Salvador Ibanez 3 (Parres y Ponce)

This simple guitar drew my attention as its'

sound was unbelievable: Though simply made with very

modest materials the Valencian builders often manage

to built good sounding instruments. In 1907 Vicente Parres 

appeared in the trade guides with a guitar factory (fabrica) 

at Carrera de Melilla, Traste 1 , num. 25 and with the

office (despacho) at Caballeros 55 bajo Valencia.

In the period 1908 – 1915 Parres y C.a. were at Carretera 
de  Melilla 23 and the shop was at calle Caballeros 55.
In the general catalogue of 1912, Juan Ponce, successor of

Parres y Compania, the workshop was at Calle Caballeros

55, Valencia. As the Felix Manzanera collection holds 

two guitars of these two luthiers they must have some 

importance in the Spanish guitar history.

This particular guitar has the old Parres head but the

the Pons soundhole decoration. For that reason I

assume it to be a somewhat later (under Pons built)

instrument. Pons took over the business of Vicente Parres 

in Valencia. Though this guitar lost its' label there is

one known label that says: 

Fabrica de Guitarras

de Vicente Parres

Fabrica: Carrera Melilla traste 1. no 25

Officinas: Caballeros, 55, bajo

Valencia (Espana)

Though really basic in construction I was really surprised by 

the sound of this instrument: Beautiful rounded, loud and with

a quick attack. That this was possible from a small plain guitar

like this with a ladder braced soundboard and mahogany

sides and back was astonishing. As for the soundboard it

isn't even straight grained but on the contrary, the quality of

the mahogany is really good. In the old Spanish tradition the

soundboard is glued to the sides by individuel spruce blocks.

This is the typical head form that can be found on the instrument

made by Vicente Parres (1880) but that instrument has been

equipped with wooden tuning pegs as was usual at that time.

Another feature is the wooden nut in combination with not

using a zero fret. These tuners could be a later addition

though they appear on other instruments of around 1900

The front of this head has been veneered with a mahogany

layer on the spruce (!) used for the neck. This use of spruce

for the neck is another move pointing towards the Valencia 

guitar makers. This neck is still remarkably straight.

These bridges were common in the nineteenth century but

I didn't knew they were still used at the beginning of the 20th

century. No use of a bridgebone. Simply carved from

one piece of wood. These type of bridge can even be found 

on an Ibanez labelled instrument of the thirties and a later

Telesforo Julve guitar. Chances are big that all these

cheaper instrument from the well known Valencia builders

are coming from one and the same factory, at least a

 lot of parts!

Two other typical Valencia used features can be seen here:

The use of a softer, grey coloured wood for the fingerboard

and the brass fretwork of course. Later found out that this

wood softening has something to do with other factors as

the fingerboard wood used on these guitars is dense and

hard enough for the purpose it is applied.

On this picture it can be concluded that the wood used

for the top wasn't quarter sawn and the seam hasn't been

placed in the middle. The fingerboard had a greyish colour

and was a bit soft. In order to give it more strength, I decided

to "ebonize" it for a tighter fit of the new frets. To replace

the fingerboard would have been a possibility but that's 

too far away from this furthermore original guitar.

To strengthen the wood I use a compound that looks

like water but penetrates the wood and hardens it.

In fact a liquid that has been used before the reparation

of rotten frames around a window.

The neck has been made of spruce as was done by more Valencian 

guitar builders. And believe it or not: Still absolutely straight.

To my knowledge Telesforo Julve (Valencia) did this also on their

student range guitars. Often the guitars built with no fan bracing

have a slightly thicker soundboard and sometimes even "bowed" 

a bit to withstand the tension of the strings.

Besides the fact that the neck was allready painted with

red lead paint (minium - initially ment to prevent rust on iron)

I wasn't aware of the fact that most cheaper guitars of that time

from Valencia were painted this way. It can even be a

guide  in determining the age of a guitar from Valencia!

 A small piece in the neck was simply rotten and had to

be removed. No big deal but the color red I changed into 

a darker brown. The curious heelform can be found on the 

Pons guitars as well. This instrument can be dated around 1912. 

There were different "Constructors de Guitarras" active

around 1900 and among them Telesforo Julve and Andres

Marin. The guitars of the latter and Parres / Pons have some 

features in common but the plantilla sometimes differs.

This simple Andres Marin guitar can be found on internet.

Marin is also a Valencia based luthier and this plantilla

resembles that of the unlabelled guitar above. Moreover,

the label has been glued over the blocks that are placed

over the center seam of the back in the same way it has 

been done in the unlabelled guitar.

The old tuners have been mounted again though the 6th string

knob isn't working properly. Of course fresh strings and then

after a day: The sound.... It is unbelievable what comes out

of this relatively small box. Beautiful basses , loud and percussive

higher notes but with a sweetness I only heard from a

more simple Vicente Arias guitar. To my believe the space

between soundhole and bridge which is quite large and

without any fan bracing is responsible for this sound

together with the blocks that are used for gluing the top

to the sides and that are placed about 1 cm from each other.

Of course the bridge itself could attribute to the sound

but one should expect less sustain with this construction.

To make this instrument a concert instrument as it has

these qualities, a new fingerboard with a better fret

spacing would be advisable as the fret inserts are a

bit sloppy placed as is the bridge that I allready moved 

about 2 mm towards the soundhole. Intonation could be

better but tonecoulour and the way this guitar

reacts to plucking at different places is great!

I placed a label inside for people who want to investigate

after me: Parres y Pons but chances are big as well that 

this instrument comes from the Andres Marin workshops.

Just recently the collection of Felix Manzanero is showing

two Parres guitars and I need to say that this instrument

most likely falls into this category.

Some of the "rosettes"  found on these guitars slightly differ

but the rosette found on this Salvador Ibanez e Hijos guitar

is exactly like the one mounted on the guitar here above. It

is interesting now to look for more similarities. And they 

are there... Now and then these old guitars can be found on

two Spanish sites: Todocoleccion and Milanuncios.

E.g. the heelform is also the same as is the red painted neck.

And the bridge of course without any bridgebone just 

out of the same piece of wood used for the bridge itself.

The tuning pegs differ from the more common known

metal tuners. It could have been a later addition on the

guitar here above.

The plantilla resembles the "Parres / Ponce"  guitar as well.

Take a closer look at the two inlays in the stringtie block as

Telesforo Julve made that his trademark. after having

taken over the workforce of Salvador Ibanez e Hijos.

The Telesforo Julve company even made guitars with

the Salvador Ibanez e Hijos label!

Another similarity is the point where the two halves of the 

sides meet each other.

The headform and the tuning pegs, thougt to be orignal.

The paint on the neck "worked" what makes it obvious

that the neck was made out of a piece of spruce! That

was the case on the Parres / Ponce guitar as well and it 

was even "rotten" on a certain spot so I decided to repair

it and have it finished in another color as I thought that

ugly red color couldn't be original. But it is!

The Salvador e Hijos label that was used from about 1910 

onwards. People often wonder how a label can possibly be

damaged the way it is here. That has everything to do with

paper eating insects that are there when there's a lot 

of moisture.

The original Salvador Ibanez e Hijos label in all

its' glory. A friend of mine who constructed the

guitarrasvalencia.wordpress site, did some inves-

tigations around Salvador Ibanez and even spoke 

to some of his descendants. In return they gave 

him some original never used labels!

The topnut made out of wood is another mark on these

guitars that were probably ment for the beginning student.

Probably also a simple ladder bracing. But what a sound!

Want to know more around this brand and in general

about the Valencia made guitars, just check this site:

www.guitarrasvalencia.wordpress.com

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.