Featured vintage classical/spanish guitar

hi folks

found this today in a charity shop for not very much at all(£10)

cant tune it up yet as 2 of the tuning peg tops are missing

no makers marks or labels

has a few signs about it that make me think better than the average type you see

the saddle and nut are made out of bone

the top is solid wood, think the fretboard is mahogany

any help with type of wood wood be great, age or origin

hopefully @all_fakes

wouldnt mind having a look

any thoughts appreciated

 

The strings are probably dead anyway, but keys and strings can be replaced.

I gave my old guitar to a music therapy project for Ukranian refugee children in our town.
The guitar was just sitting in a corner, and though I felt a little pang in my heart thinking of getting rid of yet another thing I couldn't do anymore, I couldn't think of a worthier cause for my beloved guitar to give its best. The kids were very happy, it was a quality guitar in a hard case.

 

That's a lovely thing to do Aj, a quality guitar is so much easier to play so you might have made it easier for a child to learn with, and also given them a friend for life, as guitars can be

 

Always love this classical/Spanish guitar song

 

I don't see anything indicating any particular maker, but looks like a fairly nice but not high-end classical guitar. The book-matching on the back is nice. The wood binding and the rosette design might suggest an origin in Mexico.
It would be nice if the action is low, indicating the neck hasn't warped, but should be able to tell about that by stringing and tuning it up - might be possible to tune by using pliers on the pegs with the missing tuning buttons, just to tell how it sounds, and to check out the action.

 

Charlie is in the UK. I don't think I've ever seen a Mexican guitar this side of the Atlantic.
I was wondering if the back could be palisander, which is often used on Spanish made guitars.

 

Good idea, I'll try that just to see what it's like, can always get a new set later

That's the main reason I bought it that the action was so good( strings are all at tuned level, just 2 need tweaking

And perfect intonation as well on the 12th

 

Spanish-made would have been my second guess. But guitars do travel; and also, luthiers may purchase ready-made rosettes in bulk rather than making them themselves, so one might well find Mexican-made rosettes on guitars made elsewhere. But it is noteworthy that the rosette is made of colored wood strips, a style more common in Mexico and Spain than in some other places. Palisander might be a good guess for the wood type, it is a nice-looking back. And seems like the action and neck might be good, so could well be a nice-sounding instrument.
I just noticed the little rectangular cross-braces on the join in the back - that is not a common construction method, and might point to a particular maker, but again not one I'm familiar with.

 

Great info, thanks for taking a look steve, I appreciate it

 

Worked like a charm with an adjustable spanner, and stays in tune

I'm impressed with the sound of it, the sustain is quite something. Each single note seems to be able to ring out for ages

Don't think this type of guitar is for me though, neck is far too wide
Been playing a lot of Ukulele recently so gonna take a bit of getting used to !

 

Same for me; I like the width of the standard steel-string neck. I do sometimes like the nylon-string sound though, and steel strings are rough on my fingernails - I use fingerpicks on steel-strings, but would rather have the more direct contact of playing without picks.
Martin did make and may still make a guitar with steel-string neck width, 12-fret neck, and designed for nylon strings; I forget the model number - it was favored by Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey of Peter Paul and Mary, I believe.
Glad yours sounds good!

 

Yeah I don't use picks anymore for anything, electric or acoustic, my fingers have just gotten used to it. But do use lighter gauge strings

Same with me for 12 string acoustics, the ones I had have been way to big in the neck width

Saw this Gibson that Brian may was playing that looks quite a small neck for a 12 string

 

Hi Charlie! Great find for the price! Looks like a youth's first classical guitar.
The neck would be too wide for me, I've been playing around with a uke lately too!

Great descriptions, thanks!

 

Hi anti

Yeah some old classic songs seem to fit better with a uke for some reason. Especially gershwin

This page is quite good for uke songs

https://www.doctoruke.com/songs.html

I should really try to learn how to spell ukulele, cause every, I mean every time I try I get it wrong.
Apart from that time, wahay !

 

That's interesting. Mexican-made classical guitars are practically flowing out of thrift shops here in TX. I've seen them abandoned in streets, in dumpsters, etc. Funny how markets work.

 

Depends on the type of guitar it is being thrown away I suppose, as all guitars are not made equal,

Some guitars deserve to be thrown away, mexican or not

 

Sorry, I meant to say that Mexican-made guitars are ubiquitous here. Great ones in high-end stores, inexpensive ones often in thrift stores, and a bunch of broken ones in the street and/or dumpsters. I probably see a Mexican-made guitar every other day because they are so common here in TX.

Always interesting to hear comments from across the pond. Real Spanish guitars probably sell for more here.

 

You're next door to Mexico, we are an ocean away. We are very close to Spain though, I could drive from our home in the south of The Netherlands to northern Spain in a day (but I'd rather take breaks). And there are many luthiers dotted around Western Europe.

As an aside, when we went on a theology trip to Hungary in the 1980s, the bus going back was filled to the roof with string instruments, of any kind. Cheap and good quality, in those days.

 

Cool songs at that link, thanks Charlie!