Salvador Ibanez e Hijos (appr. 1910)
This is another, somewhat later Salvador Ibanez guitar.
It is an easy conclusion as the label states: Salvador
Ibanez e Hijos, a label that Ibanez started to use from
appr. 1910. A neatly built instrument but still a lot of
work to bring it back to life again. It is a concert model
with the dimensions that go with that: a 650 mm scale.
A nice Brasilian rosewood back with some repaired cracks.
Cedar has been used for the neck that is still straight. The
action on this guitar wil be cured by shaving off the fingerboard
towards the head. It has two advantages: a better playing action
and the damages in the fretboard can be removed. And these
damages are allways present around the first two frets.
Curious on this bridge are the two inlays, later a trademark
for Telesforo Julve. In fact not strange as Telesforo Julve
took over the Salvador e Hijos workshop. Salvador Ibanez
(the father) died in 1920. The took-over took place some-
what later. One small crack can be seen just at the right.
As the crack on one side of the bridge still closes a
careful glueing process will do the job. Afterwards
two or three cleats will hold this crack and another
advantage is that the upper surface becomes per-
fectly straight again. As the bridge appears to be
quite heavy, I'm planning to sand it down in order
to give the top more possibilities to vibrate.
A bit of a Torres shaped head with square ending slots.
Width at the topnut is 51 mm. The nut is a bit crudely
made and will be substituted with an ivory one.
The knobs on the tuner appear to be from
bone and they are locked on the axes.
A nice shot of the heel which is typical Valencian in
shape. The lower part of the heel however is made
out of hardwood as well though the cheaper solution
in Valencia was to install spruce or another softwood
to speed up the building process.
Presented here is the label ftom this guitar.
For an even better impression: The same label found
on internet. But photoshopped a bit to make everything
straight again.
A rather small rosette in width made with concentric
circles and inlayed with mother of pearl pieces. Salvador
Ibanez more than often worked with remarkable big ro-
settes but in fact a big rosette influences the sound in a
negative way as it stiffens that part of the soundboard.
moreover it often weakens the woods surrounding the
sound hole.
Sides that are still in a pristine condition. The yellowish
color is a result of the varnish that has been used and
over time gives this color on Brasilian rosewood. A
new lacquering process would give this guitar a much
darker and deeper coloured appearance as can be seen
by studying the back after a refinishing process: The
result is a much darker colour. In fact a deeper glance
can be obtained with French polishing technique I'm
using now.
The first cleaning process allready took place but some
discolourations around the bridge still have to be removed.
After that and the reparation of the crack near the bridge
the entire soundboard will be treated with a special liquid
to remove the dicolourations that still can be determind
at the moment. It is still absolutely straight probably
due to the slightly bowed construction.
The relacquered back that shows the old beauty again
of the Brasilian rosewood. The original lacquer colours
the wood in a yellowish way but had to be removed as
some restorations were not properly executed. Always
trying not to sand the wooden parts of the soundbox!
A nice shot of the newly finished back
And the difference in colour compared to
the sides that have their original lacquer.
On this picture the fretboard has been shaved allready.
Afterwards new frets were installed and the cleaning
process of the soundboard is in a "second" stage
As the sleeves for the tuners were a bit crudely done that
could be fixed as well. Relacquering of the head after-
wards in fact was a must but again: The beauty of the
wood is there to its' full potentials.
Second cleaning job before the first playing trial on
this guitar. After restringing a guitar that was not
under tension for a long time means that you have
to wait a few days to be able to judge the sound of
an instrument. Adjustments can be made once some
elements are not accordingly your wishes. Especially
the bass tones can be boosted by thinning the sound-
board a bit along the edges though I do not tend to
do that on historical instruments.
So nice to see the wood again in its' beauty.
This picture has been taken to be able to study the colour
differences after the relacquer job on the back.
The glued crack on the right side of the bridge.
The crack that has been glued and provided with three cleats
inside. The split in the two halves is covered by one of the
7 fan braces. That will do the job.
A new ivory nut after the fingerboard has been shaved
towards the head and the new frets allready mounted.
Not all imperfections of the soundboard have
disappeared but for a 100 year old one it is
in a very nice condition again.
The square filed slots for the tuners can be studied
here. The neck has been left the way it was.
As the wood on the head has a beauty of its' own
only a sanding and refinishing job will do.
The inner heel has been inscribed with Salvador Ibanez
e Hijos -Valencia. Only visible from the inside of course.
The cleaned tuners that in fact are quite simple but
they still do their job in a sufficient way! As opposed
to the smaller and earlier guitar here above the wurm
is now placed behind the wurm wheel.
A rather small rosette but a tasteful one to my
opinion as opposed to the earlier quite ornamented
ones. A smaller rosette is better for sound results!
Want to know more around this brand and in general
about the Valencia made guitars, just check this site:
www.guitarrasvalencia.wordpress.com
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