Francisco Esteve: Model ELEC 1989 (with cutaway)

        

This particular model has been built by master luthier

Manuel Adalid in collaboration with Francisco Esteve.

It is the top of the line electric cutaway guitars in their

collection. All solid woods and acoustic a really

surprising tone. Solid Indian rosewood sides and 

back, a cedar neck that is provided with an ebony 

fingerboard. This is a cedar topped guitar and so is

its' sound. Scale on this guitar is 655 mm. 

Price 1200,- SOLD.

The back of the neck has been reinforced with an ebony

layer. The outer heel on this guitar was still more rounded

as the later examples that also have another bridge.

Not the most expensive Fustero tuners but they work 

surprisingly well. I've had the same ones on an Antonio

Duran Concert guitar so "good company"!

Clearly visible is the ebony fingerboard and the finely

executed binding. For better playability the neck has been

refretted and before that the fingerboard was shaved off a 

bit towards the head in order to get a better angle over the

bridge bone and a better tone and playability!

The later ELEC models have an ebony bridge which is beautiful

but in fact a bit too heavy. On this guitar, that has been imported

in England by the Juan Teijeiro Music Company, the bridge is 

executed out of Brasilian rosewood. Only in small characters

the name of Francisco Esteve has been mentioned on the label

though it clearly says: ELEC and has been dated 1989.

When you order this guitar, the electronics that are OK

will be delivered separately as I wanted to know how this

guitar would sound without the under saddle pick up that 

has a negative influence on the sound to my believe.

Recent development was the adding of a 12 hole bridge which

makes mounting strings much easier and moreover gives a better

angle from the strings over the top gof the bridgebone. And if

you want to know more feel free to contact me. Also after the 

sale I will be ready for you the solve problems on your guitar.

Is the guitar not to your satisfaction for serious reasons 

(hidden shortcomings) you will get your money back.

Of course there are some traces of use here and there 

and people have to know that as well besides other

things such as a not straight soundboard, a neck with 

too much relief, a bridge that might come off, broken

rollers what often happens on older guitars as the

metal in the roller expands and as a result the plastic

surrounding cracks. In this Blog Greatguitarsshop

you can also find all things to inspect when you buy a 

second hand guitar. Here a kind of burn mark is 

detectable on the back of the head. How someone 

is able to cause that remains a question...

The front of the head is in pristine condition and the

new added topnut can be admired here. The small 

damage on the back is only cosmetically.

Want to know more around this brand and in general

about the Valencia made guitars, just check this site:

www.guitarrasvalencia.wordpress.com

Oscar Teller 8 / P Concert guitar (1971) Oscar Teller 8 / A Concert guitar (1971)

                                                         

This is an Oscar Teller Classical guitar from 1971. 
One of their highest models then. Fairly well played!
The P in the model number stands for Palissander
(Rosewood) while an A stands for Ahorn (maple) Most 
significant detail is that Mason Williams recorded his 
nr. 1 hit in the United States on a "Cordova" branded 
guitar: "Classical Gas" that came from the Teller factory. 
As Spanish names sold better there for that reason it 
was labelled otherwise.... Price: € 1500,-

                                                                   

OK. The guitar needs some restorations but all in all
it can be done and a lot of things will be more cosmetic:
Some loose bindings, partly lost. It has all been solved.
Scale of this instrument is 650 mm. The own frequency
of the soundbox is G# so 104 Hz.

The label, always with the model, year of manufacture and

production number, visible on the next picture.

And a registration number as is there on this label.

The model 8 / P is still in production and lists for

2850 Euro's. Alas, not exactly the same as the old 

ones. The 10 P Exclusive is the upper model now 

that is on their pricelist for 4.900 Euro's. That model

is provided with Brasilian rosewood back and sides.

                                                   

The back has some disturbing damage but only in the 

lacquer so it will be no problem to fix that properly.

The same thing counts for the soundboard. No cracks 

but a bit unrespectfully treated by its' former owner.

Most likely this guitar comes from a music institute

were they provided their teachers with a better model

guitar to give their lessons on.

