c.1905 Unmarked Oak Parlor Guitar

Here's one of the first breed of truly steel-strung guitars. Tailpiece-style flat tops like these started to be produced at the very end of the 1800s and have been built pretty much right on into these times. This one, however, surely kicks the pants off of any 1940s+ guitar modeled on this style. It has an unreadable label inside but I'll bet if we could read it, we'd find out that it was a distributor's label. This guitar was probably made by Lyon & Healy or another Chicago firm. I lean towards L&H because I've seen a lot of their old guitars with oak back and sides... and this one has oak back and sides, too, and fits many of the descriptions of old L&H catalogs for Lakeside, American Conservatory... L&H in-house brands.

Simple long, slotted headstock with original brass-plate tuners with bakelite buttons.

Fretboard is rosewood and was originally covered with a heck of a lot of learner's labels which were glued to it. Apparently someone was using this as a Hawaiian guitar at one point, too, because the frets had been filed down... which necessitated replacing the first 12 frets. The last ones were "good enough" to go. While replacing the frets I simply planed the board and polished it all back up... which gives it a very "new guitar" feel. MOP dots.

Nice rounded body.

Simple inlaid rosette. Top and back are bound in white celluloid, too. The spruce on the top has a lot of cool figure in it, especially on the lower bout. I believe it's called "flower" figure...?

Original rosewood bridge was reusable after some cutting. Did I mention I had to reset the neck on this guy, too?

Back of the guitar...


Headstock rear.

Cool V-shaped neck profile gives this guitar strength and a cozy neck, despite its bulk.

The back is one piece of solid oak, which looks really cool. I like oak on these old guitars... imparts a super-sustained, direct, and rich tone... which this thing has in spades. It's also incredibly loud and snappy... perfect for blues or gypsy-jazz. I'd love to hear it in the hands of a fiery Django-esque player.

Nice little inliad-ebony end-block strip.

...


Side.

...lots of nice oak. And no cracks in this guitar whatsoever...! I can say that so rarely...

...

...overall, a killer player's guitar. Easy to play, easy to be heard, and fun, too. It's definitely got a tone of its own, and in a folk setting I think this guitar would sound best played fingerstyle with or without picks. Flatpicking in a folk setting on this guitar is almost too bombastic. This thing "shreds" as the kids say.