Featured vintage classical/spanish guitar

Sorry to be late with this, but......

One of the finest guitars that I have ever played was Mexican, a Benito Huipe flamenco guitar that a friend of mine had made by him. It was an absolutely outstanding guitar!

@all_fakes
I have seen those little rectangular blocks on several different wooden instruments used for repairing cracks. usually there is a solid thin strip down the centre of the back, so possibly the guitar in the original post has been professionally repaired in the past?

Regarding nails, as a flamenco guitarist, I like many others, use super glue and tissue paper on my nails.
A thin aplication of super glue, then quickly a small piece of tissue paper, pre cut to the correct width and curled slightly and laid on the glue. Pressed down slightly at the edges, then when dry, another thin layer of glue and another piece of tissue paper. When this is dry another thin layer of glue, which when dry can be filed and polished, giving a super hard, smooth layer. This usually lasts for about three weeks, with only occasional maintenance of a bit of glue at the edges.
The result is a nail that is very hard and very resistant to breaking, and gives a very solid sound. I only use this on my annular finger and thumb, but the effect of the solid nail on the annular finger really makes the top E string sing out in comparison to the B and the G. The glue and tissue is totally invisible too!
It sounds complicated, but is well worth the trouble if you are a serious player.

 

The rectangular blocks look original to me, in the regularity of their spacing. Sounds like you had a chance to play an outstanding guitar, Blacksmith; there are luthiers that do some amazing work. I've had a chance to play some also; and the only mandolin that sounded better to me than my old Gibson A50s was luthier-made - I don't recall the maker, but if I'd had $13K in my pocket, it would have been well worth it.

 

I've been having loads of fun with the open G guitar tuning
Learnt how to play cemetery gates by the smiths which is in that tuning, and its great for loads of songs in the popular G Em C and Ds which of course there are rather a lot of

 

Yes, top class instruments are expensive aren't they, but of course well worth it, if you have it! Which unfortunately I don't either !.......... I'd like a Manual Reyes or a Gerundino Fernandez guitar, both makers now sadly gone, and a guitar by either of them is probably in the $8-10k range.

As for the 'repair', if it indeed is a repair, or original as you suggest may be the case. I have never seen a guitar made this way, and these little blocks would give very little support to the long thin join along the back. It is certainly an oddity. Even as a repair, one would have thought that a thin solid wooden strip would have been preferable?

The man who owned the Huipe guitar had some issues with his usual guitar, a 1966 José Ramirez guitar, so as he was living in LA at the time, he was told about a luthier in Paracho, Mexico who was very good. So he paid him a visit and saw some of his work. Repairing the Ramirez would be no problem, but he said that he could also make him a similar guitar, and as the price was very good, he was given the go-ahead. The result was that the Ramirez was beautifully repaired with those delicate little blocks inside, and the beautiful Huipe guitar was delivered. The workmanship was beautiful, and the sound and action of the Huipe guitar exquisite, one of the finest I have ever played. The little blocks on the repair to the Ramirez were not as large as those shown on the guitar here, but as they were 'stitching' a crack together, they didn't need to be, and with a flamenco guitar as opposed to a classical guitar, the woods need to be thin and kept to a minimum to achieve that sharp, crisp sound, so important to flamenco.

 

Yes, that's what I've always seen. But maybe the maker was trying to keep it very light. Lightness certainly is a virtue...the best-sounding guitar I own is a rosewood Henry Mason from around 1910, parlor-guitar size; it has an unusual bracing pattern that makes it lighter than a Martin of that vintage...and it is just incredibly resonant, and louder than most D-18s. If I'm holding it in a room where other guitars are being played, it picks up the vibrations and practically dances in my hands even before I touch the strings.

 

I am lucky as I have a 1971 Manuel Contreras flamenco guitar which is like that, it vibrates even if someone is just talking while I am holding it. Amazing guitar! The top bout is so thin that you can see daylight through the side.