This simple guitar drew my attention as its'
sound was unbelievable: Though simply made with very
modest materials the Valencian builders often manage
to built good sounding instruments. In 1907 Vicente Parres
ap p eared in the trade guides with a guitar factory (fabrica)
at Carrera de Melilla, Traste 1 , num. 25 and with the
office (desp acho) at Caballeros 55 bajo Valencia.
In the p eriod 1908 – 1915 Parres y C.a. were at Carretera
de Melilla 23 and the shop was at calle Caballeros 55.
In the general catalogue of 1912, Juan Ponce, successor of
de Melilla 23 and the sho
In the general catalogue of 1912, Juan Ponce, successor of
Parres y Compania, the workshop was at Calle Caballeros
55, Valencia. As the Felix Manzanera collection holds
two guitars of these two luthiers they must have some
importance in the Spanish guitar history.
This particular guitar has the old Parres head but the
the Pons soundhole decoration. For that reason I
assume it to be a somewhat later (under Ponce built)
instrument. Juan Ponce took over the business of
Vicente Parres in Valencia. Though this guitar lost
its' label there is one known label that says:
Fabrica de Guitarras
de Vicente Parres
Fabrica: Carrera Melilla traste 1. no 25
Officinas: Caballeros, 55, bajo
Valencia (Espana)
Though really basic in construction I was really surprised by
the sound of this instrument: Beautiful rounded, loud and with
a quick attack. That this was possible from a small plain guitar
like this with a ladder braced soundboard and mahogany
sides and back was astonishing. As for the soundboard it
isn't even straight grained but on the contrary, the quality of
the mahogany is really good. In the old Spanish tradition the
soundboard is glued to the sides by individuel spruce blocks.
This guitars' own frequency is on an A which means in Hz
around 110 Herz. That's where it resonates a bit more.
This is the typical head form that can be found on the instrument
made by Vicente Parres (1880) but that instrument has been
equipped with wooden tuning pegs as was usual at that time.
Another feature is the wooden nut in combination with not
using a zero fret. These tuners could be a later addition
though they appear on other instruments of around 1900.
The front of this head has been veneered with a mahogany
layer on the spruce (!) used for the neck. This use of spruce
for the neck is another move pointing towards the Valencia
guitar makers. This neck is still remarkably straight.
Another remarkable feature is the placing of the tuners: The
wurmwheel before the wurm as was usual until the period
1910 - 1920. Assuming that these tuners are the original ones
it is possible to place this instrument before the ment period.
These bridges were common in the nineteenth century but
I didn't knew they were still used at the beginning of the 20th
century. No use of a bridgebone. Simply carved from
one piece of wood. These type of bridge can even be found
on an Ibanez labelled instrument of the thirties and a later
Telesforo Julve guitar. Chances are big that all these
cheaper instrument from the well known Valencia builders
are coming from one and the same factory, at least a
lot of parts!
Two other typical Valencia used features can be seen here:
The use of a softer, grey coloured wood for the fingerboard
and the brass fretwork of course. What happened with the
fingerboard wood puzzles me. I strengthened the finger-
board with a liquid, used for rotten wood. It is almost
like water so therefore the wood simply sucks it up.
On this picture it can be concluded that the wood used
for the top wasn't quarter sawn and the seam hasn't been
placed in the middle. The fingerboard had a greyish colour
and was a bit soft. In order to give it more strength, I decided
to "ebonize" it for a tighter fit of the new frets. To replace
the fingerboard would have been a possibility but that's
too far away from this furthermore original guitar. And
on the other hand we must not assume that the big names
in guitar history built these entry level instruments all
by themselves.
The neck has been made of spruce as was done by more
Valencian guitar builders. And believe it or not: Still
absolutely straight. To my knowledge Telesforo Julve
(Valencia) did this also on their student range guitars.
Besides the fact that the neck was allready painted with
red lead paint (minium - initially ment to prevent rust on iron)
I wasn't aware of the fact that most cheaper guitars of that time
from Valencia were painted this way. It can even be a
guide in determining the age of a guitar from Valencia!
A small piece in the neck was simply rotten and had to
be removed. No big deal but the color red I changed into
a darker brown. The curious heelform can be found on the
Ponce guitars as well. This instrument can be dated around
1912. There were different "Constructors de Guitarras" active
around 1900 and among them Telesforo Julve and Andres
Marin. The guitars of the latter and Parres / Ponce have some
features in common but the plantilla sometimes differs.
This simple Andres Marin guitar can be found on internet.
Marin is also a Valencia based luthier and this plantilla
resembles that of the unlabelled guitar above. Moreover,
the label has been glued over the blocks that are placed
over the center seam of the back in the same way it has
been done on the unlabelled guitar.
I've added a picture of a 1900 dated Andres Marin labelled
guitar. The rosette appears to be exactly the same as on my
Pons / Parres / Ibanez guitar. Moreover the all wooden
construction of the bridge is similar: No bridgebone.
The old tuners have been mounted again though the 6th string
knob isn't working properly. Of course fresh strings and then
after a day: The sound.... It is unbelievable what comes out
of this relatively small box. Beautiful basses , loud and percussive
higher notes but with a sweetness I only heard from a
more simple Vicente Arias guitar. To my believe the space
between soundhole and bridge which is quite large and
without any fan bracing is responsible for this sound
together with the blocks that are used for gluing the top
to the sides and that are placed about 1 cm from each other.
Of course the bridge itself could attribute to the sound
but one should expect less sustain with this construction.
To make this instrument a concert instrument as it has
these qualities, a new fingerboard with a better fret
spacing would be advisable as the fret inserts are a
bit sloppy placed as is the bridge that I allready moved
about 2 mm towards the soundhole. Intonation could be
better but tonecoulour and the way this guitar
reacts to plucking at different places is great!
