1979 Michael Gee Classical Guitar
 

One of the very first guitars made by the now famous English luthier.

[NOTE re specs: see post #7 below - many of the specs given by the seller were incorrect].

https://i.imgur.com/up8hvfil.jpg

The top is, I think, Canadian cedar and the back and sides are book-matched East Indian rosewood:

https://i.imgur.com/OuM2he2l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/S3g6NgTl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EpM4CeXl.jpg

The top has some serious markings (at least, by classical guitar standards):

https://i.imgur.com/I8bdyM5l.jpg

The instrument has had some pretty serious use in its nearly 40-years existence. Those marks (above) look like nail-marks rather than pick / plectrum strokes (I've seen enough of those on old Gibson and Martin steel-strung flat-tops to know). Perhaps a budding flamenco-type is to blame?

I used plain water and a sponge to get a lot of the surface grime off of the guitar and then used the appropriate cleaning materials for the other component parts of the instrument: Virtuoso Premium Cleaner for the ebony fret-board, followed by a little lemon oil applied to the same.

The rest of the instrument was "restored" with a French Polish reviver. I had contacted Stafford Guitars here in the UK about what to use on the piece, and they very kindly (and without my requesting) contacted the maker(!) who advised that, since the finish would be a shellac one, a reviver fluid was the way to go. (Virtuoso is for nitro-cellulose finishes only). It's done the trick.

The bridge is a lovely piece of Indian rosewood - excuse the slightly untidy stringing, I haven't strung a nylon-string guitar in many years:

https://i.imgur.com/kaxou6ol.jpg

The neck was described by the seller as mahogany, but is very light in colour - this looks like cedar to me:

https://i.imgur.com/aUKqf2tl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4iA1KV9l.jpg

The nut (and the saddle) look (and feel) like plastic to me, rather than bone:

https://i.imgur.com/bqU3bJDl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4AliAb0l.jpg

The head-stock is beautifully carved and has a rosewood veneer:

https://i.imgur.com/f5aILXKl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PeJX393l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/j6ko5jml.jpg

I do not know the make of the machine-heads; they are not Rodgers (which Michael Gee has used on most of his guitars). The Rodgers company kindly confirmed this for me. But this is a 1979 piece and the Rodgers company had only opened for business in 1978.

https://i.imgur.com/Shmuigdl.jpg

The piece in its original fitted case:

https://i.imgur.com/uXZrDZgl.jpg

Scale-length 650mm; width at nut 52.4mm; width at 12th fret 52.7mm. To this Martin / Gibson player, the action feels high and the fret-board very wide - the usual gripes of the steel-string player! The guitar sounds nice - but I really have not played enough good classical guitars (if any!) to feel qualified to comment upon the tone. Sad, but true.

Finally, the one thing that puzzles me a little is why the maker, who inserted a dated label into the piece - as well as his name being stamped on the back bracing and end-block inside the guitar - didn't number it. Does anyone know why the number may have been omitted from the label? I am not a classical player, but I thought that all classical guitar luthiers numbered their creations. Or could this have been a prototype of some kind? Or is there another reason? Does anyone have any ideas?

Any comments / observations about any of the above are most welcome.

Very interesting guitar! But I can't find your asking price anywhere, which is required by forum rules.
-Bob

I believe he's asking for information/opinions about the guitar, not listing it for sale.

That's right, yes - it's not for sale, I've only just bought it and cleaned it up.

Comments / info / observations welcome.

A similar model, in similar condition, and from the same year, went on the market in 2015. Here is the link:

https://www.classicalguitardelcamp.c...ic.php?t=98059

Here is a similar model, same date, but advertised for sale over a year back:
https://reverb.com/item/4516015-mich...rc=aw.ds&pla=1

Looks like a real nice guitar but I'd say you have a spruce top there by the look of it. Cedar does exhibit medullary rays but usually not to that extent. I could be wrong but to me it looks like spruce.

In any case looks like a winner!

Who knows why there is no number in it but if he was known to put them in then it could be that he started doing that at a later date.

Well-spotted, redir!

Update / correction on materials - the builder has confirmed the following specs:

Top:
Sitka spruce
Neck:
Brazilian cedar
Back and sides:
Indian rosewood
Nut:
Ivory
Machine heads:
Gerb Van Gent
Bridge:
Brazilian rosewood
Finish:
Shellac spirit varnish.

That's great you got to talk to the builder. Sitka is an unusual choice for a classical guitar. It seems many makers think it's blasphemous to not use anything that didn't come from the Alps or the Carpathian mountains in Romania or Ukraine or something like that :D

But I've used Sitka myself on a classical guitar and it came out quite nice. Punchy and loud with good projection IIRC.

I like Sitka too, and am building a small stash of it.
Those early 80s Sitka John Gilberts sound good to me!

There are quite a number of Gee's guitars featured on YouTube, most of them recent and played by professional / semi-professional players.

This one is the most interesting, I think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K056yKtRROg

I just remembered that I heard a Sitka Michael Gee in the early 90s (?) at
the inaugural Stotsenberg Guitar Competition, played by the fine Swedish
musician Leif-Ake Wiklund. When he played in one of the early rounds
I was impressed by his sound, and got a chance to ask him about his
instrument and strings: A Sitka Gee and Hannabach trebles. Nice!

Adding: Simon Ambridge and David Daily have made some of Sitka, too, IIRC.