the inside of the case is presented.

Another typical move on the Concerto series of Estruch 

was the use of an ebony veneer layer on the outer heel.

And the multi coloured bindings of course. A short

E-mail contact between the Estruch company and me

confirmed my thoughts about the origin: Juan Estruch.

Here the facade of the UME shop in Girona is presented.

We were curious to learn what they could tell about a part of 

the history of this company. The guy in charge wasn't very 

helpful. "All those UME labelled guitars of the past are

crap" was all he stated. I showed him some pictures of the

this high end Estruch guitar but he wasn't convinced at all.

That made me think that you always have to understand

who is the person in front of you. He acted completely

wrong and what is more, quite unfriendly. A few days 

before visiting Girona we visited the workshop of Antonio

Picado and that meeting was quite the opposite!

Manuel Romero Macias Handbuilt Flamenco guitar 1990 / Antonio Mateu Ramis guitar 1953

 

Close to the city of Sevilla Manuel Romero Macias and 

his son are building guitars in the traditional way. This

builder is merely focused on sound and his guitars are

really responsive, lightly built with a certain kind of 

percussive quality. Good balance and ease of playing.

He pays less attention to all the details in guitar-

building but nevertheless his instruments are worth

to go for. This example of a handbuilt flamenco guitar

is very nicely priced, due to some imperfections that

will be explained further on. Price: 750 Euro.

Macias uses premium grade materials of which my

classical model attests. You can take a look on youtube

to have a close listening to this classical model from

1995. He used Brasilian rosewood for sides and back

and mounted the top of the line damascening treated

Fustero tuners, a proces where a layer of gold is used

against the black metal base plates. The flamenco

guitars, Sevilla is known for, can be judged by listening

to the sound example on the site of Vintage guitar world.

They're selling there a 2005 Flamenco guitar executed

in maple in combination with a cedar top surprisingly.

But the price there is 1950 Euro's.

The way he shapes the heels for example is very gracefully.

Remarkable is the neck that exist of two halves seperated by an 

inlay all the way up to the head of the guitar. In order to make

it possible to mount thinner shaped necks which enhances

the playability.

The topnut has been changed as there is some

evidence of the sloppyness that can be found

here and there on his instruments. No big deal

however to have that properly done. Same thing

counts for the fret work and especially the fret

ends.Width topnut is 53 mm. Scale 650 mm.

Nice low action with enough bridgebone and this

is the "good"  side of this guitar.

His label stayed very simply during all the years he was active.

Now his son is in charge and still builts in Montellano.

A double "see through"  scratchplate and a

nice rosette. Ebony fingerboard in good shape.

One well repaired crack in the soundboard.

On the other side a roughly repaired crack is still visible.

And that is often the problem with cypress: It cracks

quite easily. But thoughts are that this guitar accidentely

fell on the floor, thus causing some damage. Well repaired

so it doesn't has any influence on the sound of the guitar 

but it certainly makes its' price more agreable! Here the

outer part of this side still has to be done.

In fact not even an insert in the lower bout as that wasn't needed.

Alass the discolouration is there but it does not influnence the

sound. The soundboard has a slight downward curve between 

bridge and soundhole. That has everything to do with the

fact that Romero Macias keeps his soundboards absolutely 

straight while with most luthiers the sounboard is slightly 

curved. That adds stability but also stiffness to the top and

that is something you do not want that much: You want 

the top to vibrate freely.

This is the formerly damaged side but it has been repaired in 

Spain in the past and is stable during the 10 years I owed this

guitar. I only did some cosmetic work on the outer part.

Not nice to look at but stable as has been stated. For 

cosmetical reasons one could have this side veneered.

A straight neck and fairly flat which enhances playability

to my believe. A thin layer of ebony for the fingerboard

in order not to make the neck too heavy.

Newly added tuners which work very well.

The strange move Manuel Romero always makes.

Two halves of wood for the neck up into the head.

Just click on this picture to be able to study it.

Ad the back which is in a very reasonable condition.

Some more information from Vintage guitar world:

Manuel Romero – a flamenco guitar with a huge punch and a great dynamic!

