Mercian gelabelde gitaar - Klasse instrument!

 

Ter presentatie hier een "Mercian" gelabelde gitaar waar

wel het e.e.a. over te vertellen is. Doorgaans worden alleen

studiegitaartjes van dit "merk" aangeboden en daarbij dient

vermeld te worden dat het zeer waarschijnlijk een verzonnen

merknaam is van een van de grotere muziekketens. Logisch

dat de studiegitaartjes het eerst te vinden zijn want daar

worden er de meesten van verkocht. Prijs: 500 Euro.

Meteen al gealarmeerd door de verfijnde afwerking van 

dit instrument ben ik verder gaan kijken. Geklonken 

stemknoppen en een ingelegde ebben strip aan de achter-

kant van de hals die bovendien nog ter protectie van de 

fretuiteinden van een palissander lining is voorzien!

Scale van deze gitaar is 650 mm en de snaarhoogte 

staat nu afgesteld op 2,7 mm (hoge E- snaar) en 4 mm 

voor de laagste E- snaar. Het een en ander zorgt voor 

een meer dan prettige bespeelbaarheid met gewoon 

nieuwe frets als een bonus natuurlijk.

Wat daarnaast natuurlijk bij nadere inspectie opvalt is dat

de hals ook nog eens is voorzien van een verstelbare truss rod

of halspin zoals we het vaak in Nederland aanduiden. Een

rechte hals is dan gegarandeerd al moet je wel altijd voor 

wat neck relief zorgen.

Misschien niet interessant voor de klank maar wel mooi

meegenomen: Een erg smaakvolle rozet. De extra fret is

op een gracieus gevormd stukje toets toegevoegd.

Geklonken stemknoppen maar daarnaast is er ook geen 

enkele beschadiging te zien op de achterkant van de kop.

Een nette brug waarin door mij een nieuw kambeentje is 

gezet. Op hoogte gebracht en perfect passend gemaakt.

Hier ziet U dat de uiteinden van de frets niet te zien zijn.

's Winters willen de frets bij de temperatuurschommelingen

nog wel eens uit gaan steken. Allemaal te verhelpen maar 

dit is wel zo'n charmante oplossing.

Een fraaie palissander achterkant en in tegenstelling tot 

achterbaden met een nogal wilde tekening kan dat laatste

tegelijk ook vaak eerder tot scheuren leiden. De "eigen

frequentie" van deze gitaar ligt op een A (110 Hz)

Strakke "Bouchet" kop, een van de meest vooraanstaande

Franse bouwers van de vorige eeuw. Ook de bebalking 

wijkt nogal af van de traditionele waaier (Torres) bebalking. 

Keurig geschaafd en gelijmd allemaal en het resulteert in 

elk geval in een mooi geluid! De topkam is net wat 

smaller dus als iemand daarvoor opteert: 50 mm.

Een shot van de mechanieken die ashouders rondom hebben

wat mij verbaast want ze zijn volgens mij toch uit de plaat

gebogen. Hoe krijg je dan het wormwieltje erdoor?

Deze foto genomen om de afwerking van de hak aan de 

binnenkant te kunnen bestuderen. Keurig afgewerkt zoals 

je dat meestal alleen tegenkomt bij de duurdere gitaren.

Natuurlijk nog even uw aandacht voor de mooi vormgegeven 

extra uitloper van de ebben toets waarop een 19e fret geplaatst 

is. Alleen al daarom natuurlijk geen beginnersgitaar...

Daniel Roye Concert guitar 1980

Presented here is a Daniel Roye guitar, built in 1980.

Recently refretted and a neck / body angle correction.

This guitar is in a very good shape with no cracks or

whatsoever. Scale is 650 mm while the topnut is 

54 mm. Daniel Roye continued with building violins

and is quite successful with it. He learned the craft

from Nicolaas van der Waals among others.

Price: 1800 Euro's including a case.

