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Hopefully it is helpful to anyone in the future thinking of acquiring something like this and restoring it. Echi thinks it is likely to have been made in 1959, possibly concert grade. It is now fully restored and a delightful old instrument that plays really nicely and sounds like an old school flamenco guitar probably should, to my ears. I love it.
I bought it on eBay, sight unseen for £450 and spent £250 on a full refret and relief correction by replaning the fingerboard, new bridge bone, repolishing the fingerboard sides, and a few other details. The work was done by the luthier Stephen Frith in Crawley, Surrey, England, he did a wonderful job and I cannot recommend him highly enough https://www.frithguitar.com
I took a grave risk and bought a 1970s (?) Pozuelo de Alarcon Conde Hermanos without playing it first. The photos looked fairly ok, but who knows! I did what research I could, mostly on the very useful threads here. Looks like SP/CY and has the Esteso style headstock. No golpeador. Machines and plates are a gunmetal colour with cream plastic buttons. Couldn't assess the neck, but the guitar looks in reasonable condition, with a dirty fingerboard and very old strings. Seller is not a player so very limited information was given, just photographs. It could be good, it could be bad. But for the price I paid I thought it was worth the risk. I only have one guitar and fancied another as a contrast, and to clean up and hopefully treasure.
I'll let you know how it goes!
I can't post photos unfortunately as the site has an issue that Simon is looking into.
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The early bird catches the worm. But the second mouse gets the cheese.
RE: Picking up a 1970s (?) Pozuelo C... (in reply to silddx)
I wish you luck: I bought one new after rejecting half a dozen because I did not have enough money for a Faustino. It sounded good, but soon started to fall apart. After several repairs, it now hangs on the wall of the Peña, considered not worth fixing.
RE: Picking up a 1970s (?) Pozuelo C... (in reply to silddx)
Needs a refret and a fingerboard reshoot I think. Tuners feel a bit crap but they need a good clean. Body and neck in very good condition. I’ll clean it up and level what’s left of the frets. Restring it and see what it actually sounds like. Got a slightly short scale at about 645. Wish I could post some photos. Overall I am very happy.
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The early bird catches the worm. But the second mouse gets the cheese.
RE: Picking up a 1970s (?) Pozuelo C... (in reply to silddx)
quote:
I got it for less than a Yamaha :)
Seems like the experience will be worth it for you, even if you don't actually like the guitar in the end? (These days people are asking highly exaggerated prices for Conde student models or Pozuelo Condes. E.g. A seller asking £6.5k for a Pozuelo Conde on Reverb.)
RE: Picking up a 1970s (?) Pozuelo C... (in reply to orsonw)
Yeah I think so. If I do eventually sell it I should get my cash back. The frets are in a terrible mess and it will need a refret. Otherwise it’s really solid with remarkably few dings and scratches. The woods seem really nice, but what do I know. I love the rosette. Action is a bit high at 3.8 and nearly 10 at the saddle. Feeling confident this can go lower. Quite slim, about 90mm all round. Weighs 1.274kg.
Apparently the owner bought it in the 1970s.
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The early bird catches the worm. But the second mouse gets the cheese.
RE: Picking up a 1970s (?) Pozuelo C... (in reply to silddx)
had some oportunities that i refused , but one is still on my mind . The Guitar is from 1982 from the most famous(?) guitarrero from Granada , and its in Mint condition..... sounded beautifull with that Dry old sound still with nice sustain , slim neck , but in the end of notes sounded kind of out of tune , but i think its normal. The price seemed real nice , no pegs.
RE: Picking up a 1970s (?) Pozuelo C... (in reply to silddx)
Manuel Fernandez Fernandez
The video was allready removed , and theres no other (by the maker) close to that one, you will find some with Conde similarities , but this one was more a Ramirez sound i guess
" He was one of the first guitar makers in the flamenco guitar school in Granada, and master of some of the current guitar makers in Granada, such as Jose Fernandez (his son), or Aaron Garcia, for example.
Manuel Fernández Fernández´s guitars always had looked really interesting to us, as regards sound and making quality. In his instruments we can see some details revealing the admiration and respect this luthier had for the firm “Hermanos Conde” from Madrid at that time, with a shape and carving in its head intending to imitate the famous “half moon”, and an almost identical rosette to the one on the head of the guitar Maestro Paco de Lucia used, made by Esteso´s nephews.
Regarding sound, we can also see it is far from the typical sound of guitar from Granada, moving much closer to the character and personality of the instruments by the prestigious firm from Madrid."