1890s Washburn Parlor Guitar

Overview: This is a nice, early Washburn-branded instrument. At the time, Lyon & Healy (the brand's parent company) was mostly buying instruments made by Regal for the line and, eventually, they would buy Regal and move the firm to Chicago. I'm pretty sure this is a Regal-made Washburn as it has a variety of features that are shared by contemporary Regals. It's a nicely-made instrument, with good wood, a clean build, and a warm, rich, mellow sound. These were intended for gut strings when made and we have set it up for classical strings (nylon) which are the modern equivalent.

Interesting features: It has nice Brazilian rosewood used in the back and sides and simple, spare appointments. The spruce top doesn't even have any binding but it does have a 3-ring rosette and the back has a simple backstrip. Everything is original to the guitar save one replacement tuner, the saddle, and the pins. If what you're after is a small, couch-potato guitar with a nice, warm, small-box classical voice -- this is it!

Repairs included: Previously, someone gave it a neck reset, bridge reglue, and a vague form of setup. This someone also cleated cracks on the top and repaired some side cracks and buffed or topcoated the body finish to get it cleaner. Over here we leveled/dressed the frets (Max did that) and then I filled the saddle slot and pinholes and repositioned all of them to correct misplacement of the bridge from the factory. I then fit a new saddle and set it all up. It's playing spot-on and is ready to go.

• Weight: 2 lbs 14 oz
• Scale length: 24 1/4"
• Nut width: 1 13/16"
• Neck shape: medium V
• Board radius: 14"
• Body width: 12 1/2"
• Body depth: 4 1/4"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid Brazilian rosewood
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: ebony
• Fretboard: ebony
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass to hair-below 3/32" treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: medium tension classical
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: lower/smaller

Condition notes: It's in overall good shape. There are a couple of repaired top cracks. The body finish has been topcoated with French polish or buffed-out at some point but it has its original-style luster and it has not been refinished -- just cleaned-up. There are a couple of smaller repaired side cracks, too. Someone overset the neck angle a bit at some point and shimmed-up the original bridge with an ebony shim on the bottom. It had been strung with steel for a time but we've set it up with nylon (which is the modern equivalent of the gut strings this would have been strung with in the 1890s). While the bridge shaping is original, we filled the saddle slot and pinholes and recut the saddle slot in its correct placement and moved the bridge pin holes towards the rear of the bridge to suit. One tuner is a (period) replacement that someone spliced-in! There's mild wear and tear throughout the finish but overall it looks great.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: KVCR