Here the Rubner mounted tuners can be seen. Good quality

but a better fit is needed to have them work more smoothly.

A nicely decorated head, probably inspired by the way

the Japanese luthiers worked at that time and were success-

ful with it. A good cut topnut anyway. The front has been

veneered with an ebony layer.

The Rubner company also made cheap tuners that in fact weren't 

bad at all. These are the more deluxe tuners that match the further

quality of this guitar.

An inner Spanish heel and nice inner woodwork as can be

expected from a German company existing that long. They

were in fact a violin builders family.

The rough treatment not only resulted in various needless

scratches but also a (repaired) crack in one side and an

open crack alongside the gluing surface of back and

sides. Some extra inlay work will be needed.

And what a few hours work will do!

Unfinished yet but the possibly polyurethane lacquer 

has been removed here. A nice piece of wood! And

possibly be able to vibrate in a better way with a 

some layers of a more modest lacquer.

By relaquering the back, head and neck some dings and 

scratches can be cured and these layers are giving the 

guitar a smooth feel again.

A closer look here of the refinished back

The front that hasn't been treated. I left it the way it 

came to me. A guitar may have its' history

These typical inlay in the ebony head layer can be found on 

two high end models from the Oscar Teller company in the

past. Mason Willams plays his number 1 hit "Classical Gas"

together with Deborah Henson Conant (Harp) on this model

guitar. Above all, a very nice musical meeting!

The tuner knobs have been riveted as was usual also

on the Spanish "Fustero" tuners of that time. I recently

got an e-mail from the Rubner company in which they 

claim them not to be from their company. The Schaller

company could be the other option of course.

Oscar Teller 8/A

The first step in restoration of this Oscar Teller 8/A model was

to remove the lacquer over the whole instrument. As the lacquer

showed some craquele and had a lot of dirty and unprotected

bare wood spots that was a necessary move.

The back that already has been cleaned and is showing the

bare wood. It explains the prefix "A" in the model number:

The "A" stands for Ahorn, the German name for Maple.

Maybe a bit more uncommon but maple has some qualities

of its' own. And let us not forget: Antonio de Torres as

well as Vicente Arias, two venerable luthiers of the 19th

century also made concert guitars with maple sides and

back. To these days it still is a choice of luthiers but

the classical players, being quite conservative, are not

that eager to embrace the use of maple as it doesn't reply

to real tradition in wood use for concert guitars.

Biggest problem here was the purling and the soundboard

itself that was already loose at this spot. The purfling simply

was gone already. Luckily I found an old rosette of another

German built guitar that I've kept in storage.

And after several hours of work this is the result. It has 

been composed with a lot of very thin layers and therefore

the only solution is to use some fine veneer blades and 

make layers out of that. Do not glue them together but 

only at the bottom where they are resting.

As the label attests this guitar is coming out of the same year 

(and collection) as the model 8/P presented here above.

These two guitars are coming out of a bigger collection

most likely used for educational purposes. But the teachers

should have been more aware of the quality the guitars

provided here. They were not very prudent so to say....

A close shot where you can determine all those layers.

But the back will be brought back in a like new condition.

  

As the head had suffered some serious injuries there 

was a need to restore the back. I used the same procedure 

Wolfgang Teller uses for his present 8/P model by using

the same wood as the soundbox to kind of veneer the 

back of the head. I could have used ebony but seeing

the picture here below I'm glad I didn't. I used maple.

On a rosewood guitar Mr. Teller uses rosewood for

the back of the head as can be seen here.

  

Now there is so much harmony when observing

this guitar from the back though still unfinished on

the left but lacquered on the right. The beautiful

figured maple is there to its' full potentials.

Mass Hirade / Takamine "Master Arte" gitaar: Model 15

 

Een higher end model dat je niet zo vaak tegenkomt van

deze bouwer / fabrikant. Dat Hirade deze gitaren persoon-

lijk bouwde zal waarschijnlijk niet het geval zijn. Wel

signeerde hij vaak de labels van deze Concert Arte

series. Deze gitaar is gebouwd in 1984, de topjaren voor 

wat betreft Japanse producten: Betaalbaar en kwaliteit.

