Philipp Hammig Flute: by clicking on this picture you may be able to see the somewhat
crudely done inscription
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
L.Lebret Flute
L.Lebret flute (silverplated)They are not all equal in quality but this one has that
sought after creamy french tone!
Johann Kern Flute
Johann Kern Flute: a silverplated example of this in1933 established firm in Stuttgart.
Is there any relation to the Johann Kern mentioned
in the Langwill index?
Armando Gimenez Guitar SOLD
Armando Gimenez classical guitarMade in Torondojimeno (north of Granada)
in 1964. Little information can be found.
Helmut Hanika (no label)
This Helmut Hanika guitar us from about 1970.
It is equipped with a solid spruce top and rosewood
sides and back. The bridge is made out of rosewood
as is the fingerboard. Though there is no label sticked
in this instrument, the plantilla umistakebly is pointing
towards Hanika who also built guitars for dealers and
other companies as has been stated by Marion Hanika.
The rather mediocre quality of this rosewood
doesn't have any negative influence n the tone of this
instrument. The sides do fit the back of course and
the inner construction is of a high quality as is
often the case with Hanika instruments.
The nice rosette can be admired here and a typical german
bridge completes this instrument. After refinishing the top
the brilliance in tone was there again. I'm not sure wether
if Hanika treated his soundboards with a kind of oil but
it influenced the sound in a bad way: muffy, dull and
no brilliance at all which counts for all registers.
Ibanez AW 95 Twelvestring / Ali Khalifeh Oud / African Lute / Oud Damascus
The Ibanez AW 95 Artwood series twelvestring guitar.
This guitar has the following specs.
- Solid spruce soundboard
- Solid rosewood sides and back
- Mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard
- Wooden linings and scratchplate
Here is the quite plain head though this model
was the highest twelvestring model in the artwood series
at that time. Very nice tuners as well but in chrome.
The back shows us the nice woods used for this guitar.
By clicking on this picture you can also examine
the nicely shaped volute just beneath the head.
All Ibanez collectors are keen on label so here
is a readable picture of it.
"Handcrafted from select solid woods in Japan"
and the Mr. Honda stamp.
And of course the neckblock stamp
that shows us the number: 0103264
and the model number AW 95.
As I'm not an Oud connaisseur I bought a more
decorated example at first in an Auction House.
They in fact had two Ouds for sale and begged me
to buy this one as well. I was not interested but for
10 euro's I bought it. After repairing and restringing
I came to the conclusion that this one was much
better than the more expensive and decorated one.
Oud: Ali Khalifeh
decorated example at first in an Auction House.
They in fact had two Ouds for sale and begged me
to buy this one as well. I was not interested but for
10 euro's I bought it. After repairing and restringing
I came to the conclusion that this one was much
better than the more expensive and decorated one.
This instrument has a nice shaped bowl which seems to
be important for these instruments in particular.
Ali Khalifeh was a well respected builder but I only
discovered that being home with this instrument and
after consulting Internet. There was a label inside!
This decoration is typical for his instruments. Other
people took over his business and quality declined.
As this instrument has a lot of tonal qualities I decided
it to give better tuning knobs and an ivory nut.
Presented here are the old ones. Another repair on the
soundboard behind the bridge was necessary but
it holds up well now.
African Lute: Gunibri (Maroc)
The front of this ethnic instrument. At first we thought it to be
a touristic made instrument. However, the markings on the neck
have been placed with a meaning. the octave has been divided
inorder to be able to play a diatonic (or chromatic, if you wish)
scale and a turtle shell wouldn't be used easily for tourists.
At that point the coconut shells do come in!
Again, and now from the back: the neck runs through "the body"
and also acts as a kind of tailpiece for which they had to make
a hole in the skin they provided. At first glance the strings appear
to be made of nylon but no! They are made out of sinew which
is made out of Antilope's tendon. The sources that talk about
these instrument differ in their country where they came from.
Maroc is an option but regarding the "Antilope" strings
Kanuri (Western Sudan) seems to be more likely.
The goat skin (?) is sticked around the turtle shell.
A piece of wood serves as a bridge.
We actually bought it pure for the shell as older musical
instrument are often ornamented with turtle shell material.
The neck is carved being a face at the top and the neck
is not in one piece, probably to add another neck in case
this one should break but also to be able to make a
good intonation possible by watching the carvings.
As an animal lover as well I hope the turtle was already
dead I must say. I would never buy a kind of instrument
like this being aware of the fact that they have to kill
animals for it. The same counts for ivory!
Oud from Damascus
The Oud possibly dates from 1976. But we are not sure.
The bowl form seems OK to me.
Who is able to read the text in Arab?
The head with different keys in it....
The Bowl form.
The inlay on the edge.
José Ramirez / Antonio Mateu Ramis
The model 1A Concert model of José Ramirez,
after some inquiries made by Juan Garcia Rey in 1981.
This guitar has that specific warm cedar top sound
with lots of volume and a beautiful balance.
The back of this instrument that still is in pristine condition.
However due to bad storage in the past (moisture) there
is a crack beneath the bridge. As there was still enough
"flesh" the sides of the crack had to be bowed back in
order to be make a solid repair and teh sound: even better!
As can be clearly seen this guitar bears the so called
blue label only ment for guitars that meet the highest
standards in guitarbuilding.
Antonio Mateu Ramis
Antonio Mateu Ramis flamenco guitar built in 1953.
This builder ended his workshop in about 1965.
There were no successors. Sebastian Stenzel owes
a classical model from this luthier from 1963 that
inspired him to become a luthier himself!
a classical model from this luthier from 1963 that
inspired him to become a luthier himself!
Juan Orozco nr. 10 Guitar
Juan Orozco nr. 10 frontMuch confusion about these guitars that were
built in Japan (Tama- Ibanez) for the worldmarket.
They were designed by a partnership between
Masaru Kohno, Tama and Juan Orozco.
Guitars of that period from these builders often
are likely to be identical!
Tokai "Cat's Eyes" TCE 25
Though this guitar will be sold to a pupil
of mine I think it to be interesting enough to put it
on this blog. Not the highest grade model but
it's sound is really astonishing!
Interior woodwork is great as well.
But I really have too many guitars!!!
The back of this instruments. There was detail to everything
regarding the center lining on the back of this instrument.
The mahogany back has been stained to a really nice colour
maybe because of the aging process. Neck profile
makes playing very nice. Soft D profiled Neck.
That's what is a bit disturbing: they used a
brazilian rosewood veneered headstock!
And of course these great Gotoh tuners that are
working perfectly even after 35 years.
Vincenzo Adamo Mandolin (Naples)
Vincenzo Adamo Front.
In fact quite a plain instrument from this Naples situated
builder but though not playable a nicely built instrument.
Listening to it's sound the work was rewarding!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)