Renato Bellucci Concert guitar 2009 / Alhambra 8P Guitar

Presented here is one of the guitars built by the Renato

Bellucci workshop in Paraguay. He emigrated from Italy

to Paraguay at a young age and developed his skills

on the guitar by following various workshops with

the great players of that time. Interested in the anatomy

of the guitar as an instrument, he started  building them.

SOLD.

As a regular player he was keen on developing extra's on the 

guitar such as an armrest that really is a useful addition. Another

aspect that immediately draws attention is the tailpiece of

course. That helps to release the bridge from a lot of strain

caused by the tension of the strings and moreover, it changes

the forces that are working on a soundboard in a negative 

way. Especially by guitars equipped with a lattice bracing.

The lattice bracing as has been built in this guitar can be

studied here, leaving the soundboard itself quite thin. I had 

close contact with the buyer who indeed claims a big 

difference when using the violin tailpiece. For me a 

reason to try the effect of it on one of my guitars.

And the back of this guitar that is in a pristine condition.

The three layered neck insert is an extra option. No damages 

on the back of the head or elsewhere. The own frequency

of the soundbox lies on a Bb which means around 117 Hz.

Each client is able to customize his or her guitar that 

begins with the choice of the soundboard, back and sides. 

Presented here is the very luxury option: African Blackwood 

that adds 1700 USD to the total price being so rare. On 

the other hand it makes this instrument quite heavy but

beautiful anyway. As for the heaviness: Most lattice

braced instrument are on the heavy side.

The ornamentation in the middle is another thing that 

deserves attention. Very well done.

The label on the contrary to the rest of the guitar is quite 

modest.  This guitar has been finished on the 23 oktobre 

of 2009 and bears number 851.

 Closer shot at the armrest and the rounded edge of

the bridge is present here as well. No damages here

but due to the reflections while photographing it

may appear a bit different!

The bridge in combination with the tailpiece that is said to 

enhance the volume of a guitar with about 18 %. They

are calling it "Violin Tail". The bridgebone was another

issue on this guitar: Too much play! You can compile your 

own guitar by just visiting the mangore.com site but take a 

look at the right as the price increases with almost 

everything you're adding. The extra's on this guitar:

- Canadian cedar topped guitar

- Sides and back out of African Blackwood

- The 3 reinforcement strips in the neck

- The armrest and tailpiece

- The Lattice bracing of the top

- Rounded edges of the bridge

- The radiused fingerboard

- Extra ornamentation of the soundbox

- Position markers on the side

This guitar would end up being available

for 6.281 USD  when ordered new. 

The only little nick that separates this guitar from being real mint!

Frets are like new and flattened out evenly and afterwards

crowned and polished of course. Fret ends have been taken 

care for. Bellucci could have done this part better. Therefore 

I shouldn't buy these guitars in the blind. Too much issues 

as e.g. lacquer faults that have been solved now but in fact 

shouldn't be there on a guitar in this price range.

The sound has been discussed by others but I can only 

speak for this instrument: A very well balanced and 

evenly, friendly sounding instrument. Never too harsh. 

This guitar also separates nicely and plays very comfortable 

though the volume could be better to my opinion. Maybe I 

should give the tailpiece a try? On YouTube I'm presenting

this guitar for its' sound and appearance. As for the sound?

Just judge for yourself.

The reinforcement of the neck can be seen here 

which is an addition as well. The knobs can be screwed 

off and swapped with other examples to your liking.

The scale on this guitar is 650 mm. No fretwear.

The head looks nice and well carved. No comments so 

far but the topnut should have been made radiused as well 

to fit the also radiused fingerboard. A new and better nut 

therefore has been added.

As for the ornamentation. That is where the quality from

this workforce of Renato Bellucci shines. Simply great!

These ornamantions are not only on the front! 

Also sides and back have been done.

Good working tuners for effortless tuning. Gotoh brand.

A shot made for the edges of the soundboard as

also there the purling suits the beautiful rosette.

The radiused fingerboard can be studied here and the same

has now been done with the topnut. In fact maybe not necessary

 as one could have carved the spaces for the outer strings deeper

but any experienced luthier might be able to tell you that it is

not the way to handle these things.

A beautiful and lovely rosette and contrasts the Canadian

Cedar top and the ebony fingerboard mounted here. On the

sides of the fingerboard where it meets the soundboard the

lacquer was chipped off, possibly by the lacquering process

in a too humid environment or the too thick layers of poly-

urethane finish. It has been cured now.

The tailpiece that can be discussed of course but I think

this luthier has a point. Let's take the earlier Lucien Gelas 

guitars into account. The same possibility was created

there. Made out of ebony here to my believe. So some

parts on this guitar are very finely executed but others 

would have deserved more attention such as lacquering

work on several spots, a better topnut and bridgebone 

and a proper fret leveling and dressing.

Alhambra 8P

The first model in the Concert series, built by the master

craftsmen at Alhambra (Muro de Alcoy) named 8 P.

Cedar topped and with solid rosewood back and sides.

SOLD.

Just one slight damage at the bottom on the right.

I will try to cure this by using hot water / steam.

A nice rosette combined with a rich bridge inlay.

And of course the Logo inlay on the headstock

most likely in mother of pearl.

The axe holders are riveted onto the base plate

of the tuners. A sign of quality most of the time.

Really nice woods are used for back

and sides on this one.

You can even enlarge it to take a closer 

look by clicking on the picture.

The tuners again with the Alhambra logo on top.

Superior quality what in fact belongs to a guitar

in this class range.

Gracefully shaped outer heel though that 

counts for the inner heel (tongue) as well.

