Guitars

Here are instruments photos and videos from past restoration projects "gallery only" , for instruments available for sale please see page "Instruments for Sale"

Old German Lute Guitar

Not quite a Lute Guitar and not quite a Wappen Guitar so Wappen-Lute-Guitar then? No label is present therefore it is not possible to establish when or by whom it was made, possibly it is a bit younger than typical Lute Guitars made in 1920-1940's. It has deeper dome-shape body rather than round ribs which provides much more bassy tone. Scale length of 640mm and neck dimensions are closer in size to a standard Classical Guitar but with headstock that was often used on German Lute Guitars and Mandolins.

Condition of guitar was very good with no cracks or wear to soundboard, finish was also intact however it has been replaced throughout with french-polish as it did look plasticy and made the instrument look unattractive. The body has been lightly stained to pull out rich figure and with french-polish it now looks way more attractive than before. Other repair involved glueing splits between ribs, re-levelling fretboard and complete re-fret. Original tuners only required a good clean and work finely as they should. Nut and saddle have been replaced with new ones made of bone. Action is set very low with 3.2mm on treble side and 3.5mm on bass side at 12th fret therefore very comfortable to play. Guitar is fitted with D'Addario EJ31 Hard tension strings which sound better over low tension set initially fitted and also helped eliminate any buzzing that low tension was causing (due to much tougher construction of guitar and it being younger, a heavier tension would not over strain the instrument).

Instruments measurements are as follows:

- total length 104cm

body width 33.5cm
body length 52.5cm

- body depth 13cm

- from nut to 12th fret 320mm (total scale length 640mm)

- Neck width at nut is 49mm, at 12th fret 59.3mm

More detailed photos can be provided upon request

Antique German Lute-Guitar

Antique German Lute Style Guitar restored to fully playable condition. Make or date is unknown but likely to be around 1920's-30's.

The back is made of 11 maple ribs, soundboard is book matched spruce with beautifully carved sound hole, one piece neck and carved head. All body finished with oil varnish enhancing natural wood – old finish was in poor state and had to be completely stripped.

Guitar has scalloped rosewood fretboard inlaid with mother of pearl, completely re-fretted with flat brass bar fret wire. It has 8 brass and 5 mahogany frets (13 in total)

As original tuners were missing a new custom made tuners had to be fitted.

New ebony bridge pins and ebony end pin had been fitted as well as new cattle bone nut has been made.

Measurements are as follows:

- total length 96.2cm

- width 31.3cm

- scale length 61.7cm

- Neck width at nut 46.50mm, at 8th fret 53.37mm

German Lute-Guitar

Antique German Lute Style Guitar restored to fully playable condition. Make or date is unknown again but likely to be around 1920's-30's. Original soundhole decoration was missing and replaced with custom made "customer request" design.

As usual the woods used are Maple (Neck, Back, Bridge), Spruce Soundboard with Rosewood binding and Rosewood Fingerboard.

Antique German Terz Guitar

Gut Klang

An old Terz Guitar made in Germany around 1910-20's under the brand Gut Klang. Terz guitars aren't very popular these days and can easily be mistaken by a children's guitar due to it's small size. Total length of this guitar is 87cm with scale length of 542mm, it is tuned to GCFA#DG so a third higher above standard guitar tuning. With smaller body goes more trebly tone which at first sounds a bit odd but once played a little you begin to appreciate different tonal qualities which sound great when playing music written by Classical Guitar composers of 18th & 19th century.

Guitar has two cracks to soundboard which have been previously repaired, the back had one full split and loose strutting therefore required removal to glue all parts back together properly. Finish was quite worn out and unattractive therefore stripped completely and refinished using antique oil (quick drying). Neck and frets were in good order only requiring a clean up, fret re-levelling and crowning. Some tuner buttons were missing so all replaced with new ones made of rosewood. Action is set to 3.2mm on treble side and 3.5 on bass side above 12th fret therefore easy to play.

Guitar is fitted with a low tension strings set – Aquila Ambra 800 82c

Instruments measurements are as follows:

- total length 87cm, body width 28.3cm, body length 41.7cm, body depth 7.1cm

- from 0 fret to 12th fret 271mm (total scale length 542mm)

- Neck width at nut is 42mm, at 12th fret 50.3mm

Parlour Guitar

Musilhaus Fr.Dolge, Annaberg, Germany

Antique German Parlour Guitar from around 1920's, bought in Germany for restoration, luckily body was in very healthy condition and had no cracks. Bridge was coming off and had to be reglued, here I decided to position it as for nylon strings so top of the bridge had to be brought forward a bit to keep perfect intonation. Back and side have been refinished with French polish and table with Tru oil.