Manuel Romero Macias is a Sevilla based luthier. The workshop is in Montellana (near Sevilla).

His guitars fall into a special category. They are true hand made instruments, built by an old-school luthier using the finest materials. They possess a wonderful sound, and are very affordable. This guitar (2005 Flamenco model Vintage guitar world) has a cedar top and a maple body – a rare and spectacular combination. The scale length is 660 mm and the nut width 52 mm.

The tone of this particular instrument is sweet, beautiful and lyrical while retaining the bite and energy of flamenco: when playing melodically, it sings like a human voice, but also awakens with a tremendous bite when pushed hard. The strong, voice-like trebles are balanced by it’s big low-end that is full but not boomy. As sweet as the tone is, it still has the aggressive response when pushed in the right direction – rasguedos in particular are quite explosive and powerful.

The setup is very comfortable and the guitar plays with great ease. A great chance to get a high quality handmade guitar at an affordable price. USD 1950,-

Antonio Mateu Ramis

Antonio Mateu Ramis was a Barcelona based luthier.
Little can be found about his activities but a classical
guitar by this builder was highly praised by the famous 

Alexandre Lagoya. (Collection Sebastian Stenzel)
Very lightly built in the typical flamenco tradition.
Spruce top and ebony fingerboard.
A dry tone and quickly responding.

Apart from the nice Rosette you can see the double
scratchplates as is common on flamenco models.

On this label the luthier marked this instrument no. 13 being
dated the first of july 1953. In fact this luthier stopped in about 

1965. He had no successors. A classical guitar of this builder 

is in the possesion of Sebastian Stenzel . (no. 239 - 1961)

The back of this guitar wasn't free from cracks either

but the damage could be easily cured and finished.

On this guitar the use of cypress can be clearly seen.
This is still tradition in flamenco guitar building though
it is possible to order a "negro" flamenco model
that has been equipped with a rosewood back.
Ebony tuning pegs to lighten the guitar in fact

isn't the right solution but at the same time 

proof for a certain kind of quality.

Nieuw ontwikkelde "TRAVEL" gitaar

Als je wat langer als fanatiek gitarist met het vliegtuig

gaat reizen dan is een TRAVEL gitaar welke simpel te

monteren en demonteren is, een must, zeker als hij mee

de vliegtuigcabine in mag als handbagage. Daarom ben

ik een prototype aan het ontwikkelen en er worden nog

steeds handigheidjes aan toegevoegd

De hals is dus afneembaar van de massief houten body.

Dat kan met het losdraaien van maar 1 schroef omdat de

hals aan de body wordt vastgemaakt door deze in een

uitsparing te schuiven met een zwaluwstaart constructie.

De hals kan niet weg en er kan zelfs een ingebouwde

speling voor de actie van deze gitaar worden inge-

bouwd. Geheel nieuw is de demontabele en soms ook

inklapbare versie niet maar de alternatieven zijn

voor de gemiddelde gitarist die ook graag reist een

beetje aan de prijzige kant. Zeker als het incidenteel

gebruik betreft.

Eigen ervaring leert dat de steunen voor de rechter arm 

en linker bovenbeen (resp. links en rechts op de foto)

verstelbaar moeten zijn. Moet ook weer simpel met een 

stelschroef te realiseren zijn, vind ik.

Bedoeling is eigenlijk om de gitaar op een versterker aan te 

kunnen sluiten of liever nog via een bluetooth constructie

draadloos te kunnen bespelen met behoud van een goed 

geluid op elk niveau. Dat wordt het volgende project.

I took the neck from a damaged guitar I was able to

buy for very little money. Besides the neck I used some 

other parts as well: Both supports for knee and arm rest

have been made out of the sides. I constructed this

guitar for use on our holidays in Greece as more than 

8 days without a guitar, hmm....

For the body I used a block of mahogany that in fact is quite

heavy but once the neck has been attached the balance has to

be there of course. An under saddle pick up is the next expe-

riment. Thus it can be amplified and with the Gibson Chet

Atkins classical electric guitar in mind this whole set up

might sound in a good way as well. Gibson also used a solid

magogany body for their first Chet Atkins classical models.

