Just repaired: Granström & Sundquist

Got in a rather ugly, but nice nylon guitar made in Umeå in the 50's. A Granström & Sundquist with solid wood four-part spruce lid and walnut plywood at the bottom and side. Walnut in the fretboard and the Bo Wretling inspired paddle shape on the head. "Slope shoulders" built into the body shape. As wide as a jumbo guitar in the widest place (hard to find a case that fits!). Some finished pictures:

     

The tuning screws were actually intended for a flat head and steel strings, but anything goes! It was not an easy repair. The stable had to be re-glued and it was no problem, the big mistake was the extremely minimal "end block" in the form of a small piece of wood pushed in by the end plug (what a surprise!). To get to the bottom, it was just a matter of picking loose the bottom - no easy thing as the strip around the bottom was brittle in several thin layers and could not stand to crack open, had to saw loose the misery…

  

Fitted a heavier but still thin plywood bottom block and a K&K with four sensors. Typical fan bracing of not too impressive cuts. Gluing back the bottom became even more difficult as the outermost rosewood layer in the strip was only 0.6 mm. Had to mill around and bend in a thicker rosewood strip around. Two side daughters were replaced with mother of pearl, the ribbons were crowned. In any case, it had a large tone with a solid bass, a very good nylon sound 🙂

19 Comments

  1. Fantastic fun to read and see.
    Very nice work!
    I am working on documentation of G & S's production and you always get to see surprises. Be absolutely sure that all guitars of this early model were called Type A, but so early in the production, Type B had apparently not got its own body shape than the one it then got. The difference seems to be in the earliest models in material selection. However, have seen a similar one with walnut veneer at the bottom and sides that were claimed to be a Type B and it had a sound hole decoration. I have a picture.
    However, this model is very early and is certainly manufactured in 1952.
    It began with serial number 100 in 1951.
    I have a lot more info - so get in touch if you want to know more!

    • Wait Per,

      You seem to know a lot about these guitars. I have a guitar with sound hole decoration from granström & sundqvist. Model (or type as they wrote) appears to be G. no: 1855.

      Please email me if you know anything about it, and I can send back some pictures 🙂 It was much appreciated!

    • Hi
      I bought a G&S no-12 that has steel-stranded tuning shoes but one that can be seen in a nylon stable. Do you know anything about this model and Thursday I use 0.10 steel strings on it without damaging the health.

      • Am not an expert on these guitars, have come across a few pieces. Without a picture, I can not say much. Steel strings always pull more than nylon strings, about 40 kg for nylon and about 60 kg for ordinary 0.10 sets of steel strings. You can test, but it probably works best for nylon as G&S is usually light construction. Intonation poor with steel strings on a guitar intended for nylon. If you notice that the guitar feels strained or that you see tendencies that the lid wants to rise with 0.10 strings, you should switch to other low tension strings. A set of Newtone Heritage 0.10 pulls 40 kg (0.11 sets 51 kg, 0.12 sets 59 kg) and would be a good alternative.

  2. Thanks for the comment, very interesting! The guitar is not mine, but it is in Örnsköldsvik. Purchased on a flea ice cream for a cheap sum by the owner, already then with a cracked end block and half-glued stable. When you get used to the look it is actually not as huge as I first thought. Sounds good too. I'll tell the owner, he may hear from him.

  3. Hi
    I have been gifted with a G&S guitar that my father bought new probably in the 60's. Unfortunately, it has a couple of cracks and small scratches. Would love to repair it after which it will go. Practitioner for the next generation where there is a good guitarist.
    And then I wonder if anyone knows who can take on a renovation job and who is professional.

  4. Hello, has a married grandfather who is the son of Ture Sundquist himself. Has some of his later works and earlier around the family. Fun to see people interested in these guitars! Teach me to play a guitar he made for me many years ago now.

  5. Hello, sorry for writing in English but I've just started learning Swedish. I bought a G&S guitar online and I wanted to learn more about them, mine is type C. Since I could not find any info about this type, I hope someone here knows about them. Thank you so much

    • G&S stands for "Thure Granström and Henning Sundquist". They were building guitars in Umeå. Here is a Google translation of an epitaph when Thure died in 2016:

      -
      A good guitar builder has passed away. Thure Sundquist.

      On 12/2 Thure Sundquist passed away.

      Thure is probably best known as one “half” of the guitar builders Granström & Sundquist. He turned 93 years old.

      Here is some information for those who are interested. Fact errors can occur as most things are based on information from newspaper articles
      and my conversations with Thure and Hille (Hildegard). I have also had contact with Henning's son, Leif Granström.
      I hope no one takes this little text badly in memory of Thure and his guitar-building work.

      During his time as an active guitar builder, he built thousands of fine instruments.
      During the late 1940s, Thure began learning to build guitars by Bo Wretling in Umeå.
      Henning Granström had started with Bo Wretling a couple of years before Thure.

