Vicente Parres / Juan Pons / Ibanez (?) Guitar / Thomas Prisloe Guitar

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 

appeared in the trade guides with a guitar factory (fabrica) 

at Carrera de Melilla, Traste 1 , num. 25 and with the

office (despacho) at Caballeros 55 bajo Valencia.

In the period 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

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.