Later they chambered that body in order to make it a bit 

lighter and give it more resonance.

The back of the whole construction makes it clear. A 

detachable neck, fastened wit only one screw. No more

will be necessary here as I used a so called swallow

tail construction. It can even be possible now to have 

the highest part of the fretboard glued onto the body

thus creating an even shorter neck that as a whole

and thus can be carried with a person into the airplane 

cabine. The knee support can be placed in the right

position depending on the length of the player.

Sandpaper has been used to have that support

sticked in the position wanted.

The right arm rest on a normal classical guitar is in line

with the soundboard. Therefor the right arm rest support

has been mounted from the front.  More options are

possible of course but I made the length of it according 

to my likings.

These supports have been made out of the side of this rather cheap 

guitar. But I took three pieces and glued them together in order to

make it more sturdy and reliable.

As most classical guitar necks have an inner heel and enough 

wood it is quite easy to model that part to fit the wood block

that serves as a new guitar body. For transport it is best to

disassemble the unit beforehand. But that involves only

removing the three screws, fitted with one and the same 

Allan Wrench key.

Manuel Rodriguez "Caballero II" klassieke gitaar

 

Een gitaar uit het hogere segment in prima direct te bespelen staat.

De gitaar is helemaal nagelopen op gebreken en daar waar het e.e.a.

nodig was, is dat door mij gedaan. Scale: 650 mm. Topkam: 52 mm.

Voor de hals is mahonie of sapele gebruikt. SOLD.

Bij een wat duurdere gitaar (Prijsklasse plm. 600 Euro)

hoort een mooi uitgewerkte rozet. Hier te bewonderen.

Het label met de toevoeging Bubinga, wat verwijst naar

zij- en achterblad van deze gitaar. Vervaardigd uit bubinga.

Let op: Dit is het oude "Spaanse" label in gebruik voordat

het werk "uitbesteed" werd. De latere Chinese exemplaren

met dezelfde type aanduiding werden vaak ook mat af-

gelakt wat een goedkoper proces is dan hoogglans.

De "echte"  Manuel Rodriguez kop met de zo gracieuze

inleg in Abalone van het monogram: M. R.

De zijkanten. Geen schades, geen scheuren en een recht

bovenblad dat gesteund wordt door een bebalking

(waaiervormig) van 5 balkjes.

Zijn eigen typische mechanieken met geklonken ashouders

en knoppen welke gemakkelijk vervangen kunnen worden

d.m.v. de schroefbevestiging. Later verdween deze knop-

bevestging aan de as weer door een goedkopere oplossing.

De achterkant van de kop was enigszins beschadigd van 

het tegen de muur zetten. Niet helemaal ongedaan

gemaakt maar wel een stuk beter dan voorheen.

Hier is de 2e snaar met opzet verplaatst om de frets

die weer helemaal optimaal zijn gemaakt, te laten

zien. De toets wordt daarbij meteen even ingeolied.

Een foto van de kam waarbij duidelijk is dat er ruim 

voldoende kambeenhoogte is om de snaren eventueel

nog lager te leggen al is dat niet aan te raden, De

hoek die de snaren maken is prima nu. Het contact-

oppervlak snaar - kambeentje is verkleind t.b.v. het

geluid. Dat moet namelijk niet te groot zijn.

Toch een soort van no nonsense brug zonder enige

versiering. Daar excelleert de gitaar dan ook weer in.

Het fijngenerfd maar wat "streperige" bovenblad is

nog mooi recht en zorgt voor een opvallend mooie klank

in dit prijssegment. Echt niet alleen voor een beginner.

Prima reisgitaartje voor de professional!

Een foto van de actie die bij de 6e snaar 4 mm bedraagt.

Gemeten van de bovenkant fret tot de onderkant snaar.

Voor snaar 1 geldt een speling van 3 mm.

De weelderige tekening in de achterkant laten volgens 

mij een haast "Halloweenachtige" kop zien aan de

bovenkant. Maar voel je vrij er iets anders in te ont-

dekken. Zoals al eerder vermeldt: Bubinga.