This picture has been taken to show the absolute

minimal fret wear on this guitar. In fact it still 

needs to be played in to my opinion. Topnut and 

bridgebone have been painstakingly adjusted already.

The inlay of the Alhambra logo.

And the rosette with a look on the label already.

In fact a more plain label as opposed to the ones

used nowadays in their guitars.

The inlay in the string tie block.

The damage (a nick) repaired now. For those who want

to know more about these kind of reparations, it all starts

with a wet towel and a soldering gun to steam out the

damage. Simply varnishing is not the way to go on

a cedar topped guitar. That colors the spot dark. For

me a bit of an experiment as I matched the color of the 

soundboard with oil paint and then filled the "gap"

(that already was smaller after the steaming process)

with super glue that becomes really hard and moreover,

as it is aggressive, adheres and even mixes very well

with the original lacquer and/or French polish.

And to be complete: The damage as it came to me.

Salvador Ibanez "Small Model" from round 1900

                                                                   

This guitar wasn't in a bad condition apart from a 

loose back and rusted tuners with knobs breaking off.

Scale: 628 mm. Width topnut: 45 mm. Width on

the bridgebone 54 mm. SOLD

Mounting the bindings on the back is the last process

before the relacquering of the guitar can start. In this

case French polishing will be the process.

Possibly Brasilian rosewood as it was readily available 

in those times but I'm not sure about that. When you

really need to sand down parts, the typical smell betrays

the use of it but that wasn't necessary here. 

It is fine that people are doing their investigations

around some guitar builders and that also counts

for the various labels used along the timeline.

Here above the label in the condition as it is

in the guitar.

A better example to make your research. This label

is called the "resonador" label of which the "medaillon"

on the left attests. Used between 1898 and 1902.

The back that was in a good condition but a bit

strange treated was a small crack at the bottom 

on the right. I made it thinner but left it that way.

The lowest transverse bar was missing. I've added

a new one of course and shortened the others a bit.

Under higher temperatures they tend to expand 

and can damage the sides.

Here the clamping of the back can be seen. The 

original inner glue lining was missing. I made a new 

one but I divided the strip into small blocks in order

to prevent too much deformation of the sides as I 

wanted to make a slight neck reset as well. 

Correcting the sides continuously while gluing 

is a must then. Therefore the use of rope or 

elastics wasn't the way to go for.

There are more of these guitars obtainable but often

they lack the original bridge. That part is still here.

And the two abalone inserts on the string tie block

still can be found on a lot of Telesforo Julve guitars

who took over business from Salvador Ibanez e Hijos.

This one is made out of Brasilian rosewood.

Just to show that there is minimal fretwear. I presume

this guitar is coming out of the large guitar collection

of Mr. Pratten as other instruments also were offered

with that origin. Bought, but it never came to a

good restoration there. Original frets refreshed.

The reverse way of mounting the tuners: The wurm

before the wormwheel as was common until about

the period 1910 - 1920.  A rather narrow nut but you

could say it "belongs" to the smaller scale this guitar

is provided with. Remarkable is that guitars with the

label of Francisco Pau or Jaime Ribot often are

showing the same headstock form and marquetry.

The G-tuner has a slight bow in it but as it is a

lot older it might be too fragile to correct that

and to be honest, in use you hardly experience it.

And here the situation where we came from....

The typical way of constructing the outer heel: The use of

a softer wood in order to speed up building process. The

ebony covering of the heel is not original as a small part

of the heel was damaged and the original plate was

missing. Therefore slightly thicker executed.

These ornamentions probably could have been done 

by a third party. The fingerboard has a been hardened 

with a liquid used for rotten window frames.

The tuners on this guitar work the normal way and the

copper shafts were the ones the most used at that time.

A newly added binding around the back.

The multiple layers of bindings can be studied here.

This guitar has a nice playing action and could 

even be lowered but that wouldn't be my advise!

Even better for the highest strings! This was the third 

smaller model Salvador Ibanez guitar I've been working 

on and I must say, certainly the best one soundwise!

The knobs that are riveted on the axes.

The head also decorated with mother of pearl inlays.

The sides still in a good condition.

It must have been a lot of work especially in those times.

Most likely done in another factory who supplied them

to various guitar builders in Valencia

A nice shot of the right upper bout.

The picture has been added as if it looks there was a crack

but cracks always leave their mark in the varnish layer es-

specially after some time.

The final layers of French polish have been added but

another layer with a lot of alcohol in it is even augmenting

the glance of French polishing and certainly after some

extra polishing with a polishing liquid.

The copper shafts that aren't solidly made. And of

course the newly made knobs for this guitar.

Here the cleats placed in the lower bout by Salvador Ibanez 

can be studied. A former restorator placed a rosewood cleat

on the right side of the sound hole. Often the rosette cutting

in the soundboard is a bit too deep thus weakening the area

around the sound hole. For that reason the slightly darker

coloured orangey piece of wood under the soundhole has

been glued. It also counts for the rosewood cleat on the left

side of the sound hole. The thin but wide rosewood strip 

glued above the upper tranverse bar is a method to prevent

cracks in the soundboard alongside the fingerboard.

These cleats are placed to reinforce the seams in the three

piece soundboard. The fan braces are executed quite modest.

Quite typical is the placing of the individual glue blocks.

An alternate placing of the blocks.

On the right you can see the rosette coming thru

the soundboard itself, asking for reinforcement.

The sound doesn't come from this part of a guitar.

It is evident that the glue lining for the back has to be 

renewed as it is not present for the left side anymore.

Moreover the gluing surface for the back itself is

quite narrow keeping in mind there has to be glued

a new binding as well on them.