Nr. 4 untill Nr. 6. CD III

Nr. 4.

Little prelude J.S. Bach Played on the restored Domenico 
Fischetti guitar. Domenico Fischetti was born in Italy but moved
to Brussels (Belgium) where he supplied and repaired guitars
often for the students at the conservatory there. He has been
mentioned in the Vannes dictionary.

Nr. 5.

Prelude BWV 934. A very nice piece ands always interesting

for me as I'm a big Bach fan. Played on the Juan Estruch 1925

guitar that in fact is not of a real concert standard but when I was

restoring this instrument it became obvious that it was built in 

Valencia by Telesforo Julve. Juan Estruch imported guitar parts

in the twenties of the past century but imported whole guitars

from Telesforo Julve in 1925 to which their books attest.

To "honour" Telesforo Julve I've added the typical vertical

inlays in the string tie block and played this piece on it.

Nr. 6.

"Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" J.S. Bach.

In fact a melody not from J.S.Bach but he added the harmonics

and polyfone additions only he is able to. Played on the Thomas

Prisloe (2008) a rarity as it is a combination of a Pavan guitar

together with a handbuilt soundboard by Thomas Prisloe himself.

You won't see these guitars here in the mainland too often as every

guitar can only be ordered by Thomas Prisloe himself. I bought it

on an auction in England.

Nr. 7 untill Nr. 9 CD III

Nr. 7 

Andante Opus 19 Nr. 2 Antonio Diabelli
Thomas Prisloe guitar. In fact a repaired Pavan guitar,
Thomas Prisloe imported from Spain. there these models
were built according to his plans. When transported some
guitars were damaged so Prisloe decided to built a sound-
board by himself in 2008. A guitar with lots' of volume
and a very nice tone. In fact my number 1 guitar.

Nr. 8 

Walz Opus 69 Nr. 2 Frederic Chopin

Played on the Thomas Prisloe 2008 as well.

Nr. 9  

Mazurka Francisco Tarrega

This guitar came to me in quite a damaged condition.

I immediately saw the use of Brasilian rosewood and 

an ebony fingerboard, some "rough" signs of quality.

The sound really surprised me though not that loud.

Good balance and a refined tone that held up nice in

a recording process. A Domenico Fischetti guitar from

around 1930?

Nr. 10 until Nr. 15. CD III

 Nr. 10.

"Capricho Catalan". Isaac Albeniz. În fact composed for piano but as
most classical guitar involved people know, even the most celebrate
piece in guitar repertoire is from his hand: "Asturias". Capricho Catalan
is another masterpiece from his hand though probably less known.
Played with dropped D in this rendition. A warning may be given: There 
are several transcriptions of this piece around so you might find other
renditions that differ a lot from this one. Played on the Domenico Fischetti
as at that time that guitar had a special charm for me. Though not that big
in volume it reacts well in a recording process to my opinion. There
are indeed several ways to judge a guitar: From the players position,
from the audience (projection) In an acoustically "rich" environment and
in a recording process. Not even talking about the different styles a guitar
is suited or not suited for.

Nr. 11.

"Canción del Fuego Fatuo". I heard this composition from Manuel de Falla

for the first time in Granada. In the garden of the house where Manuel de 

Falla lived for a certain time. It is situated quite near the top of the mountain

on which the Alhambra has been built. The garden gives a stunning view over

Granada, especially by the fall of the night. And Javier Riba hearing play this

composition made that moment perfect. Everyone playing guitar would have 

been inspired to study that piece immediately afterwards!  Played on the 

Antonio Duran Ferrer from 1974. As Antonio lost an arm quite early in his 

career, some other luthiers also worked for him. I showed this guitar to 

Manuel Moreno Rodrigues and he immediately recognized it as being his 

work. "How is the guitar doing" was the next question from him. "In a very 

good condition". was my answer. With a very lucky smile he answered me.

Nr. 12.

