Instruments for Sale
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Maurer/Euphonon/Larson Mandolin, c. 1935, SN. 40258
A fine Euphonon style, Maurer branded mandolin originally sold through Wack Sales, Milwaukee, WI. That agent did not sell the Euphonon brand.
This high-grade, crack-free mandolin has lovely straight-grained Brazilian rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, and select spruce top with simply elegant appointments. The top and back are well arched giving the body more depth in the bridge area that lends to a sound chamber capable of producing great volume while retaining perfect balance and sweetness of tone. It sounds beautiful and has the quick response at the lightest touch, typical of a Larson Brothers’ Creation. The back has two minor flaws in the finish and the top has minor pick wear on one area of the pickguard. The original finish shows minor checking normal for an instrument of this vintage. The peghead front, although laminated, is plain but sophisticated in appearance. The compensated bridge is possibly not original but works well. This is a modern style mandolin that is popular with collectors and players alike. Mandolin and the original hard case are in excellent++ condition.
Absolutely no work needed on this well cared for, lightly played beauty. Comes with George Gruhn appraisal for $2,000.
Price $2,100, includes shipping.
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Prairie State Style 450, SN 531, dated 1930
op-of-the-line guitar with the famous, colorful, tree-of-life fingerboard found only on the best Larsons. It has a wonderful variation of my favorite pickguard, what I call a cloud shape, added by Gruhn Guitars about eight years ago to replace a damaged original one). The catalog price of the day was $100. “Times they-are-a-changing”.
Hand written on back center brace, 1930-5 (5 designates the 5th made in the set), rubber stamped numbers, 54X68.
Guitar shows no wear to the frets or the thick fingerboard, and appears to be played very little in its long life. The beautiful pearl button tuners work as perfect and smooth as one could imagine. There must have been some trauma to the top in the bridge area because there are some barely visible, beautifully done crack repairs between the bridge and the butt end. This instrument is solid throughout and in excellent +++ condition. The body measures 14 7/8” at lower bout, 3 3/8” deep and 1 7/8” at the nut. It sounds bold and wonderful being flatpicked or fingerpicked, with the action the same as the day it was first strung. Comes with nice newer hard case.
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Stahl label, Prairie State Guitar, SN. 490, Dated Aug. 1930
This wonderful 15” rosewood guitar is one of four or five known to have been adorned with this gorgeous pickguard with the abalone and pearl floral bouquet. I love the way it complements the multi-colored purfling. It has the patented laminated braces and five-piece laminated neck. It is in fine original condition with minor blemishes and some professionally repaired back cracks. It is ready-to-play as a high quality fingerstyle instrument. The action is perfect and the tone, balance, sustain and volume is representative of the wonderful Larson sound. It was played by Muriel Anderson on the CD that accompanies The Larsons Creations Guitars and Mandolins, 1996 edition, and has an encore on the 2007 CD included with the Centennial edition. Her selection was “Freight Train” played Chet Atkins style. With hard-shell case.
Dyer Style 3 Harp Guitar, SN 608
This is a wonderfully preserved, Larson Brothers-built specimen of the rarest of the Dyer models. This is one-of-four 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 only 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"
Harp scale longest string- 30.5"
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.
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, or to a player that needs a smaller scale instrument.
September 2008 appraisal by George Gruhn: $12,500. For the rarity, collectible value, beauty, playability and the beautiful sound of this piece, I think it should be priced at double the appraised value. Today's economy has forced me to reduce the price for this Centurion gem to $11,200.
New custom wood case.
For more photos, information and prices on all guitars contact Bob at rchguitars@stateline-isp.com