Vraag gerust naar een prijs.

De gitaar is opgebouwd uit massieve materialen wat van

een topgitaar verwacht mag worden. De later toegepaste

ebben verstevigingsstrip in de hals ontbreekt hier nog.

De hele gitaar laat zorgvuldigheid zien qua bouwken-

merken. En alhoewel Mass Hirade bij Kohno geleerd 

heeft, is diens bovenblad ondersteuning niet gekopieerd.

Een traditionele waaierbracing (7 stuks) is hier toe-

gepast. Indiaas palissander en een scale van 650 mm.

De "eigen frequentie" van de klankkast ligt op A.

In Herz kun je dus zeggen rond de 110 Hz.

Een zorgvuldig gesneden topkam met een breedte van

52 mm. Prima mechanieken die zeer gelijkmatig werken.

Je zou er Fustero's alleen al voor vervangen op je Spaanse

concertgitaar! Verantwoordelijk voor de werking zal

zeker ook de overbrenging zijn: 1 op 18.

Dat daarbij ook de knoppen demontabel zijn, vind ik 

een absolute plus. De ashouders zijn ook niet "uit de

plaat gebogen" zoals dat bij goedkopere mechanieken

doorgaans het geval is.

Verwarring kan ontstaan omdat Takamine later de H15

als model heeft uitgebracht. Kwalitatief gewoon een

mindere gitaar dan deze Hirade. Vreemd is natuurlijk

dat ze het woordje "fifteen" verkeerd geschreven

hebben. Opmerkelijk is verder dat deze duurdere

Hirade niet gesigneerd is terwijl dat met sommige

"lower end models" uit deze reeks wel het geval is.

Voor wat betreft de Takamine serie nummers: Deze

zijn terug te vinden op het hielblok in de gitaar en

de codering is in feite niet erg ingewikkeld: De eerste

twee cijfers (84 hier) geven het bouwjaar aan. Dan

zijn de volgende twee cijfers verantwoordelijk voor 

de maand van fabricage. De 4 cijfers daaropvolgend

geven het zoveelste exemplaar aan in die maand 

gemaakt. Deze manier van dateren heeft Takamine

gevolgd tussen 1962 en 2012 met uitzondering

van de G-series van dit bedrijf,

Het leek wel mode te zijn in Japan om het achterblad van 

een dunne vernislaag te voorzien in de klankkast. We treffen 

dit ook aan bij de Masaru Kohno, Sakurai, Juan Orozco en 

de Tama modellen uit die tijd. Een duidelijke reden daarvoor 

heb ik nooit kunnen vinden. Helderder klankresultaat?

De randinleg lijkt gekopieerd te zijn van de high end 

Kohno gitaren maar gezien de verschillende gitaren die 

af en toe aangetroffen worden zou een derde partij hier 

wel eens verantwoordelijk voor kunnen zijn geweest.

Ook het brugblok is van versiering voorzien, wellicht toch

meer een keuze van de mensen in Azie. Een andere smaak

en soms een beetje "over the top". Model 20 heeft deze

randinleg ook maar is voorzien van Braziliaans palissander

voor de zij en achterkant van de klankkast.

Nog beter te zien is de randinleg op deze foto en je kunt

hem zelfs beter bestuderen door op de foto te klikken.

Opmerkelijk bij dit instrument is de bespeelbaarheid nog

even los van het mooie geluid. Die is erg nauwkeurig

afgesteld. Het geluid is niet vergelijkbaar met de Kohno,

Sakurai en Orozco gitaren die voor de wereldmarkt ge-

produceert zijn. Het geluid is wat sprankelender en

heeft niet dat robuuste wat de eerste 3 hebben.

De andere kant is dat de levendigheid in de toon

een sterk punt is van deze gitaren. Toch lijkt de onder-

steuning van het laag vanuit de laagste frequenties

te komen, een soort van "voelbaar" laag.