"Amelia". trad. Arrangement Miguel Llobet. Being quite an older song I

decided to play this one on an Eladio Molina guitar from round 1870. That

is my eldest Spanish guitar that has been built to nowadays dimensions.

and though this guitar was in a poor condition I decided to have it restored

to make it playable again. I suspect the soundboard to be from a more recent

date but who did it, I do not know. Sides and back of this guitar are built

out of the in those times quite commonly used Brasilian rosewood. There

are hardly any guitars known that have survived to these days. I only

found another one on the site of Finefretted Instruments in the USA. They

are not willing to exchange any information around these guitars which is

a pity as it would explain a lot more. Eladio Molina won several prizes with

his guitars and inspired a lot of luthiers in Malaga after him. When you ever

visit Malaga, take the opportunity to visit the Flamenco guitar museum 

(near the Harbour) there. The entrance is 1 Euro!

Nr. 13.

"Sons de Carrilhoes" a composition from Pernambuco (Joao Teixeiro Guimaraes)

but transcribed and in fact a bit "recomposed" by Cardoso. This version is much 

more provocative than the original composition. And why not: Both versions

may exist alongside each other. At some points Cardoso uses all variations he

can imagine which to my opinion makes it a bit restless in a negative way. So

I felt invited to make a version a bit more modest here and there. Played on the 

Mass Hirade Model 15 (Takamine workshop) from 1984. This guitar has been 

provided with a spruce top but it must have been the influence of Masaru Kohno

to have a kind of Cashew nut colored varnish put on the soundboard, quite similar

to the guitars of Kohno, Sakurai, Orozco and Tama of that time. (Eighties)

Nr. 14. 

"Se Ela Perguntar" Dilermando Reiss. A very subtle composition where a

player can add so much feelings into. There is enough "space" for everyone

performing that. You can play it slowly but also at a more moderate tempo.

The Thomas Prisloe from 2008 seemed to be very suitable for that one!

That guitar can sound delicate and overwhelming at the same time. The 

story around this guitar is a bit comical as a Guitar store announced their

example as being quite special and only built in 2008. The real story I

heard later from a good friend of Mr. Prisloe and finally Mr. Prisloe himself:

"I'm ordering the PAVAN guitars from Spain and some examples came

with damage to the soundboard so I decided to built for those ones a top

by myself. The label should confirm that: Soundboard built by Thomas 

Prisloe". About 13 or 14 of these guitars Mr. Prisloe saved from the garbage

can. The soundboard is, as you may know, the heart of a guitar! He signed

it about 3 times!

Nr. 15.

"Registro". Antonio Lauro, a composer I particularly like as it is not matching

any "mainstream" music. Registro in fact is a part of some compositions Lauro

made but its is a piece that sounds quite exciting. As it is written with the guitar 

in mind it is easier to play than it sounds.... Played on the Antonio Duran 1974 

guitar that I already used for composition nr. 11. A remark has been made as 

though it is a fresh sounding instrument you have to do your utmost best to have 

it sound a bit "thicker". Maybe personal of course and that differs from piece 

to piece is my experience. And in fact these are the characteristics of spruce

topped instruments. Sound even varies from day to day depending on weather

circumstances such as humidity.

Nr.16 untill Nr. 20 CD III

 Nr. 16

"Danza Brasilera". Sometimes a piece is a challenge to play. As a friend
of mine proclaimed: "That piece is almost impossible to play" I wanted
to prove the opposite. And while I'm always listening to other rendition 
you are able to give your own rendition some extra's. Of course this is 
South American music and the swing should be there. And to be honest,
it often is played a bit too fast to my opinion. You can hardly play "around"
the beat then. When I'm playing the accompaniment played in the beginning
I'm already adding a syncope in order to add a bit more tension to my playing.
I'm glad I have been active with my band playing electric guitar as that 
ability adds to a certain kind of swing together with a groove a lot, this music 
simply is asking for. I'm playing this song on a Domenico Fisschetti that
sounds surprisingly strong in this recording. An unknown luthier only 
mentioned in the Vannes dictionary. He used top woods for his instruments 
and built this guitar with a lot of care. But I haven't found a second classical 
guitar from his hands yet.... Most likely from the thirties of the past age.

