1890s Joseph Bohmann Fancy 0-Size Parlor Guitar
When it rains it pours, right? This is Bohmann number two just this week -- and like its sister guitar, the light build and double-x-braced top give this instrument a voice several times larger than its body would suggest. When these old Bohmann guitars are in good order, I think they easily give '20s and early '30s Martins of a similar size fair competition while also having the more-present mids and a plainspoken voice that Gibson flattop fans will love.
Unlike most period guitars fit for steel strings, because of that double-x (one X intersecting "above" the bridge and one X "below" making a diamond around the bridge plate) design, these make great flatpickers as well as great fingerpickers. A lot of guitars from this period fall down on the flatpicking side of the equation, but because of the quirky bracing, these simply don't. Also because of that bracing, their tops are a lot more stable than your average Martin or Gibson design with their non-rigid tonebars below the main X. These don't "dome up" or "belly-up" near as much and so the top, per the same weight of bracing compared to "normal" X-bracing, is more efficient.
Blathering aside, this guitar initially arrived for fix-and-send-home, but the owner moved towards bigger guitars in the meantime and now it's here for sale. This one is pretty much a standard 12-fret 0-size guitar, with a 13 1/4" lower bout and 25" scale length. It has a dark-stained solid spruce top and solid Brazilian rosewood back and sides. Unlike a lot of Bohmann instruments, the fretboard seems to be actual rosewood and has held-up better than normal.
One interesting note is that because this has its original bridge, it also had an improperly-placed original fret saddle on it when it came in. I changed that to 6 individual mini-screws as saddles. Normally I would just cut a new slot and install a bone saddle in the bridge, but the thin front edge of the bridge meant I had to improvise instead as a typical saddle-slot would've destroyed it. I've used this 6-saddle setup before on other old guitars with limited saddle area, and it always works well -- and is height-adjustable to taste (just rotate the screw slot up/down half a turn at a time).
Repairs included: a fret level/dress, side dots install, modification of the bridge to screw-saddles (replacing an improperly-located original fret saddle), minor brace and seam repairs, cleaning, and a good setup. It had old repairs in its past -- presumably a neck reset, then a fill of the headstock rear and retouching of the finish to conceal that (these originally had patent set-in tuners), replacement Grover 18:1 Sta-Tite tuners install, and an old bridge reglue.
Setup notes: it plays bang-on with 3/32" bass and 1/16" treble action at the 12th fret. The neck is essentially straight but does add ~1/64" relief tuned to pitch. This is basically nothing, but I like to be thorough. Strings are gauged 46w-10 (extra light) and they should stay that or a hair lighter, but no heavier -- these are lightly-built guitars.
Condition notes: replacement tuners and filled tuner channels in headstock, replacement saddles, removed "side-angle-pins" in bridge (and holes filled), non-original (but antique) endpin, bridge discolored in center from old wear-and-tear to its dye/stain, typical wear and tear to the fretboard with some shallower divots from playing in first position, average wear and tear to the finish (fine weather-checking/finish crackle here and there, plenty of small scratches all over), replacement nut. As far as I can tell, there are no cracks, but the open-pore finish on the back does show plenty of grain lines.
It comes with: a '60s-era chip case in decent condition.
Unlike most period guitars fit for steel strings, because of that double-x (one X intersecting "above" the bridge and one X "below" making a diamond around the bridge plate) design, these make great flatpickers as well as great fingerpickers. A lot of guitars from this period fall down on the flatpicking side of the equation, but because of the quirky bracing, these simply don't. Also because of that bracing, their tops are a lot more stable than your average Martin or Gibson design with their non-rigid tonebars below the main X. These don't "dome up" or "belly-up" near as much and so the top, per the same weight of bracing compared to "normal" X-bracing, is more efficient.
Blathering aside, this guitar initially arrived for fix-and-send-home, but the owner moved towards bigger guitars in the meantime and now it's here for sale. This one is pretty much a standard 12-fret 0-size guitar, with a 13 1/4" lower bout and 25" scale length. It has a dark-stained solid spruce top and solid Brazilian rosewood back and sides. Unlike a lot of Bohmann instruments, the fretboard seems to be actual rosewood and has held-up better than normal.
One interesting note is that because this has its original bridge, it also had an improperly-placed original fret saddle on it when it came in. I changed that to 6 individual mini-screws as saddles. Normally I would just cut a new slot and install a bone saddle in the bridge, but the thin front edge of the bridge meant I had to improvise instead as a typical saddle-slot would've destroyed it. I've used this 6-saddle setup before on other old guitars with limited saddle area, and it always works well -- and is height-adjustable to taste (just rotate the screw slot up/down half a turn at a time).
Repairs included: a fret level/dress, side dots install, modification of the bridge to screw-saddles (replacing an improperly-located original fret saddle), minor brace and seam repairs, cleaning, and a good setup. It had old repairs in its past -- presumably a neck reset, then a fill of the headstock rear and retouching of the finish to conceal that (these originally had patent set-in tuners), replacement Grover 18:1 Sta-Tite tuners install, and an old bridge reglue.
Setup notes: it plays bang-on with 3/32" bass and 1/16" treble action at the 12th fret. The neck is essentially straight but does add ~1/64" relief tuned to pitch. This is basically nothing, but I like to be thorough. Strings are gauged 46w-10 (extra light) and they should stay that or a hair lighter, but no heavier -- these are lightly-built guitars.
Scale length: 25"
Nut width: 1 13/16"
String spacing at nut: 1 9/16"
String spacing at bridge: 2 5/16"
Body length: 18 7/8"
Lower bout width: 13 1/4"
Waist width: 8"
Upper bout width: 9 7/8"
Side depth at endpin: 3 7/8"
Top wood: solid spruce
Back/sides wood: solid Brazilian rosewood
Neck wood: mahogany
Bracing type: double-x
Fretboard: rosewood? w/synthetic replacement nut
Bridge: ebonized maple (worn) w/6 individual screw saddles
Neck feel: medium C-shape, ~7" or so board radius, small+low frets
Condition notes: replacement tuners and filled tuner channels in headstock, replacement saddles, removed "side-angle-pins" in bridge (and holes filled), non-original (but antique) endpin, bridge discolored in center from old wear-and-tear to its dye/stain, typical wear and tear to the fretboard with some shallower divots from playing in first position, average wear and tear to the finish (fine weather-checking/finish crackle here and there, plenty of small scratches all over), replacement nut. As far as I can tell, there are no cracks, but the open-pore finish on the back does show plenty of grain lines.
It comes with: a '60s-era chip case in decent condition.
Comments