Manuel Contreras (1983)

This Manuel Contreras date from 1983, the time Manuel 

Contreras I was in charge. Cedar topped guitar and Brasilian

rosewood sides and back. A 65,5 scale is provided and

of course an ebony fingerboard. Not his 1A model as 

those guitars had a signed label. But premium materials

have been used and attention to detail also was there.

Even the "feather" inlay also present on his concert

model is present on this guitar.

Husson Duchene

Here is a front view of the guitar that most likely 

was made for the house Husson et Duchene.

The label in this guitar is lost but a lot of features

are pointing in that direction. When you compare

this picture with the one beneath you might be able

to trace the repaired cracks (3) and the outer

ends of the bridge. It received new fretwork as well.

There were possible relations with Aubry Maire

as a supplier of instruments for Husson et Duchene

but regarding this instrument it is still a supposition.

(source: Sinier de Ridder)

 

Outer ends of the bridge have been repaired and

what can be said about the present double top guitars:

In fact on those instrument these guitars are only 

equipped with an extra layer of soft wood inside.

Mentioning that a double top? Hmmmm

Antonio Duran (Ferrer)

The Granadian school of guitar building has much

history to offer as they mostly stayed close to the

great guitarreros of the past. Even Antonio de Torres

seemed to have studied in Granada. In later times

the influence of Jose Ramirez III and Rodriguez

can be detected. The Granada guitars normally

have a quite modest plantilla but when the popularity

of builders like Jose Ramirez grew, one of the leading

luthiers of Granada, Eduardo Ferrer and his son

in law, Antonio Duran choose for a bigger

plantilla. The scale of this guitar is 66 cm.

It has a 7 fan bracing with two closing bars,

in fact very traditional, especially in combination

with the French polish technique they often used.

Antonio Mateu (Ramis) 1953

Antonio Mateu Ramis was a Barcelona based luthier.

Little can be found about his activities but a classical

guitar by this builder was highly praised by the famous 

Alexandre Lagoya. (Collection Sebastian Stenzel)

Very lightly built in the typical flamenco tradition.

Spruce top and ebony fingerboard.

A dry tone and quickly responding.

On this label the luthier marked this instrument no. 13 being
dated the first of july 1953. In fact this luthier stopped in about 

1965. He had no successors. A classical guitar of this builder is
in the possesion of Sebastian Stenzel . (no. 239 - 1961) 

Juan de la Montagne

This is most likely ment as a flamenco guitar regarding 

the cypress back and sides. Though for a flamenco guitar quite 

heavy, I'm always triggered in how such a guitar sounds for 

the classical guitar pieces of Spanish composers. It has to be 

repaired at first as the head is showing a crack. This looks more 

severe to non-luthiers as even a broken head can be fixed 

satisfactory. This guitar has been built with a traditional 

7 fan Torres bracing and no closing ribs.

Ebony fingerboard and bridge. The scale is 650 mm.

Jose Ramirez II 1945 / Jose Ramirez III 1981 / Manuel Romero (Macias)

Presented here is a Jose Ramirez II guitar from 1945.

It is well known there was a shortage of about everything 

just after World War II and the Civil War that ended in 1939.

This example has a spruce top with a seven fan bracing.

Ebonized fingerboard with copper fretwork. Brasilian

rosewood bridge with the well known ornamentation

from that period. Some odd things can be found on

this guitar as it has the bigger Blue / white label normally

found on the higher end student models. But the label

has been signed in blue ink (probably the maker) and

most likely afterwards with "J. Ramirez" done by (???)

Scale length: 650 mm - Length of the body: 477 mm -

Neck width: 50 mm (at top nut) Upper Bout: 255 mm

Waist: 218 mm - Lower bout: 342 mm - Depth: 

Varying from 80 to 90 mm (Bottom)

Jose Ramirez III 1981

This eighties Ramirez guitar has been obtained quite

recently. Though it suffered from some humidity damage

its sound was wonderful. Huge volume and the tonal

qualities are exceptional. Beautiful rounded tone for

all frequency registers. You should listen to the Ramirez

guitar on one of the Andres Segovia Youtube movies:

Andres Segovia demonstrates different timbres of the

guitar. The same sounds!

Manuel Romero Macias (1995)

Manuel Romero Macias is a Sevilla based Guitarreros

and at this moment he is retired and his son took over the

business. The workshop is in Montellana (near Sevilla)

A nice shot of the sides that shows us Palo Santo the way

you only can find it in the 19th century guitars (chocolate

brown) as opposed to the more common orangy colour they 

provide today. The materials used are premium quality 

but the final touch on this guitar could be better.

I never had the opportunity to try out one of his guitars so 

it was a buy in the blind. However, the woods used are that 

nice and only the Fustero tuners mounted made it worth to

buy it anyway. Spruce top and Palo Santo used for sides 

and back. This guitarreros built his guitars after 

Santos Hernandez and used premium materials.

Why this CD?

Welcome to this Blog in the first place. It certainly has to be

worked upon but in time I will collect most of the information

that is relevant to most of the visitors. I found out that 

comparing guitars and sounds is quite a popular activity. 

It also means understanding an instrument more and more 

as there are people everywhere that really do add points of 

view. Besides that I always wondered why a lot of the classic 

guitar recordings are not the way I wanted a guitar to sound. 

My technical background helped me a lot in this matter. I 

wanted the guitar more close as if it has been played right 

next to you. And of course the way microphones tend 

to colour the sound and in fact are unable to catch the 

full spectrum and heart of a top instrument. See for this 

subject Benno Streu's comments on how a good concert 

instrument should react. All those reasons will be discussed 

in the following messages. The Vicente Arias is an 

instrument not everyone will be in the opportunity to listen 

to, let alone having it in their hands. The José Ramirez 

Clase 1A guitar is an industry standard to which the other 

guitars could be compared to.

I will discuss all the influences in how to come to a CD like 

this in the following pages. In the end one must conclude that 

the real magic only appears when hearing it in a live situation 

and from different points. I sincerely hope everyone will enjoy

 listening to my CD. I am not a great technical player as for 

that you have to study hours a day but I tried to translate 

the love for this music and each piece on this CD.

Many thanks to Ton Bouwens who helped me understanding 

the Korg Harddisk recorder 1200 I used. To René Frik who 

made the pictures for this CD and final lay-out To Richard 

Seekles who is allways willing to help whatever

your problem is with the mics he supplied.