Just recently I found a second one in England! (on the right)

 

Nr. 17.

Merlin's Time" I heard this piece from a guitar player who didn't mentioned

the exact title in the first place. I found it, luckily, and it is composed by 

Al Stewart from whom I always play the acoustic guitarsolo in "Year of the

Cat" to try out a dreadnought guitar. Finally I decided to have that solo and 

the intro of that song published on Youtube. Merlin's Time I'm playing with 

variations that sometimes are both rhythmical and harmonically to keep 

things fresh. A beautiful comment on that song a piano player reacted with 

on YouTube. Played on a Mass Hirade nr. 15 that plays like butter. I never 

experienced a guitar that is playing that easy. Very carefully constructed 

with the Mass Hirade plans but probably executed by the Takamine workforce, 

anyway from their most experienced workers. Built in 1983, the He days of 

Japanse guitar building. Spruce topped.

Nr.18.

"How's Benson" Of course inspired on a lick I learned from George Benson 

a long time ago. That lick only starts at about 50 seconds. I've changed the

bass notes thus suggesting other chords but with respect to the actual lick. 

At some times, especially when you get older you sometimes think of other

people and how they are doing in present times. Played on a Jose Ramirez III

from 1981. As students in the seventies we were all leaded towards this Madrid 

based luthier. And I must say after extensive investigations these guitars can

be used for the most different styles while holding up well. In fact too big for

my small hands, I ordered a 1974 Jose Ramirez that I played a long time until

I found this 1981 example with a too high action but incredible sound and 

much better than my 1974 guitar. And though I found that guitar on an auction 

in Vichy I already heard there that this one was outstanding. Reducing the

high action was the next step to make but with that I started to employ my

skills around guitar restorations to a next level.

Nr. 19.

On a somewhat cloudy day with blue and grey clouds  I composed this

guitar piece. And though the cloudy landscape changed from time to time

it gave me a kind of rest I wanted to translate into a guitar piece. So here

it is. Played with a dropped D, a tuning I particularly like as it gives some

extra force to the overall sound of a guitar. Played on a Francisco Esteve

ELEC I was able to buy on an auction in England. Imported in England 

and provided with a "Granados" label, I think people weren't aware of the 

fact that it fact was their highest cutaway model in the Esteve range and

sounded as such! Cedar topped guitar.

Nr. 20.

"Christmas 2021" was an odd time for people all around the world as the

Corona crises affected everyone's life. There was a bit of hope for this to

be ending soon but on the other hand people involved were telling their

"audience" that it was just a start for these kind of epidemical diseases. 

Hope and fear is what you might hear in this piece, framed together in 

my composition. Also played on the guitar here above. As for now I 

should have used a just recently acquired guitar: Casa Garrido, a shop labelled

guitar but built by a very good luthier who did a great job on this guitar

built in 1977: Vicente Perez Camacho.

Nr. 21 untill Nr. 24 CD III

 Nr. 21.

Moon over Bourbon street. A Sting song that has been worked on by
me for guitar solo. I've kept it in the original key and very surprising:
It worked out well. As also on the original recording it starts simply 
with a melody line against a bass line. The harmonies are added later 
and special attention must go to the piece were there are no lyrics sung 
on the original recording. The instrumental part must have been 
composed by a classical composer but I forgot the name!  Some odd 
strechings are required here and there. It is a demanding piece in all 
aspects. Therefore played on the Juan Esteve ELEC that is easy to play 
and very accessible due to the cutaway.

Nr. 22.

Englishman in New York is another tune composed by Sting that is

very suitable as well for guitar solo. Beforehand you mostly do not 

realize that some songs are forcing you to transcribe it for guitar in 

a certain direction. In this case some classical techniques are combined 

with American fingerpicking techniques. When I was studying classical

music on the Conservatory in The Netherlands I was struggling with

fingerpicking as it seems to go against all aspects involved in classical

guitar playing. I decided there should be some piece between the two!

So here it is. And it "walks". Played on the same guitar as on Nr. 21.

Nr. 23.

