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Larson Brothers Presentation Guitar, Special order,

c. 1904-05

 

“Original Old Master of the Larsons’ Creations”

 

I have been researching the Larsons for thirty-one years and have learned not to say, “Now I have seen everything.”  To prove that point, I would like to tell you about my latest exciting find. This unique instrument is of the highest quality and could have been built at the time of August’s design for laminated X braces and tone bars that culminated with the awarding of the July 12, 1904 patent in his name. The patent shows the five main top braces were laminated with a strip of harder wood (rosewood or ebony) centered between the usual spruce brace, leaving five lesser braces not laminated. This unique example took that idea further by making ten top braces laminated from a total of twelve. Although this guitar has extra top braces it has fewer back braces (four) as in other small Larson guitars. Larger body Larson’s have five or six back braces, as seen in the later Maurer and Prairie State models. This bracing idea allowed the craftsmen to build extra strong guitar bodies by also incorporating the brilliant idea of bending the top and back down over the arch built into all the braces to add tremendous strength to the entire body, thus making the young brothers pioneers of the steel-string flat-top (misnomer in their case) guitar. The fact that this guitar has a hot-stamp reading: “Pat. July 12, 1904” on the neck-block, (stamp is normally on the back center brace,) along with the absence of a brand name or serial number leads me to believe it was a special order instrument or, in this case, was possibly (long shot) made for a friend or family member. This guitar was recently purchased from a shop in Sweden and is known to have been in that country many years. Often the brothers did not number or brand an instrument that was special by being a first, or different in some way from the norm.

Describing this unique guitar leaves one with the dilemma of where to start! Let’s start from the top and go down. The bound  peg head front is the normal Larson shape but has lovely, never-seen-before color coordinated abalone and pearl inlays set into the stained rosewood overlay. The back of the peg head has matching black rosewood overlay and binding which extends to a point into the middle of the neck. This feature is seen on a few other high-grade early Larson models. The Waverly tuners with special ivory buttons, were hand engraved by Mr. Louis Handel and inset with lovely flowers with some of the stems and flowers seeming to have a gold inlay as well as white pearl to complete the design. The gold plated tuner plates have a gorgeous engraved pattern known as the Irish rose design. This engraving is the same as seen on Martin guitars as early as 1893 but the tuner buttons are known to be used as early as c. 1889 and probably were used as late as 1907. These dates are as close to accurate as my sources have found.

The mahogany neck size and shape are somewhat like a rounded Washburn “V” rather than the usual rounded Larson style. The neck is made in five pieces, with 1/8" wide laminates running lengthwise down the center of ebony, maple, ebony, flanked by mahogany in the usual Larson fashion. The fingerboard is a simply gorgeous, extremely rare, tree-of-life vine and flower pattern consisting of white pearl vines and abalone flowers. I am told that this pattern or a similar one, is also seen on a few very rare early Martin guitars.

The sound hole rosette is a series of twenty rings not counting the two large rings of top wood. The two large circles of abalone are set off by the other rings of black strips and tiny checkered black purflings. The trim around the top edges is comprised of two strips of abalone and lined with finer strips of black, solid and matching checkered purflings with a total of ten components. The beautiful spruce top has crack repairs in the lower bass bout and the bass side rim also has a repair. The heel of the neck has a solidly repaired crack which completes the repairs, leaving the entire instrument in otherwise excellent all original condition.

The standard Larson shaped ebony bridge has pearl inlays that resemble a pair of inverted fancy “fs” on each flat end, which is another first for this amazing creation. The bridge pins are ivory and have abalone center dots. The original frets show minimal wear.

The beautifully colored, straight-grained, book-matched Brazilian rosewood back has abalone trim around the edges as well as down the centerstrip. Each is bordered by thin strips of yellow and black. This is the first Larson 6-string I have seen with abalone trim on the back. Not to be outdone, the sides are trimmed with a thin strip of light colored material (probably ivoriod) conforming to the body contour about 3/8" below and above the top and back edges. This same feature is seen on about five other early high-grade Larson guitars. The entire lush body is bound with multi-ply binding.

