Would appreciate some help. Brazilian Rosewood?

[Howard Klepper]

Time for a bit of a reality check. That is a decent looking--for 1950's Paracho--guitar. It is nowhere near being a fine instrument.

In terms of its monetary value it is not doing the work you are contemplating.

Some very nice instruments have come from Paracho, and in the last 15 years or so, several of the factories there have upgraded their work a lot. The K&S guitars, Casa Montalvo guitars, and those Kenny Hill had made there are often good and good value; in another class of workmanship from the guitar in your photos.

[tedzap]

I was able to get an opinion from a local gentleman who is regarded as knowledgeable in guitar values. He said that:

- the guitar is worth having some inexpensive tune-up work done
- it isn't worth the cost of a neck reset
- he'd buy it from me if I wanted to sell it

He felt that by taking off some material from the bridge that it could be brought into an acceptable range for use.


Thanks for all the input!

[yao8a]

Originally Posted by tedzap

Thanks for the replies.

The one person who has looked at it builds guitars but he admitted that he didn't know enough to speak with authority about it. He did imply that it might well be worth the work. He directed me to another person here locally that has more experience and I will hopefully catch him this weekend.

The reason that he feels the neck would need resetting is that the angle is wrong. Instead of being 1-1/2 degrees "falling away" from the body it is actually flat to, or slightly "rising from" the body. The action is fairly high (but not obsenely so). Maybe this style guitar has a different geometry?


In surfing around I did find this interesting approach to resetting a "spanish heel". It involves converting it to a bolt-on neck.

I am located in Roanoke, VA. I also travel quite a bit, could anyone point me at someone who would be qualified to check it out?

Thanks,
-Ted

Hello Tedzap, I'm from Mexico, and I have a guitar made from Bonifacio Zalapa R., it's exactly as yours, this guitar was from my grandfather, and to be honest, I never treat it very well, because I really don't know what I had in my hands.

I hope you update this post, what happened with your guitar.

My guitar is broken actually (I don't know the name of the parts in english) but approximately the next weekend I will go to Morelia, Michoacan, and I will try to find where to repair my guitar, and also try to find more information about Bonifacio Zalapa R. Paracho is not in my way, it's a little far away from Morelia, but I hope to find some information about this guitar and the brand.

[DenverSteve]

Unfortunately that poster was here for 4 days, nine years ago.

[yao8a]

Well, it happens back in time I tried to find something about my guitar, and never found anything about it, and yesterday I Google "Bonifacio Zalapa R" (with the quotation marks) and this post was the only result. I didn't realize it's 9 years ago, I was just happy to find something about my guitar.

[Wade Hampton]

As mentioned earlier in this thread, your best option is to find a guitar builder and repair tech who understands the Spanish heel method of construction. It’s probably not worth fixing it if reselling it is the goal, but since it has your family heritage, to me it would be worth fixing and keeping as a family heirloom.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Tony Burns]

You need it looked at by a pro -not a local music store -someone
who is truly a pro luthier -a pro would know what wood it is - no questions asked , and know wether it is worth the work needed , and a very good idea on the costs involved .-alot of times its not .
I know alot of guitars came out of mexico at that time period -the tuners look average ( was it customary in the 1950's to have metal rods on tuners ? )
tuners of the instrument look so-so -my guess a decent student model of that time period. .

[robj144]

Originally Posted by Tony Burns

Their are luthiers and then their are luthiers - Id have it evaluated by a pro , rather than a newby well intended luthier . without the guitar in hand no one can really evaluate it properly .Their are many fine looking guitars that look like their solid wood and turn out to be well done veneer jobs ( not saying yours is- but it could be ) i wish you well my friend !

Originally Posted by Tony Burns

You need it looked at by a pro -not a local music store -someone
who is truly a pro luthier -a pro would know what wood it is - no questions asked , and know wether it is worth the work needed , and a very good idea on the costs involved .-alot of times its not .
I know alot of guitars came out of mexico at that time period -the tuners look average ( was it customary in the 1950's to have metal rods on tuners ? )
tuners of the instrument look so-so -my guess a decent student model of that time period. .

You replied to the same thread 9 years ago Tony.