"Canción" from Rodriguez is another composition together with a 

second part. I didn't like the other part so presented here is just one part.

Maybe rude but sometimes you have to be that way....

Played on the Thomas Prisloe 2008 that in fact is my main guitar nr.1

Lots' of volume and never aggressive in sound. Beautifully rounded

hights together with strong lower ends. Spruce topped.

Nr. 24.

"Home" composed by Andrew York is another soulful composition I like 

a lot. But the original music that goes with this composition doesn't match

the beautiful rendition Andrew York himself is giving on YouTube. So I

wanted to forget the notes and just listened to Andrew the way he played the

composition at that time as it possibly evolved into an even more organic

piece to my opinion. Also played on the same guitar as Nr. 23.

Nr. 25 and 26 from the CD Historic Guitars III: Guitar and Flute

 

Nr. 25

Oblivion is a piece written by Astor Piazzolla and as I like his music 
some pieces had to be there and performed. There are solo guitar per-
formances of this piece but this arrangement draw my attention immediately.
I've performed it live with my old guitar colleague Paul Hagenaars who
also is involved in Latin American music. For this CD I had to adapt
my transcribed version to a Flute and Guitar version. I hope you like it.

Played on an Antonio Duran guitar from 1974 but built by Rafael Moreno
Rodriguez. You can read more around this guitar on my other Blog: 
www.oldromanticguitars.blogspot.com

Nr. 26

Of course well known to a big audience as it has been recorded by Grace Jones

"Strange I've seen that face Before" with respect to the original version to my 

opinion. It is a quite challenging piece but people almost invariably are asking 

for some "firework". So here it is. Played on the same guitar as nr. 25

Historic Guitars Part III: The guitars used.

Always stumbling onto "new" instruments and their sound to discover,                                                          I'd like to share my experiences with others regarding the instruments                                                           I used on my CD nr. III. You can find  the guitars I played my piece                                                           on by the number that has been used at the end of the announcements                                              

of the pieces played on this CD. I'm using the same numbers now.

NR. 1

The Esteve ELEC I was able to buy on an auction in

England. It all was much easier  to get those instruments

back to The Netherlands as at that time Great Britain was

part of the EU. We almost felt like being part of a family

there and we've met several wonderful persons there.

The Esteve Elec is still in production and has then been 

equipped with an element to amplify the guitar in a credible 

way. For me, the experience with a cutaway, was an eye opener.

It feels more comfortable. Maybe not that loud, this guitar

surely has a nice intimate sound and records well.

Built with premium materials such as ebony and Indian

 rosewood it has the ability to be a "near" concert instrument.

NR. 2

Nr. 2 the Thomas Prisloe has been offered multiple times at

the Gardiner Houlgate auctions so they had to lower the price

every time it went up for sale. In a like new condition and

supplied with an expensive brand new TKL case it was a

steal. It is a strange instrument as Thomas Prisloe had to 

rebuilt some damaged Pavan guitars coming from Spain 

where they have been built to his specs. On this one, the

soundboard has been built by Thomas Prisloe himself:

A top quality, narrow grained spruce soundboard. He did

so with only a small number of guitars back in 2008.

Provided with a kind of Torres Head I dig these headform

more than those he uses on his entirely handbuilt concert

models. Huge sound and different timbres at different

places: A real concert instrument.

NR. 3

As we are frequent visitors of all sort of household auctions

we do find some promising instruments among the "trash"

and "old stuff no one wants". This was a typical example

of a guitar that made me curious: an Italian builder:

"Domenico Fischetti". an Italian cabinet builder that

later (around 1930) tried out his luck in Brussels, repairing

and building guitars for students of the conservatory there.

Not well known but his work detests love for his guitars.

Beautiful inner woodwork, Torres bracing and premium

materials though he didn't payed that much attention

to ornamentation. He has been registered in the Vannes

dictionnary, a bookwork for violin builders.

I immediately saw the use of Brasilian rosewood on this 

guitar and though there was a lot left to be done on this 

guitar, I figured 12 Euro's wasn't that much for an in-

strument like this. It has a nice but not very loud tone 

but he holds up well in a recording process.

