GG137 European circa 1900

Next in the batch to be finished was No. 49 from the waiting room. Bought it by a German collector a few years ago. A nice little older copy of the usual curvy European parlor guitars, most like this one built in Germany. Data from the waiting room:

  • Total length: 93 cm
  • Lid: 24 - 18 - 31 cm
  • Side: 7,5 - 8 - 8 cm
  • Neck: V
  • Upper saddle: 42 mm
  • 12th band: 55 mm
  • Mens: 63,5 cm
  • Varnish: Alcohol
  • Weight: 936 grams

This one had a narrow grip board, just 42 mm at the upper saddle. In addition, it had a knitting hole in the lattice at the bottom of the base, which is also not common. The stable, which was originally a mustach stall, had been replaced about 1940-1950 into a killer rectangular stable. A new pyramid stall was manufactured, a mustach stall would not cover the wound from the modern stable. The bottom and side also had mysterious scratches as if someone had planned to cut a bottom strip, which fortunately was not very visible. The tuning screws were in decent condition, but were nevertheless changed to new and better. The gripping board was sown at the 12th band, which was often done earlier when you put your neck around. It was replaced with a new board in Madagascar rosewood.

The beautiful rosette in mother of pearl I have seen on several other similar instruments. They were made separately and purchased for assembly of various builders and factories. Violin maple in the bottom and side and alp spruce in the lid, the modern stable in light rosewood. Maybe the grip board in rosewood was also replaced and originally in black lacquered maple.

The varnish was of the brittle kind which was easily crushed to white powder in dings. The varnish under the stable on the lid was a bit discolored, maybe damp. Added an extra layer of spirits to keep the paint better, but there is a risk that future bumps will leave a white mark. The alternative to new varnish on top of the old one is to dissolve all the old varnish, but then you lose too much of the charm.

It got a K&K mic mounted and all the specials on an GammelGura. The upper saddle intonation had large variations at the upper saddle and also on the stable leg, which had to be unusually thick, 5 mm, to reach all intonation points. Each guitar is unique in terms of intonation.

My new jig to avoid using a string holder when measuring gives measurements that I can trust. I no longer need to correct either the upper saddle or the stable legs afterwards to get it right. The telejack in my old Peterson StroboFlip tuner gave up, bought a new modern StoboPlus HD as a replacement. Works well, but is annoyingly slow sometimes as the string signal must be buffered initially a few seconds before you can tune. The old man was more nervous and more direct. Strongly considering buying a mechanical stroboscope tuner that responds with the speed of light… costs a lot though.

The bolts of the tuning screws received bushings in metal, have found a good method for mounting the bushings with, among other things, 7.1 mm drills and a specially drilled jig from Stewmac.

The thickness was the right on both the lid and the bottom, the bottom has a nice bend both longitudinally and across. The lid had some cracks that were sealed with knitting needles in spruce. This one had the grip board in the neck, which means that the strings touch the head on the way to the upper saddle which only protrudes a few mm and which is recessed in a ditch much like a stable leg. Don't really know why you did it, but that detail is only found on older European parlor guitars, perhaps made in a local tradition

It got birch plugs on the E string, pine plugs on the A string and the rest fir plugs. This combination works well, you get a clearer and more powerful bass, but also a soft and not overly aggressive tone from the other strings.

Adjusted it up to 2.5mm / 1.5mm at the 12th strap, but added a 0.3mm carbon fiber under the stable leg for 0.15mm higher action at 12th when the buyer uses finger play. The strings as usual Newtone Heritage 0.12.

Sounds very good! High volume and the clarity I am used to now with plugs between the string ball and the stall's underside. Another one in the line of very good Old Gura 🙂

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