1800s? PARLOR GUITAR.... REVIVAL!

[sunbgroove]

Originally Posted by rjwiggall

Awesome awesome awesome restoration!


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Thank you! I can't put it down! So much fun to noodle around, learn Civil War era songs etc. BTW, the piece I was playing in the audio clip was from the 1700s. I don't know the name of it, but it was a song my mom used to play for me when I was very young..

[Truckjohn]

I think the trouble you may have is that when this was built - guitar making was largely a one man shop affair.. Especially in Europe - where the guilds tightly controlled this sort of stuff until after WWII.. And most of those fellows only turned out 100 or 200 instruments in their entire life.

The fact that it's painted knife cut birch points towards a "budget" instrument that isn't really ancient. The ice cream cone heel points towards likely European origin... unfortunately, the paper label is long gone. I would guess pre-1930... But that's about as good as my guessing gets.

Thanks for showing us the restoration. It is really great! I love it.

[sunbgroove]

Originally Posted by Truckjohn

I think the trouble you may have is that when this was built - guitar making was largely a one man shop affair.. Especially in Europe - where the guilds tightly controlled this sort of stuff until after WWII.. And most of those fellows only turned out 100 or 200 instruments in their entire life.

Thanks, John! My initial searches did lead to a few questions that I believed had answers reflecting a possible date build range ..... When did manufacturers stop producing guitars with ice cream cone heel necks (I see Martins with modern neck heels in the 1870s on), and when did they stop using riveted (not screwed) reverse gear tuners?... Realizing that my own research was not fully provable, I quickly put dating this guitar aside and got busy restoring it. :-)

You might be interested to know that I do NOT believe the back and sides are Birch! My previous woodworking hobby was building and flying LARGE 1/4 scale radio control airplanes where birch was often used. The wood in this guitar did not sand, or look at all like birch. It did sand, and look (and smelled, I think) like walnut! My luthier friend, Jack agreed. Hows that for adding to the confusion!?

The best news is how well it plays! Super low action and the neck FLYS!! So much fun. I had a hunch it was a good player in its day due to the extensive play wear. I hope to add even more wear and pass it along to my kids someday.

[YamaYairi]

Nice work on this old guitar! It has a surprising amount of bass!

[sunbgroove]

Thank you, Warren. Yes, I was a bit surprised by that as well!

[roylor4]

Beautiful restoration and sounds great too.

[sunbgroove]

Originally Posted by roylor4

Beautiful restoration and sounds great too.

Thank you, Roy!

[Tony Burns]

Their were so many guitar builders and companies that made low cost guitars
from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's it would make your head spin .
Buy a reprint Sears and Roebuck catalog from the early 1900's -for example .
The Ice Cream cone neck was very common as well . Martin was only one company that used that . i have a instrument from around that same time era ,
made of BRW -ladder braced , but its head was broken off and a v was cut for
a repair that was never made -cant toss it , becasue the Back and sides are gorgeous BRW -
But it probably will never be a guitar again.

[sunbgroove]

Your guitar sounds fixable, Tony! I hope you never decide to toss it