1968 Manuel Velazquez SP/PF
Year | 1968 |
Top | Spruce |
Back & Sides | Pau Ferro |
Scale Length | 650 mm |
Nut width | 53 mm |
Finish | French Polish Top |
Country | USA |
This guitar is no longer available in our inventory. If it interests you, click the ”notify me when available” button to be notified in the event that we re-acquire this guitar for re-sale.
This is a great, full-size concert instrument originally built in 1968 by Manuel Velazquez who also revisited the guitar 42 years later for some restoration work, as is indicated on a second label added in 2010. Materials are first-class including back and sides of a very exotic and beautiful set of Pau Ferro with an almost three-dimensional character. Tuners are Rodgers. Playability is very easy thanks to the sleek shape and contour of the neck. The sound of this instrument is best described by referring to Hauser II guitars from the same period - very precise and clear trebles with bold, sturdy basses. Having said that, this instrument has great power even by Velazquez' standards - perhaps among the biggest sounding guitars of his output we've seen. While in the Velazquez shop in 2010, it had 4 cracks repaired to the soundboard with splices only (no cleats or patches internally): two from the bridge to the foot, one from the soundhole to the bridge and one on the treble side of the fingerboard. It was also refinished - the top in French polish, the body in oil. Setup work was also done for maximal ease of play. The instrument was appraised for $12,000 in 2018 by Jeffrey Elliott and we also stand by this as a solid value for a guitar of this calibre in this condition. We consider Manuel Velazquez to be one of the most important north American makers in history and his best instruments are, in our opinion, equal to the best of the European makers.