Selling my Telesforo Julve "Terina" Flamenco Guitar. Built c. 1948 in Spain, I purchased it in Miami in the 1980s. I recently took it out of storage and renovated it, replacing its disintegrated plastic tuner knobs with ebony knobs, treating the finish, smoothing with extra fine steel wool, and waxing. The fretboard was cleaned and oiled. A new golpeador was installed. New flamenco strings were put on. and a hardshell case was provided.
Telesforo Julve was an extremely influential guitar maker in Valencia Spain in the earlier years of the twentieth century. He was most respected among his peers who included Salvador Ibanez and Vicente Tatay, and he produced an amazing number of instruments in his career, including mandolins, bandurrias, steel string guitars, harp guitars and more. About 1919, he began vigorously exporting his instruments to two markets, Holland, through the music retailer Voortman, and Mexico, through the retailer Casa Veerkamp. Both relationships were very successful, and in Mexico his instruments were especially popular. When German U-boats made shipping difficult starting in 1939, Telesforo licensed Casa Veerkamp to have guitars labeled Telesforo Julve made by competent Mexican luthiers during the war, including the influential shop of Jeronimo Villafan in Mexico City. There is a date inscribed on the label, Oct. 1, 1948, indicating was made in Spain after the war. This guitar is one of the few Telesforo Julve flamenco guitars remaining.
A full history of the firm can be found at this webpage. members.upc.nl/a.bogaard241
While the guitar shows its age through the appearance of its finish, the instrument is in exceptionally good condition structurally and has virtually no defects or significant damage. The fretboard is slightly worn from playing. The top on the bass side has some kind of overspray or other irregular finish which has a somewhat strange appearance, but this has absolutiely no effect on the playablity or sound. This area might be where there was once a second golpeador on the bass side. The finish overall is very thin and has worn off the back in places.
The neck appears to be made of traditional cypress, and the top spruce. The backs and sides are rosewood. The body has top and bottom multilayered wood binding which is sound and in great condition. Fretboard and bridge are dark rosewood. The construction overall is outstanding inside and out. The instrument is sturdy and handles extremely well. The top has traditional fan bracing and there are vertical stiffeners every 6" to 8" around the sides. But as well constructed as it is, the guitar is incredibly light, weighing just 3 pounds zero ounces.
The dimensions are: Overall length 39". Body length 19". Upper bout width 11". Waist 9.5". Lower bout width 14.5". Depth at top 3.5". Depth at bottom 3.75". Nut is 2". String length is 25 11/16".
Playability is excellent, the action is fast, the volume range is impressive, and the tone is superb.
The guitar comes with an SKB thermoplastic hardshell case.
This description edited May 6, 2019
Please let me know if there is any additional information I can provide or if there are any questions.
