A "Marcos Escano" labelled guitar - 1999 (Flamenco?)

The repaired Marcos Escano guitar from 1999. Though

an unknown luthier to this day, details are convincing

it to be a good instrument and very lightly built. What

could have been expected the guitar gives lots' of 

volume. Scale length 645 mm Width topnut: 50 mm.

And the few cracks in the soundboard have been 

treated to my satisfaction. Price 450 Euro's.

Hardly visible are the cracks here, Even after a 

close inspection. On the left just above the bridge 

you can see some traces of damage when I needed

to remove the bridge. As it was repaired by someone 

else in an earlier stage but done with the wrong glue 

the bridge came loose again. All stable now but the

amateur who did this should be ashamed....

A nicely sculpted head what betrays work of a real

woodworker. Everything is showing a high degree

of workmanship. Ebony fingerboard and newly 

made topnut and bridgebone. Scale is 645 mm.

Width topnut is 50 mm.

The back of the head with the reinforcement 

all the way up to the top of the head.

A nice cypress back with no frills but strange thing is 

that nice inlays are made on the sides, a bit unusual...

Almost undamaged after 25 years of service.

Frets have been redressed and can deliver service

for years to come.

I think the tuners to be from Alhambra as the prefix "A"

can be detected here on the left. You need to know that 

there actually is a prefix there!

And the tuners on the right side of this guitar.

The simple label and maybe this luthier didn't built 

that many guitars. We hope to find out in the future.

Refently we heard about a Marcos Escano who is a 

a quite successful musician in Spain. Most likely 

he gave it a try: building guitars,

The blocks on the right from the label are a 

reinforcement of the two halves of the back. A lot

of extra work as a strip of wood would have done 

the job as well. This must have been done by someone

who is accustomed to wood working.

Taurus Guitars: More info

  

Presented here is a high end Taurus guitar. This is more for

information as this guitar is not part of my collection. It was

offered to me for reparation. The Taurus company was situated

in Barcelona and indeed had a workforce. And some workers

learned their craft at the Juan Estruch company also established

in Barcelona and one of the oldest guitar companies of Spain.

Among the workers in the Taurus workshop we can mention

the later Antigua Casa Gol, Manuel Condal, Jose Farre

Rodriguez and Jose Grau among others. Also Antonio Picado 

was one of them. He now has a workforce of 20 workers just 

outside Barcelona and is responsible for the second line of

guitars for Otto Vowinkel (situated in Amsterdam)

A post at guitarsite suggests that Antonio Picado Berga, a 
guitar maker in Barcelona, worked in the Taurus workshop 
from 1968 to 1982 and that many Ramirez student guitars 
were made by the Taurus workshop during that time.

This guitars has been built a bit in the Ramirez tradition and

though this is a high end model, Taurus also built intermediate 

and possibly even beginner guitars. Refinement and use of

premium materials can prove to which class a guitar belongs.

As with several older Spanish classical guitars, this guitar also 

suffered from a too high action and lowering the saddle was not 

an option as the angle over the bridgebone was already hardly 

there. However, I was lucky as the bridge itself was executed 

quite high so lowering especially the first part of the bridge (not 

the string tie block) together with a twelve hole bridge did the

job. When you are making repairs on older guitars like this, a 

check up on the first frets often shows too much wear. Changing

the first 3 frets did the job and it wasn't necessary to do a whole 

fret job or level all the frets. The inlay of the string tie block

is also pointing towards Manuel Condal as well as the rosette.

Simply a nice shot of this part of the guitar but in fact to show

you the influences Juan Estruch had on the way of guitar building

in Barcelona and surroundings: The multi coloured edge inlay.

Manuel Condal still followed the old master Juan Estruch.

Sometimes almost giving an idea of high quality mahogany,

this guitar has been equipped with an endangered species:

Madagascar rosewood. I could securely compare this with

a high and Amalio Burguet guitar that is claimed to be

executed out of the same material back and sides. It is

now a quite pricey wood though not yet under the CITES

protection. Beautifully straight what makes it even more

stable in the near future.

A lot of luthiers that worked in Barcelona often are 

making a choice for the Ignacio Fleta head. This is

the case as well here and by the way the head is 

veneered (among other details) we might conclude

this guitar to be built by Manuel Condal.

The newly installed frets matching the older fourth fret.

Possibly Fustero tuners which is another mark of a higher

class guitar. Fustero as a company is out of business, They

were widely used, beautiful engraved but mechanically 

spoken not the top.

I've added the "Antigua Casa Gol " label together with

the engraved golden Taurus marking on the transverse

bar on the back of this guitar.

Joan Cashimira Model 1A / Joan Cashimira "Model 145" All solid!

 

Presented here is a Concert worthy guitar from this rather 
obscure luthier. Here beyond you will find their model 145
which was and is still quite popular among connaisseurs 
and for a good reason. These are simply very good guitars,
even apart from the building qualities they are showing.

Scale 650 mm. Width Topnut 53 mm. Price:  SOLD
Case included.

This example is the top of the line 1A model, provided 
with a spruce top and hand signed. Solid woods of course
and in a very good condition. That counts for tuners,
frets and playing damages if there are any! And enough
bridgebone hight to ensure a nice playing action.

You can study the soundboard here as well as the bridge

that has been provided with harder edges to prevent string 

damages as a result of the string tension. The top exist

of very fine grained spruce with the so called medullar 

rays which is proof of a perfect quarter sawn soundboard.

