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Hey all, This is a practice top that I did. It's a copy of a guitar made by John Park in BC, Canada (fantastic guitar). Any thoughts? Similar to yours?
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Hey all, This is a practice top that I did. It's a copy of a guitar made by John Park in BC, Canada (fantastic guitar). Any thoughts? Similar to yours?
It reminds me of a 1948 Barbero pattern. The top on this one is about 2 mm thick with a 26 inch playing scale.
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I think the 48 Barbero has a slanted lower harmonic bar. Thats why I called this a symetrical version. Also, I cant remember if Barbero at that time had started using the long bridge patch he used on his later guitars.
I think the 48 Barbero has a slanted lower harmonic bar. Thats why I called this a symetrical version. Also, I cant remember if Barbero at that time had started using the long bridge patch he used on his later guitars.
Anders,
You are correct about that particular guitar.
Essentially Barbero made several different bar angles around that time; one, a straight harmonic bar across the top in 1948 that Sabicas used to own and actually gave it to a friend of mine during the 50's when Sabicas and Carmen Amaya performed in San Antonio.
Sabicas gave it to him for helping out with some business correspondence, which cost Sabicas about 25 dollars for the guitar back then. It had a crack that needed repair so mi Amigo took it to Arcangel Fernandez, when he was in Spain, and he told Elario that the guitar could not be repaired to sound the same, so Fernandez built a new top for it in 1959. That guitar had a bridge strap.
Also, I have some other Barbero plans in my shop that all have straight bars across the top; two 1948’s, a 1949, and a 1951. Some of these patterns had bridge straps and some did not. The 1951 had a long thin bridge strap across the top.
The bracing pattern on this top is close to the Barbero 1951 model played by Sabicas allthough the Sabicas model has a slanted lower harmonic bar and a bridge reinforcement glued in four pieces between the braces underneath the bridge. It is not a usual bridge badge that runs thru the braces as some people might think.
Anders, the fans are 6.65 wide by 3.7 tall cutoffs are 6.65 wide by 2.5 tall (I think) The harmonic bars are 7.5 wide and I think 14.1 and 13.6 tall. They will not be scalloped nearly that much in the final guitar, just a tad bit on the ends but I wanted to practice. Braces will be sitka and reinforcements top wood.
Oh and the top thickness on the original guitar tapers from 2.0 - 2.1 at the edge to around 2.5-2.7 in the middle, which seems a tad thick. Maybe it was a not very stiff piece of spruce? (but that's with finish and a piece of paper on top)
Thanks all for the comments and info about the Barbero design. I'll keep posting pictures as I progress. Building is addictive!