NR.4

The Antonio Duran Ferrer guitar from Granada was a find

near Sevilla. The guy who sold it was able to buy a Manuel

Contreras guitar so he sold this one. The Ferrer dynasty still 

exists in Granada and can be found in the Questa de Gomerez

a "calle" that leads from the centre of Granada to the Alhambra.

A small shop leaded by Eduardo Ferrer,  the son of Antonio.

is still situated there. In fact, Antonio was not a "real" Ferrer 

but married the daughter of the grandfather of his son.

A spruce top and Indian rosewood sides and back and

what often happened in Spain: Not built by Antonio 

Duran Ferrer who lost an arm in an accident but by

another famous guitarrero: Rafael Moreno Rodriguez.

I showed Rafael this guitar. "Definitely built by me"

he proclaimed. Somewhat lighter, vibrant sound that

sometimes is a bit difficult to "control".Yet, the 

reward is there when you treat it the right way.

NR.5

The Mass Hirade from Japan, a country that places itself on the

map, regarding the skilled luthiers that brought it to world fame.

Mass Hirade was a pupil of Masaru Kohno but didn't took over

the bracing patterns, Kohno provided his guitars with. He went

for the more "classical approach": Torres bracing. Good materials

and very nice decoration details but probably still a factory

made guitar. Vibrant, not that loud but with a bright voice.

I bought it at an auction where it still remained at his "entrance"

price and had to go to England to collect it at an internet

friend of mine. We had some lovely days there and visited

Tim and his parents which resulted in an unforgettable

experience with these people.

Probably born in the Takamine workshops the remark has to

be made that it is the "easiest to play" guitar in my collection.

Hardly believable as all elements have been mounted

meticulously by real craftsmen.

NR.6.

The Estruch company bought guitar parts and

even whole instruments from Telesforo Julve.

I bought this guitar in Brussels knowing that

it most likely could be built by Telesforo Julve.

Some serious damage was already clear to me

so I was able to buy it for little. A lot of work 

but a kind of honest warm sound was coming 

out of this guitar after it has been repaired and 

refinished.

Walnut back and sides but a traditional

fan braced soundboard and lots of other

elements that were clearly pointing towards

the Valencian company.

When I restored this guitar I had to remove the fingerboard

and putted back on an ebony one with a slightly smaller

scale. The octave pitch is perfect now. Besides that I

provided the bridge with the two "famous" TJ inlays.

NR.7

If you ever are visiting Malaga I would recommend you to

search the small flamenco guitar museum. It is near the harbour

For 1 Euro entrance you are able to take a close look at a lot of 

guitars from celebrate luthiers around Malaga from the past. 

Two guys wanted to buy both a nice mandolin. So I traded

this guitar for two mandolins. I had a collection and they had 

first choice. There are hardly any guitars from Eladio Molina

(1870!) in existence so it was a nice addition to my collection.

A lot was left to be done and suspects are that the sound-

board isn't original. But despite that, a beautiful instrument

and I think that the soundboard restoration has been 

executed with respect.

As was usual in those days: Brasilian rosewood for

back and sides, an endangered species nowadays.

Almost all the models of the Malaga luthiers are 

bearing this headform, a kind of "salute" to history.

NR.8

I started my education on the conservatory on a Jose Ramirez 1A 

concert guitar from 1974. This one I bought on an auction at

Vichy. The guitar had a horrible playing action but what a sound!

It was there already easy to determine that this guitar was much 

better than the 1974 I played in those times.

Most of the time the fretwork from these older guitars is worn so

removing the frets isn't a sin and after that the fingerboard can be 

shaved away towards the head in order to change the angle neck /

body. The 665 mm scale always was a bit too big for me but I have 

to admit: Being a more slim neck now, the guitar became much 

easier playable. I didn't play it for a longer time due to an injury 

on my left hand pinky that costed me the strength you need in 

some stretches....

A nice even and not figured back. Mind you, these rather 

straight grained pieces of wood are less prone to cracks...