The tones emitted from this classic guitar are sweet but very bold and entirely pleasing to the ear. The string height is perfect for ease of play. This instrument can inspire new and beautiful music and has to be considered one of the most collectable Larsons ever built!    

 

 

MEASURMENTS

 

Scale length-25"

Width at nut- 1 15/16"

Lower bout 13 11/16"

Waist- 8 1/16"

Upper bout- 9 13/16"

Depth at butt- 3 15/16"

Total body- 19 1/16"

Total length- 38 3/16"

Soundhole dia. - 3 ¾"

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W. J. Dyer & Bro. Symphonic Harp Centurions

 

Dyer Style 3 Harp Guitar, SN 608

 

This is a wonderfully preserved, Larson Brothers-built specimen of the rarest of the Dyer harp guitar models. This is one-of- six confirmed examples of the Style 3 to date, and by the way, the nicest one!

The 608 serial number is the second lowest known-to-date in the 600 series which began somewhere between 1906 and 1908 (see other examples and new serial number charts at www.harpguitars.net ) and this example is the one of two found with a readable label. The body shape is similar to Knutsen’s 1908 (or earlier) model, which has a similar body point, bass peghead shape and semi-cutaway upper bout. That year, Knutsen’s version had 13 frets clear of the body and a 24.5" scale-length; whereas, the Larson version has 15 frets clear of the body and a scale length of 22 5/16".

The woods used comply with the standard Styles 4-8 and the craftsmanship and quality is comparable. The body size is smaller than its counterpart Dyer styles, which have a 16" lower bout.

Total length- 38"

Scale length- 22 5/16"

Upper bout- 12"

Lower bout- 14 3/8"

Body depth- 4"

Nut-1 13/16", width of strings at nut- 1 ½", Depth of neck at nut- 7/8", and nicely rounded.

Harp scale longest string- 30.1/2"

 The neck has been beautifully reset. The joint looks original. The spruce top has three repaired small hairline cracks and the mahogany back has many small to medium old hairline repaired cracks, while the sides are crack-free.  It appears that the top has been partially over-sprayed.  This little gem was found with aluminum nuts below the sub-bass tuners. They did not work well so I had ebony ones installed to better hold the tuning of the bass strings. Now the strings wind better also. These are the only un-original parts on this beautiful, fine sounding Larson Creation. It plays like a dream and needs no work. Recent repairs by Tony Klassen, ARK New Era Guitars.

The bracing pattern is different from the standard Larson styles, not an X pattern and not ladder or Z patterns either. It looks more like a complicated H. The fingerboard is radiused for steel strings.

It makes a perfect companion to a full-sized Dyer, the 1908 style Symphony Harp Mandolin, or to a player that needs a smaller scale instrument.

Newer custom wood case.

 

Dyer Symphony Harp Mandolin, Style 20, c. 1908

 

Extremely rare Larson brothers made Dyer with a label that states, Style 20 and serial number 121. This model is different from the ones made circa 1910, in that it represents the one shown in a 1908 ad in The Cadenza magazine depicting a point formed in the lower bass side section of the body, in contrast to the later models that have a similar corresponding point in the lower treble side of the body. The body is generally wider but thinner than its later counterparts, while maintaining the same general appearance. To this date there are but two of this type of Dyer Symphony Harp Mandolins in existence, the other one is lacking a label.

The condition is remarkably good for its age. There are no cracks in the top and one 2” back crack at the butt end. The finish shows normal play wear one would expect in an instrument much newer than this one. The back and sides are in excellent condition with light crazing in the original finish, equally on the entire instrument. It is all original and very playable and with lovely tone and more than adequate volume, as attested by many players at the 2012 Harp Guitar Gathering in Texas.

Un-original hard case

I believe this pair were built within a year of the other and meant to be a complimentary pair, therefore, harp guitar and harp mandolin are sold as a set of two, and priced to sell at $14,500 REDUCED to $12,500.

Recently appraised separately at total of $18,300