Nice inlay work on this 1A model what can be 

expected from a guitar in this range.

Even the edges are inlaid perfectly.

  

The head of this guitar which is undamaged and is showing

the knobs of the tuners clinched onto their axes.

No fretwear on this one. Years of playing pleasure guaranteed.

The signed label though suspect might be there that

the name Cashimira in fact is a sort of a fake name.

The Joan Cashimira company provided a certificate together

with this 1A model being their highest model free from possible

faults during the process of making this guitar.

Beautiful Indian rosewood for sides and back

Maybe not that figured but that also means these 

woods are less prone to cracks,

Joan Cashimira Model 145

 

Presented here is a model 145 from Joan Cashimira,

a luthier that vanished in mystery around 2016. Apart

from that, his guitars are in high regard. Some remarks

have to be made around this model 145 as there seems

to be models with laminated sides and back and

others with all solid parts. This model from 2002 has 

the qualities that belong to a guitar in the 3300

Euro's price range when it is priced new. Availability

still remains the question. Price now: € 1500,- (luxe 

case included.) Feel free to ask a sound example.

SOLD.

Made with luxury materials and a delight to see in

reality, this guitar has a cedar top and solid cocobolo

sides and back. An ebony fingerboard that certainly

has to be there in this price range and a beautiful

inlaid bridge and reinforcement strip in the back

of the neck. 5 piece fan bracing of the top.

A better picture to take a look at the bridge. Just

click to enlarge this picture. The soundboard is 

attached to the sides by the use of individual 

spruce blocks while the back is attached to the

side by a glued and bowed spruce strip.

More beautiful details to be discovered as there

is the rosette of course. They often differ from

each other on this model.

The typical headform with the topnut: Width 53 mm

No damage on the head itself on the back. That

often occurs when placing a guitar against a wall.

The frets that still are in pristine condition. On 

a straight neck that supports a 650 mm scale.

And of course the striking use of the Cocobolo species

in the way a lot of his guitars are equipped with.

Luckily not too heavily figured because those pieces

of wood are prone to crack more easily. So, often more

heavily figured backs on the 145 models are veneered 

ones as the other woods used will support the 

layer of veneer in a sufficient way.

Simply to discover wether if the sides and/or back is

solid is by comparing the figuring of the wood from

inside as well as outside.

To my idea likely still the famous Fustero machine heads.

And a glance from the other side....

The label itself that has been handsigned. 09 possibly

stands for the month September. 02 is the year 2002.

Clearly the use of mahogany braces on the back 

and the mahogany center strip can be seen.

Here I've tried to photograph the outer part of the inner heel.

Amalio Burguet Model 1(A) 2005

 

Presented here is an Amalio Burguet guitar that has a 
bit of a disturbing label. The Burguet company nowadays
has two comparable models: 1A and the "Amalio" model.
This model has been discontinued as it is already almost
20 years old. What puzzled me were the rather simple 
tuners. Contact with the Burguet company learned that
they never used these tuners so probably a swap from 
one of the former owners. SOLD.

The way the more luxury details are executed on this

guitar is pointing towards a concert worthy instrument.

The inlay of the string tie block and the extra ornamen-

tation of the edges around the soundboard are proof

for that. Moreover, I think that the bridge has been 

made out of Brazilian rosewood. Scale: 647 mm.

Another striking feature is the headform. On the cheaper range

of the Burguet guitars, the headform is more simply executed.

Width of the topnut is 52 mm. Ebony fingerboard.

The way the rosette has been built up can be studied here.

As the Burguet company is stating that there is no

comparable model nowadays we have to point out

the similarities with their present models. One would

conclude it to be comparable with the 1A Cedar model.

These tuners do not belong on this guitar. I've had

contact with them and they stated they never used

these kind of tuners. Anyway, they work sufficiently.

The rather more luxury inlay on the edges of the back

and the central inlays have been finely executed. The 

cedar model 1A which is priced nowadays at € 2590,-

has the same neck inlay as the model presented here. 

The edges around the soundboard are also there and

comparable.

A closer look to the back of the soundbox should be 

convincing. But it is not clear wether if Indian rosewood

has been used for this guitar. Anyway rosewood must

have been used as inspection from the inside proves.

Use of certain lacquers tend to color a guitar a bit

yellowish over time.

On some new models the rosettes are more simple executed.

One could say: "More modern and according to these times".

For people interested in this guitar: The fretwork is still very 

good though it is possible that this instrument has been refretted

in the near past. It has a scale of 647 mm which is remarkable.

Visible here are the two dark vertical inlays in the back

of the neck with in between a layer of wood, possibly

placed in the reversed direction to strengthen the neck

and thus to prevent it from warping.

I've repaired some damages to the soundboard as the bare 

wood was visible and prone to a further collection of

dirt. Though it carries various traces of use, the sound-

board is stable now and has no cracks or whatsoever.

Some pictures of the bridge though the wood used 

has a more orangy appearance in reality.

Also the way the wood "figures" is a bit "Brasilian" like

though it is known that the Burguet company also made

use of the rather similar Madagascar rosewood.

In the right side of this guitar there is a repaired crack.

It is stable now and well done from the inside. However, 

I think the outside could be French polished in a better

way. I will take care of that.

And from another point I photographed this repaired crack.

I dare to guarantee this guitar regarding this issue. But

therefore the price has been lowered of course.