1880s Merida Spruce/Rosewood Parlor Guitar

When I first talked to the owner about this guitar I thought it might be Chicago-made, but after inspecting it more I think it's more of a Boston-school instrument. It has some very Bay State-like features but I can't pin it on Haynes/Bay State as the neck joint is, in fact, dovetailed rather than tenon and the body shape is not like anything they built.

Inside, the bracing is very much like Haynes work and the neck shape, rosewood fretboard with steep radius, and bridge design are also close to that manufacturer's style. It has a Spanish cedar neck, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, and spruce top and is ladder-braced.

I think this one dates from around 1880-1885 judging by the features and it is mostly-original but has replacement (1910s) bridge pins and half of the tuners (with similar baseplates, mind you) are replacements from my bins as well.

This was built for gut strings when new and that's how I've set it up (classical strings) now that it's done. It has a clean, easy, midsy, mellow, folky sound and a comfortable, fairly modern feel to the neck aside from the V shape. It's a tiny guitar with a short scale length and small proportions (under 12" on the lower bout).

Work included a neck reset, minor hairline crack repairs to the top, a fret level/dress, tuner swap-ins, side dots, a ne wbone nut, and setup work. I was able to reset the neck with enough precision so the original fret saddle worked to keep action at a spot-on 3/32" at the 12th fret.