Apr 9, 2016

Juan Estruch Classical Acoustic Guitar Review and Mods


A few months back I stumbled across a beat up classical acoustic guitar at a flea market.  Missing a few strings and with bent up tuners - I think I took it home for $15.  My luck is generally pretty terrible but I think this was one of my best scores on a cheap guitar, and after some fixing up it's worth much more than every penny spent.

Initial condition: Fix ASAP!

When I first found it, it was in mediocre condition, pretty beat up, missing a string or two, and with all kinds of damage to the tuners.  Other than that, however, the body was still solid and the neck straight, so game on!

Out with the old

Original tuners: beat up, several bent, missing tuning head.


In with the new

Replaced with the most affordable set of classical tuners on Amazon: not perfect but now it's all at least perfectly functional.  Total cost of the guitar: ~ $25

Pics and more after the break:





Initial fretboard condition (actually it lasted like this for a while) - Okay, all the frets are there and level, but dirty, dusty, and maybe a bit corroded.


Fretboard refinished: a Scotchbrite pad, a bit of fine sandpaper, and some mineral oil worked wonders for bringing the fretboard back to life.


Also took out the saddle and cleaned it off and made it incredibly smooth with some 2000 grit sandpaper.

Juan Estruch Classical Guitar
Juan Estruch Classical Guitar

After finishing all repairs (for now!) - we have a nice neck and fretboard, cheap but functional tuners, and a very slightly warped but otherwise fine body with a very nice classical tone for $30, strings and all.  Couldn't be happier for the money, hoping for more great projects like this in the future!

 If anyone knows anything about the history or value of Juan Estruch guitars, I haven't found a whole lot online and I'm pretty curious about just what it is that I've found, so definitely let me know!


Later Juan Estruch Mods

8 comments :

  1. Any chance you can upload a video presenting the tone of this beautiful instrument?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAMMEB2az58

      I don't have the guitar around at the time to do a better recording, but even with the phone mic I used it gives an okay idea of the tone.

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete
  3. Great job on the guitar Matt. Looks like a keepe, but if you decide to sell let me know. PEACE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Yeah it's a keeper for me, but out of curiosity, what kind of value would you put on it? I have no idea what it'd go for, plus I'm a little biased with sentiment and all lol.

      Delete
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