c.1900 Lyon & Healy Catalog Parlor Guitar

This is an unmarked (but very definitely) Lyon & Healy-built parlor guitar c.1900 or so. Guitars of this type with tailpiece and floating bridge were very popular at the time and you can see many along the same lines in old Sears and other mail-order catalogs from the period. This one is extra-nice, however, in that it has beautiful binding, purfling, and a nice rosette. MOP dots grace the rosewood fretboard and the guitar features a solid spruce top and solid cherry back, neck, and sides.

The finish has held up well -- and aged nicely! Look at that lovely warm color! I've done several repairs to this guitar: two top cracks, some brace regluing, recut of the bridge, and general cleaning, finish resto, polishing of hardware and frets, and a thorough setup.

Originally this fretboard was entirely covered with glued-on markers labelling each note of each string on each fret. It took a good deal of time and careful work to remove them, the glue, and restore color and luster to the board. Luckily, the frets are all good to go after polishing, and due to the use of the stickers, the fretboard is practically untouched even after who-knows-how-many hours of play.

Headstock with original ebony nut.

Gorgeous detail, no? I love the rope-y red/yellow/black rosette.

This is the original rosewood bridge and original tailpiece. I've recut this bridge down to improve the action and set it at an angle to correct intonation. Plays very nicely now with a good, full, and perfect-for-fingerpicking sound. The best part about cutting into rosewood is that it smells like vanilla (makes me hungry!).

More detail.

The reddish glow of the cherry is very evident (and more accurate) in this photo. It really is lovely to look at, with a nice grain.

The tuners are replacements, probably from c.1930. The original plates would have been brass rectangular types probably with ivoroid buttons. These function perfectly, however, and have had their shafts polished and gears polished up to work smoothly.

Grain.

Back of the headstock.

Back of the neck. Nice thick but very playable v-shape profile.

Neck join -- going nowhere! Notice how the finish is still in very good, thin, original shape.

More grain.

Back. Very elegant proportions (of concert size).

And lovely wood choice, too!

Nice inlaid back-strip. The heel was evidently repaired long ago and the crack in it is only on this side. Rosewood heel cap.

Overview.

Overview, too.

Upsy-daisy!

And here you can see the biggest repair on the guitar: a top crack that extends from the tailpiece up to under the soundhole (but not quite to it). I filled this in and braced it up in the back. I also reglued the braces under it just in case. It's not noticable unless caught in the right light (such as this, here) and doesn't effect the sound at all. In fact, this is one of the best guitars of this type that I've had the pleasure to play.