Item 04
Price: $225,000
Appraised Value 2016: $250,000
Appraised Value 2021: $300,000
SOLD
The innate clarity and quality of this guitar’s tone and timbre is excellent vintage Torres. Compatibility of bass and treble notes might be due to the two unmatched spruce soundboard halves, the bass half having a grain spacing of 26 per inch and the treble half having a very tight 40 per inch spacing. Both halves are of fine quality straight-grained spruce so it is probable that Torres selected this combination of wood intentionally.
The rosette has a central band of natural-colored grains-of-wheat in a black background. The workmanship and artistic execution of this rosette are masterful. The bridge is rosewood with two mother-of-pearl dots on the wings. The tie-block is edged in bone.
Woods, proportions, purflings and rosette harmonize visually to make this guitar a beautiful statement of the Torres style. The bird’s-eye maple sides and back exhibit a visually striking grain pattern. Purfling and the center seam fillet of the back combine strips of natural, brown, black and aged green colors that coordinate with the rosette. Neck and head are Spanish cedar with the face of the head veneered with wood dyed to match the bridge. The fingerboard is ebony with medium frets, and the original tuning machines are sparsely engraved with a flower design and have bone grips.
The internal bracing is illustrated. Harmonic bars and crossbars have straight ends and rest on triangular side braces. Crossbars may not be original as the back has been removed and replaced three times over the instrument’s life. The center seam of the back is reinforced with a strip of cross-grained cedar. The top lining is kerfed as is the back lining.
This instrument, numbered SEGUNDA ÉPOCA No.129, is in masterfully restored condition. It plays easily and responsively, evoking pleasure as it must have done over 125 years ago when Torres himself first heard it.
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Guitar Dimension Key
