Salvador Ibanez Abalone Model (Between 1905 - 1910)

The guitar how it came to us. A lot of work but 

being a product from the beginning of the 20th

century it must be rewarding. A higher end

guitar so to speak. A lot of frets already dis-

appeared and the angle neck to body isn't 

correct anymore.

Not uncommon on these guitars: A partial loose 

bridge. As there are more restorations to be done 

on the soundboard, it is better to do that before 

regluing the bridge. Cleaning of the entire sound-

board also can be done in a better way.

Some disturbing color damages as well. Hopefully

they can be removed. I will limit any sanding to

the soundboard as much as possible however.

Curious to observe that the two inlays on either

side of the string tie block aren't in line. I've

seen that on various Salvador Ibanez guitars.

A closer shot of the soundbox. You can enlarge

it by clicking on it.

I have to shorten the head by a few millimeters as

 there is some ugly damage on the back of the head.

The inlays luckily are still there!

Removing of the frets was very easy. The 

"tang" of the original frets isn't that deep.

In the days these guitars were built it was common

not to built in any compensation of the bridge. A bit 

later along the timeline the entire bridge was placed

under a slight angle.

As the space for the rosette sometimes was cut a bit too

deep here and there, it weakened the surrounding wood

of the sound hole. I made a newly piece of spruce to

avoid any possible damages when going into the

guitar for repairs to otherwise.

A fan bracing construction of 5 braces quite close

to each other. Also in the 3 braced fans placed by 

Ibanez this can be seen as is the alternately placing

of the individual woodblocks to glue the sides

to the soundboard.

Possibly the use of metal strings caused the cracks along the 

fingerboard on both sides though it often is the case with

older guitars.

I hoped the neck with its fingerboard would come "back"

a bit after loosening the back but alas...  Then shaving

off the fingerboard towards the head is one of the

solutions. another is shortening the distance of the

outer ends of the soundbox by changing the dimen-

sions of the back. This leads to some difficult processes

as you have to deform the sides a bit and thus inserts

with rosewood are inevitable.

3 insert were necessary but properly made they

won't have a big influence on the final sound.

Besides the reinforcement, due to the placing of the

rosette, I made a cleat at the end of the insert in the

middle. Normally when a crack runs towards a 

transverse bar that will stop the wood from further

cracking. In this case the cleat does the job.

Clearly visible are the two missing transverse bars above the 

sound hole to strengthen that area and in fact a bit to prevent

any cracks along the soundboard. The Japanese often are also

placing an extra wide but thin layer between them for that

purpose. It remains questionable if that has any influence

on the final sound result.

The tuners the way they came to us.

Entire cleaning of the metal parts that appeared to be

made out of copper the knobs still have to be made

newly also by hand. Dremel tools are very helpful

in that case.

A picture like this is already quite complete but

with some photoshopping you get the result

here beyond. not my speciality but a girlfriend

of us who makes lovely photos as well is

quite experienced in that field. See here beyond.

Straight again and ready to use?

The rosette which is still in a good condition. As the carvings for

rosette inlays are in fact too deep here and there, it was necessary

to strengthen the edge of the sound hole as already some pieces

were broken off. Luckily they were found in the guitar.

The inserts in the soundboard that had to be placed. I

 always leave them a bit above the soundboard level in

case someone is able to match the colors with the

surrounding wood even more. The discoloration of

the soundboard I was able to remove.

On older guitars most of the time present: The cracks alongside

the fingerboard on both sides. Possible this happened when the

transverse braces came loose in the past. This all has been properly

repaired now. I've added a flat reinforcement as well between

these two transverse bars the way the Japanese often are 

constructing their guitars to prevent these cracks.

In fact the cracks are quite near the fingerboard and 

colorwise they do match their surroundings quite

well. The fingerboard itself seems to be made out of 

Brasilian rosewood as are the sides and back. The 

smell betrays the use of this wood immediately 

when you are sanding some spots.

As the angle neck / body needed to be adjusted the fingerboard

has been shaved away a bit towards the headstock. It will be

evident that the guitar has to be refretted then of course,

Here the newly added binding around the back can be studied.

It all fits well again on both sides though the remark must be made

that we're not in the final process of French polishing. I did this

on purpose as the glance would be too much to take good pictures.

The modern frets are bigger and thus will enhance both

playability and sound,

Refreshing the headstock in order to remove some

ugly traces and other unevennesses. Besides that,

by lowering the fretboard the top nut has to be sanded

as well. New and freshly made out of superior material

The back of the headstock that looks like it

was made yesterday. Ready for the original

tuners and free from damages.

The fretwork as it has been done can be seen here.

I always make some final adjustments once the

strings are on the guitar and in tune.

Another picture of the inserts made for this guitar. This bridge

has been repaired as it was lowered too much by shaving the

part for the bridge bone. It is all in balance now and a small

correction could be made regarding the final octave pitch.

Around 1900 it was not common to place a bridge with

a built in compensation.

And the bottom of this guitar that probably had a tailpiece

for some time, probably to withstand the tension of metal

strings. In fact never the way to go for on a classical guitar.

The Brasilian back in all its beauty again. Two small inserts

had to be made here as well but hardly detectable.