Detailed photos of 100 year old "Bandurria" Now with all the photos

[daveinspain]

For those of you that found some interest in this I took some detailed photos today. The instrument is a bandurria and dates back to late 1800's early 1900's. Pippy narrowed it down to 1890 to 1910 according to a friend of his who works at a stringed instrument museum. There is more work that needs to be done than I though but not impossible. I have one estimate of 600 euros to get it restored and playable. I have a couple more people to take it to though. Anyway here are the pics... I

 

 

 

[daveinspain]

Yes this is a very weird instrument, 12 string and a very short neck... I live in Valencia, great city too... The instrument was used in folkloric music back to midivil time although the number of strings it has increased over the years...

[jdgm]

Well IMO this is too good NOT to repair and refinish - wonderful quality of wood. The price in Euros seems expensive but maybe that's what you pay in Spain - or did the guy give you that high estimate because he doesn't really want to do it...? The body is badly cracked and the top too, but a beautiful instrument that old which has survived this long really deserves to be allowed to 'live again'. Dame Ritmo! Best of luck with it Dave.

 

P.S. - and I know this is nothing to do with you at all - I got 3 viruses when I clicked and it went to Photobucket. My antivirus got 'em. Not the 1st time that's happened either...

[daveinspain]

Yeah I'm hoping to find a less expensive restoration price... We'll see what happens. So the viruses are on Photobuchet??

[daveinspain]

 

 

 

 

[daveinspain]

 

 

 

 

[quapman]

These pics are much better and do show how rough the poor ole girl is.

But damn it's still about one of the coolest stringed acoustic instruments I have seen.

And it's not my money,,, I say go for it...lol.

 

But seriously,,, I think it's worth it. Not sure if you are worried about resale or not but

definitely family heirloom worthy and I wouldn't even think of selling it if I restored it.

[RevDavidLee]

Thanks Dave for taking the time and trouble to take and post all those pictures. That is just awesome!!! Any ideas of what the wood(s) are used on that instrument? Can't tell if there's some rosewood or cocobolo involved there but once this is restored I can't wait to see the full patina of this old girl. Definitely worth restoring and like the guy above me stated - heirloom worthy and I wouldn't sell it either if you do decide to restore it. Thanks very much for sharing - so cool to see this one!

[pippy]

Nice to see the other pictures, Dave!

 

 

She's much deeper than I had imagined she would be. Must be about the same depth as a bowl-back mandolin?

 

Obviously the decision to restore or not will require a bit of thought.

Great as it would be to have the ol' girl back up and running if you aren't going to play her it's a lot of cash to splash on a wall-hanging.

But I'd guess that if you DID go ahead with the work then you'd find an excuse to use her in the next video!

 

I'm firmly with quapman on this; It's not my money so I say Go For It!...lol!

 

P.

 

EDIT : Just in the name of accuratcy and to give credit where it's due (or blame if it turns out to be incorrect!) the person who dated the instrument for me was the Head Curator of Stringed Instruments at the Horniman Museum and I thank her for her time.

[Bender 4 Life]

amazing hand craftsmanship!

wonderful instrunment from a bygone era....

thirsty wood it appears....dry dry dry.