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Have two bottoms left to glue in the Old Gura batch I'm in the process.

Sticks in between with a regular repair of a Söderman tilt. Söderman is the only old guitar builder I know from the area of ​​Örnsköldsvik, he lived in Västerhus about 1 km outside the city between 1924 (the oldest I have seen) to the mid / late 1930s. In the picture I have of him you see violins and also guitars with a curvy body (one I would like to have!) In addition to the ones he is best known for, lute guitars with drop-shaped and large body. The latter are available in two variants, one with a short menstrual cycle of 59,5 cm with doubled G and e strings and tuning screws for mandolin in addition to the usual 6-string guitar variant with a longer menstrual cycle. The lutes were built with plywood at the bottom and side and a solid lid in spruce.

Gottfrid was a personality with some fun details in his instruments. Typically, they are hilly semi-circular and large gripping board daughters in mother of pearl, I think he bought a large stock of shirt buttons! 🙂 Often there are also carvings in the top of the head, loose sound hole decorations and sometimes decorations made of celluloid. The good Gottfrid was not accurate with its materials, the upper saddle can sometimes be in celluloid even though it was usually made of rosewood or ebony. The floating stable was made in soft and very dark red mahogany, on the variant with 8 strings, the pin between the duplicated strings is usually gone. Twigs are often in the throats and ribs. The straps are cheap in very soft brass and the tuning screws are not of the highest class. The neck is usually tight, the few ribs in the lid and the bottom as well. The gripping board was usually in walnut.

Despite the choice of material and plywood at the bottom and side, these sound very good for a guitar with floating stables. The body shape and the large volume of the box give it a great sound that sounds more than just string. Converted to solid stable and with lighter ribbing you get a guitar that fills the whole room with its volume and sound. The body shape makes it very uncomfortable to play, a guitar strap is required to hold it in the lap.

This Söderman from the mid-1930s had cracks in the lid, a partially loose bottom and celluloid strips that were brittle and weathered. The 8-string variant with short menstruation. Well played with worn bands and play pits at the top of the fretboard. Treated like most in Free Church contexts. Gottfrid was a religious person and his instruments had a good reputation in these circles, his instruments can be found all over Sweden even though they must be most common in my home areas.

For once, it became a regular repair, the purpose was to keep it intact but make it playable. The ribs are simple, three sturdy ribs in the lid and two in the bottom. Three cracks were glued with team strips and a cracked rib at the bottom (with twig!) Was also glued.

Gottfrid was careful to label his instruments, he knew how to advertise. There are usually stamps inside both the neck block and the bottom. Sometimes also a year in pencil. In one instrument, there were even a small religious poem written in pencil.

The necklace on this one was beveled against the lid. The idea is to give the lid more leeway, but not so successful on a guitar with floating stables as the lid becomes weaker where the force from the string holder rests.

My bottom jig doesn't work very well on the tilt shape, a temporary forced jig was used. Some things can be difficult to force when all surfaces are leaning on the tilt!

This is how it became when it was finished. The stable was updated with a new brass band and small repairs in rosewood at the double strings. The neck had some REAL twigs! 🙂

Recorded one of my old songs in the style that was probably played on this one. Download the lyrics and sing along in the chorus 🙂

sadly, PDF text

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