I placed a label inside for people who want to investigate
after me: Parres y Pons but chances are big as well that
this instrument comes from the Andres Marin workshops.
Just recently the collection of Felix Manzanero is showing
two Parres guitars and I need to say that this instrument
most likely falls into this category.
Some of the "rosettes" found on these guitars slightly differ
but the rosette found on this Salvador Ibanez e Hijos guitar
is exactly like the one sticked on the guitar here above. It
is interesting now to look for more similarities. And they
are there... Now and then these old guitars can be found on
two Spanish sites: Todocoleccion and Milanuncios.
E.g. the heelform is also the same as is the red painted neck.
And the bridge of course without any bridgebone just
out of the same piece of wood used for the bridge itself.
On this example executed with the two Telesforo
Julve inlays although Salvador Ibanez e Hijos did
that already. Telesforo Julve took over that workshop.
The tuning pegs differ from the more common known
metal tuners. It could have been a later addition on my
guitar here above.
The plantilla resembles the "Parres / Ponce" guitar as well.
Take a closer look at the two inlays in the stringtie block as
Telesforo Julve made that his trademark after having
taken over the workforce of Salvador Ibanez e Hijos.
Another similarity is the point where the two halves of the
sides meet each other.
The headform and the tuning pegs, thougt to be orignal.
The paint on the neck "worked" what makes it obvious
that the neck was made out of one piece of spruce! That
was the case on the Parres / Ponce guitar as well and it
was even "rotten" on a certain spot so I decided to repair
it and have it finished in another color as I thought that
ugly red color couldn't be original. But it is!
The Salvador e Hijos label that was used from about 1910
onwards. People often wonder how a label can possibly be
damaged the way it is here. That has everything to do with
paper eating insects that are there when there's a lot
of moisture.
The topnut made out of wood is another mark on these
guitars that were probably ment for the beginning student.
Probably also a simple ladder bracing. But what a sound!
Want to know more around this brand and in general
about the Valencia made guitars, just check this site:
www.guitarrasvalencia.wordpress.com
Thomas Prisloe Signature Model
A rather mysterious model from this New York based
builder as Prisloe had some special series built in Spain.
They come under the name Pavan guitars and are built to his specs.
But the label from this particular guitar states the soundboard to be
produced by Mr. Prisloe himself. Well, the name has indeed been
placed several times on the inside of the soundboard. Pricewise this
guitar falls into another category as the more regular Pavan guitars
such as TP-10, TP-20 and TP-30. Another difference is the use of
Engelmann spruce (?) Prisloe uses for his own handbuilt models.
Some outer visible specific things on this serie can be seen
on this guitar as well. The ebony reinforcement at the back
of the neck and the headshape that is reminiscent to the
well known Torres design. Year of production: 2008. After
some mail contact things are becoming clear: It was a
needful move after having received some PAVAN guitars
with a cracked top. Mr. Prisloe states this to be in 2008 and
followed the procedure of building a new top himself for
about 6 times. A very explainable move and as the sound-
board still is the "heart" of a guitar it can be this good!
The headshape with some additional carvings which
is of course a classic one on Spanish guitars. The square
spaced room for the tuner rollers is a bit of a Fleta move
though more builders have used it in the past.
At first we thought the tuners to be from Schaller. They work
very well! Mr. Prisloe states the tuners to be from Gotoh:
Concert model. They work very smooth and in fact better
than the Spanish Fustero tuners placed on most top concert
Spanish guitars.
A narrow grained soundboard that is almost white, probably
due to its' life in the suitcase up until now. This instrument
is dated 2008 ( series 6 ) Engelmann spruce is more white
compared to Sitka spruce. But simple daylight already does
a lot to the color of the spruce soundboards over time.
Thomas Prisloe handsigned this label not withstanding the
regular Pavan guitar labels that aren't signed at all.
The guitar body's own frequency lies on a G# which
means around 92,5 Hz.
Presented here is the soundboard bracing. Mind you, the
transverse bars still have to be placed on this picture of
course. Another remark has to be made as this soundboard
has been "arched" a bit. The advantage is that it becomes
stiffer and withhold the string tension better while making
the sound board thinner. Often called a "doomed" top. The
two "closing ribs" Thomas Prisloe calls a "Chevron"
construction. The way the bracing has been done on this
picture is identical to the one used in the TP 30 model.
The prices for this model is about 1000 USD on the
second hand market. A 650 and a 640 mm scale
model can be ordered.
Also the rosette deserves attention as it is a really
tasteful one and finely executed. This rosette appears to
be exactly the same as on the Thomas Prisloe concert
guitars from 2008 ( Entirely built bij Prisoe in New York)
Some remarks can be made about this guitar. It has lots' of
volume and it vibrates really well in the lower registers.
The higher notes are there as well and even with a nice bass
support probably due to the way Prisloe places his bracing
on the soundboard: a 6 fan bracing with closing ribs but
the bass and treble side are divided in exact two parts. The
bass side having more struts (1) compared to the treble side.
The number "6" on the label most likely is referring to at
least 6 PAVAN guitars that were delivered in his shop with
a cracked top. He replaced them with a soundboard entirely
made by himself. Mr. Prisloe wasn't sure about the
number of guitars he rebuilt in this manner. Another
example we found with the number 13 inside so this
process remains a bit of a mystery.
A nice shot of the GOTOH tuners with a visible screw
at the bottom of the plastic knobs. Thomas Prisloe started
the Santa Fe Spruce company to provide other luthiers with
the so called Engelmann spruce soundboards.