      In 1949, Wretling moved its production to Stockholm. Thure and Henning and their families came along to build guitars.
      In 1951, Thure and Henning got fed up with Stockholm life and decided to move back to Umeå and start their own.

      Between 1951 and 1975, guitars were built under the name Granström & Sundquist on the outskirts of Umeå (Västerhiske)
      Very fine instruments that have been appreciated and appreciated by many.
      Thure's wife Hille and Henning's wife Märta helped in the production with eg polishing of details.
      The most common and most famous are model F-nylon and the slightly finer concert guitar Daniel.
      Several models were built in different price ranges.

      Some model names:

      Model A, B, C, F-steel, F-nylon, G-steel, G-nylon, G-12-string, La Amiga, Daniel, Conchita, Luthier who changed their name to Diego.
      A series was built for the Salvation Army which was sold under the name Jubal.
      A series was made for their agent Hugo Goldschmidt called the Goldy guitar and it was available in several variants.
      Many more models are certainly available as this was handcrafted manufacturing and ex. decorations differ within the same series.

      Some model names have their own history:

      Daniel - A full-size concert guitar named after Dan Greholm. A famous flamenco guitarist with roots in northern Sweden with whom G&S collaborated a lot.
      Daniel was Dan's artist name in Spain where he lived for periods with Romans or Gypsies as they were then called to learn more about flamenco.
      There is a film from 1962 that Dan made that you can find online where you can follow some families in Dan's search for flamenco roots.
      A link to the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QicMea8QKEQ
      In addition to learning a lot about flamenco, he also got TBC for free, so to speak… Dan toured in Sweden and gave lectures on the subject.

      Conchita - During Dan Grenholm's travels and in several articles a girl is mentioned - later a woman named Conchita.
      She is in the film and it is my theory that Dan suggested this name for one of the more expensive concert guitars with solid mahogany in the sides and back.
      A rather unusual model.

      La Amiga - Is a smaller version of the concert guitar Daniel. Identical specifications but with a slightly smaller body and shorter menstruation.
      Means about little friend (feminine) in Spanish.

      Diego - Be their finest full-size model. Only the finest spruce lids and solid Brazilian rosewood (Rio Jakaranda) in the sides and back.
      The model was first named Luthier but was later named Diego after a famous flamenco guitarist named Diego Blanco.

      Sometime around 1974, Thure bought a home in Jormvattnet in Jämtland and decided to move there.
      It was the beginning of the end of their joint guitar production and Thure and his family moved in 1975.
      From what I understand, there was nothing untold between them behind the move. Thure simply wanted to try something new.

      Together, well over 10,000 instruments had been built.

      After 1975, the two guitar builders continued to build instruments separately to a slightly more limited extent.
      Thure called his instruments “Sundquist Gitarren” and Henning called his company Granström's guitar workshop.

      Both continued with the models previously manufactured together. Not all, but the most popular.
      There are thus, among others, F-Nylon, Daniel and Diego which are manufactured by both Granström and Sundquist.

      Many famous artists have played and are playing their instruments. Ex: Bo Kasper, Povel Ramel, Myrra, Jejja Sundström, Stefan Demert, Dan Grenholm, Diego Blanco and others.

      About 1995 and a thousand Sundquist guitars later, Thure moved north again to Västanbyn south of Lövånger.
      He built a small workshop where he could continue to build guitars on a hobby basis in the autumn of his age.

      In 2011, I visited Thure and his wife Hille a couple of times.
      It was very interesting and we talked for a long time about their guitar building career.
      I appreciated their hospitality and I return many times in mind to our conversations.
      Thure had then had an impaired vision which made it difficult for him to complete the last guitars he was working on.
      But there was nothing wrong with the memory!

      Rest in peace Thure!
      Per Granlöf - Robertsfors
      -

  6. Very nice and valuable history. After my brother Dag who passed away in 2021, we have the guitar he appreciated the most, a Granström & Sundqvist guitar that he bought in 1970 at Hagströms in Umeå, where he studied cultural geography. According to the receipt from Hagströms, the model is Consul Special Luthier No 40102 and he paid SEK 2.222. Dag said that it was only in 2 copies. Lots of money then, I think he got his legacy from Grandpa in that crank.
    So when I read your text, can it be a model variant of Diego?
    Dag kept his instruments in perfect condition and played daily. A repair was made according to another receipt in 2000 with a gluing of the cracked bottom and varnish improvement. The guitar is brilliantly nice and the back is so beautiful (jacaranda?).
    If it's a Diego, where can you get it valued?
    Currently it is in Stockholm with my daughter. I myself live in Härnösand and play clarinet and accordion. Played in Renhornen 1966 -1972 and is called Kjell Sundin, in Umeå called Studsen.

  7. Hi, I found an old Granström & Sundquist in the church basement. It had no strings left. I wonder if anyone knows if it should be nylon strings or steel strings. The over saddle was also gone so no clue there. It is a Model C No. 642

    Thanks in advance for the help.

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