What immediately is remarkable is the way Roye shaped 

the head. In fact the way a violin builder is supposed to

do. I can't find immediate advantages of it. The topnut

has been redressed after the fret job.

On par with the quality of a concert guitar the tuners should be

of pristine quality. And I can confirm that: They are! Clinched

with the axe holders to the base plate and very smoothly

working. The lyre motif is there as has been made popular

by the Spanish Barcelona based Fustero company but

I think them to come from Germany....

The body that has been built up with fine grained spruce

and beautiful figured Brasilian rosewood for back and

sides. Also the purfling has been done in rosewood.

A surprisingly low bridge that hasn't been altered

by someone. The idea must have been that a lighter

bridge let's the top vibrate more freely. Moreover

the bridgebone is closer to the actual soundboard.

A newly made bridgebone adjusted for convenient

playability and stringsavers to get an even better

angle over the bridgebone though it was in fact 

not necessary.

The guitar from the back. Beautiful woods used here!

The back in all its' beauty. It almost looks as if the

back exists out of only one piece of wood. The 

seam is hardly detectable. The reflections are,

sorry for that....

A strange picture for classical guitar players I

suspect. The back of the head has been closed

with a layer of wood.

This picture is showing the recently placed new frets.

A 1980 guitar with a whole life in front of itself! And

with its' comfortable shaped neck it is an easy to play

guitar. As for sound: Really nice low end and a good

balance between the lower and upper registers.

In fact the Amsterdam Guitar Trio plays most of their music 

on Daniel Roye's guitars so the sound can be judged there. 

Search for the Vivaldi: The four Seasons The Amsterdam 

guitar Trio. Soundwise I think the sound on this video is bit 

thin when I compare it with my guitar. But the idea in how 

a guitar should sound is changing over time. Also in the 

recording world as the digital era was just starting in 1980.

In every detail it is becoming clear that the luthier

did his best to produce a beautiful instrument. I will

try to contact him and maybe I will get some more

information around several details.

Andres Martin de Diego - Concert guitar 1960

You will not meet them frequently but Andres Martin

made a lot of stringed instruments in his life. He is 

therefore mentioned in the Jose Romanillos dictionary

as someone who learned his craft with Julio Bustamante

and Marcelo Barbero. He was influenced by Santos

Hernandez and Domingo Simplicio. He taught his

brother in law, Javier Rojo Solar. His workshops

were at the Rollo 3 and at Calle Divino Pastor 22

in Madrid. He died in 1977. Scale of this guitar is

660 mm. Width of the topnut is 53 mm.

It must have been a lot of work to create a rosette like this...

The scratch plate could point towards a flamenco model as

does the cypres sides and back but classical Spanish music suits

this guitar as well. Profound basses and a bit of the old school

"wooden"  tone. A good example of this sound can be found

on YouTube where Nikos Tsiachris plays a 1975 classical

guitar from his hand. The guitars' own frequency lies

on a G#, about 104 Herz.

Here the signed label can be admired, stating that he already

was working at the Divina Pastor 22 location in Madrid.

To our believe the year written at the lower right on

this label mentions the year 1960.

His graceful and immediately recognizable head, but also

showed here is the condition of the lower frets. Most of the

time an indication in what sort of condition the fretwork

is. He also used the typical Fustero tuners from that time.

Probably I will French polish the neck as it doesn't feel

that comfortable at the moment. Or leave it the way it is?

Nice inlay work all around this instrument proving that

it is far from an entry level guitar.

And the Fustero tuners with the typical knob form

in the early sixties.

The Cyprus back with only one small crack that already 

has been stabilized. Do not expect such imperfections to 

have a lot of influence on the sound.

And the front ands back of the head, reasonably 

free from damages. A new topnut was necessary.

This picture has been added as I used the string 

savers to get an even better angle over the bridge-

bone but they were in fact not necessary.

Joan Cashimira "Model 145" All solid!

 

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.