A very important detail for the best sound in an GammelGura is to make sure that both the lid and the bottom have the right thickness. Levin parlor guitars in particular usually have too thick lids and bottoms. The lid can sometimes be 4 mm thick, the bottom is typically 3,5 mm but can be 4 mm as well. European and…
After disassembling all the objects in the current batch, the next step is to fix all the bugs and cracks. Unusually many in this batch are in need of creative repair. Here are some examples. The guitar with the decoration in the sound hole needed several rounds of gluing. The edging needed to be glued to the end block and the entire lower part of the lid…
It happens that I buy old interesting guitar wrecks from customers who come by the premises. It can be one of two and the other will be an GammelGura. On one of those occasions, it was a simple Levin school mandolin that was bought for a cheap penny - actually got it for free. It had its problems…
The best I know is an old guitar that has not been repaired before. Then you can be sure that it is assembled as expected and with sensible glue and varnish. Old repairs are seldom done correctly and sometimes in unexpected ways. Some classics are that carpenter glue was used to repair cracks or…
Today I got to see something I have never seen before, a Levin parlor with oak in the side and bottom! It was from 1910 with the beautiful serial number 12222. Did not even know that there were such! Maybe can be a project for the future. There is a Model 22 with American oak (included in the 1907 catalog), but…
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I should always have a ready-made GammelGura for sale, but for the most part the ones I get ready are already ordered. This Levinen from 1927 has no buyers yet and is currently being tested at Östmans Musik in Örnsköldsvik. It was a misunderstanding when I started up the last batch, it was a different guitar…
Check out this video made by Andreas Brink, the man behind the TV documentary about Levin. A very good showcase for an GammelGura. This was made a couple of years ago before I came up with this with plugs, but it has an early segmented stable leg, the oversaddle intonation and a stable plate in spruce. It's a little more…
Still have some laggards in the previous batch, mostly those that have not been sold yet. But I went through my queue this weekend and five guitars in turn are in the room and will start working on. As always, it's a mixed bag of Levin and European parlor guitars. Some in good condition and others…
