In fact the first Silvestri I've came across. As you can't
hold everything you get your hands on, it has been sold
and in fact I was completely forgotten it!
In fact a very odd model with those two small holes in
the soundboard on either side of the big soundhole.
The rosewood sides in the lower bout makes it
special as well. It has been supported with a tail-
piece so this was in fact suited for metal strings.
A black painted neck and head but probably still
reinforced with a central placed rosewood inlay.
Another feature that allways is there: The black
cloth piece for dampening the strings.
I haven't been able to find a label but I think this model
to be quite a bit older than the model here beyond. So
my guess is it could be an Ermelinda Silvestri guitar.
This model is presented here in its' unrestored condition.
As the bridge hasn't been properly reglued the soundboard
can be relaquered as well. The kind of lacquer used here
"cristallizes" over the years and can be easily removed.
The inlay around the soundhole and along the edges
is all made of wood so no stickers and the fingerboard
has been cleaned allready here as are the frets.
As the frets are showing some file traces a
leveling job in fact was necessary as well.
The so called "zero" fret I left untreated. The neck could
have been relacquered as well as this kind of varnish used
tend to colour the neck in an ugly way but I just left it there.
This label has been used by Ermelinda Silvestri as well.
I don't know about the small label underneath it where
Silvestri states it to be built in the Spanish way. What has
been ment by that remains a mistery as the so called Spanish
fan bracing simply isn't there: There are two transverse bars
between the bridge and the soundhole and a kind of a
wooden bridgeplate underneath the bridge.
The bare wood that has been cleaned allready as is
the rosette here. Securely flattening out the bridge
area is a must for a tight fit for the bridge on the
soundboard. The soundboard is solid spruce. Back
and sides are made out of mahogany. A rosewood
bridge and fingerboard have been mounted on
this guitar that has a 645 mm scale.
Vicente Sanchis Model 34
A nixce and well built "intermediate" guitar that also
can be found on the "reverb" site. The condition of
this guitar is very nice and it is immediately playable.
Model 34 and year of production 1986. It is known that
also built for several other luthiers and music shops.
The only "minor" on this one: A chip of the heel covering
disappeared. These small repairs can in fact easily been done
by a player by simply putting a heating iron on the wood that
covers the heel. Then it can be removed quite easily and after-
wards making a new one to glue in place.
An ivory bridge saddle also completes this one.
Simple but well working tuners.
A nice rosette completes this guitar.
Suzuki 3067
To be honest I was a bit disappointed after purchasing the
first Suzuki guitar as I heard some promising comments
on these Japanese guitars from the 70 / 80. The first
example wasn't fitted with a solid top. This one is and
I must say: Much, much better. Finely crafted, it will
serve the advanced player who is not willing to spent
hundreds of Euro's.
The back that is in a remarkable good condition.
The label that attests the model number and the so well
lay out used for the sought after Suzuki's.
As a little more elaborate model the bridge has been
upgraded with a fancy string tie block.
Straight neck and easy playabilty.
The top wood can be studied here!
Good fretwork!
Some inevitable playing damage to the fretboard.
The Ramirez style headstock.
Takeharu GT 500
These Takeharu guitar has been built with the
utmost care and a lot of information can be found
on the internet regarding this brand. Still affordable
but for how long?? Cedar topped and sides and back
are made out of Brazillian rosewood (veneered)
A picture of the stunning back. Also the ebony reinforcement
can be seen on this picture. Beautiful straight neck!
The head that hasn't got any flaws.
The label that has been signed by star classical guitar
player Yamamoto. The Kiso Suzuki company built
this beautiful instrument. Just take a look at Harmony
Central User reviews to see what owners have to
say and think about their Suzuki or Takeharu.
The sides that beautifully match the back.
Hiroshi Tamura P50
Guitars that were produced in the seventies and eighties.
These instruments are not that widely known as e.g. the
Masaru Kohno or the Juan Orozco guitars but they are
in fact soundwise no less. Very well built with even a
lot of similarities to the afore mentioned luthiers.
Ebony fingerboard and a 655 mm scale has been used
for this guitar that posesses a remarkable sound
reminiscent of a real concert instrument. Regarding
the veneered sides: Let us not forget that Jose Ramirez
even veneered his concert 1A model on sides and
back. He experimented a while by using solid
rosewood on a few of these models. I was able
to compare the two different models. The solid
rosewood example had a slightly darker sound
but differences were very small.....
Veneered back and sides that appear to be Brasilian
rosewood to me but a very narrow grained solid
soundboard that has been strutted very traditional:
A seven fan placed pattern with two closing struts.
The top has been glued to the sides with blocks
the way the Spanish luthiers tend to work.
This guitar hasn't been taken care for in a proper way
by looking at the damages on the right. These cosmetic
flaws will be treated in the near future as this 1972 guitar
further survived time in a remarkable way.
A gracefully designed headstock and the odd thing here
is that the standard distance between the axes of the
tuners, 35 mm, is not present here. The former owner
had to make a move to some very cheap and poor
working individual tuners when the original tuners
were not in a working order anymore. Strange thing
is also that a rather cheap plastic topnut was mounted
as well on this guitar. I've changed it into an ivory
one of course with a proper spacing. The tuners will
be changed as well to good working ones.
A simple but satisfying solution was to place pieces
of messing between these tuners that were sawed at
first to be able to mount them properly. Now tuning
is on parr with the standards of this guitar.
Some marks can be determined here as well in the
soundboard but on a rather cheap guitar as the "lower"
P50, the choice for a Brasilian wood bridge is quite odd.
A new bridgebone has been placed as well. Inner gluework
is very neat but no inner heel has been provided with this
instrument and in that way you could compare it with the
Juan Orozco model 8 guitar though the Tamura has more
qualities regarding sound. Just check the Blog I made
about the Juan Orozco guitars regarding Japanese guitar
models and their way of pricing them. A model P 50 from
1972 could be easily compared with a model P 100 from 1978.
From a Japanese source I found out that the two Tamura
brothers did have a disciple: Mitsuru Tamura is one of the
founder of Asturias guitars, he is an interesting character,
a national athlete on clay shooting and a noted golfer and
bowler as well as a great player.
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