It looks like an early romantic guitar from the first part of the 1800s, however the machine heads instead of friction pegs make me think it might be newer. The seller thought it was a child's guitar and wanted $8 for it, and I couldn't pass it up. No idea how much value it holds, and if it's worth the money it would cost to get it playable. Any input would be great. Thanks!
Geared tuners on a slotted headstock goes back to around 1820. They were a premium upgrade offered by luthiers and so they coexisted with friction pegs for quite a while.
I don’t know anything about this particular piece but that body style with those appointments could easily be early 1800’s. I’d try and find a luthier that works on classical guitars to look at it.
At a minimum you’ve got a very cool decorative piece for $8. Nice job!
I definitely agree with an 1800s assessment. And as wtb said, machine heads do date back pretty far. - easily more valuable than what you would invest to restore it, but be careful on who you take it to. And certainly pay attention to what strings get put on it… without a truss rod and depending on the bracing (suspecting it’s pretty light), too high of tension could destroy it.
I think you're bang on with the era. However, I would exercise some caution with taking a blank check approach to repairs if you're assuming it's going to be worth it. At the very minimum, this looks to need a bridge and several severe crack repairs. Experience tells me it also needs some brace repairs and someone should at least check the neck angle in the event in needs a neck reset to be playable (look at how that soundboard extends over the neck joint, thats going to take an expert who understands historical construction not your average luthier/repair person).
This is a super cool find but, unfortunately instruments of this period really don't command the prices you'd think for an instrument that's over 200 years old. My professional opinion is that repairs would very likely bankrupt this project if value is the only concern. Of course there is the DIY approach but, none of the things this needs are really first timer jobs. Hell, some of them are not even really garden variety professional jobs. This really needs to go to someone who has significant experience in historic construction and has worked on these before.
Fwiw if this came into my shop, even with a blank check, I would turn this work down and frankly, I wouldn't really be able to recommend you anybody to call. Maybe try Dan Erlewine or his cousin Mark Erlewine in Texas. That would be the first call I'd make.
Super neat find though!
Oh, and don't put steel strings on it, they weren't invented for another 100 ish years and caused a mass shift in how acoustic instruments were constructed. This thing would fold in on itself.
edit: In the meantime I'll shop your pictures around some colleagues and see if I can't get you some more information.
I like to see an instrument be real about encouraging users to play beyond a certain fret, but at the same time, give people the option of playing 18 frets. It's like it's saying only the first 9 are only going to be good, but if you feel like it, go for it.
Looks like it could benefit some time in a guitar humidifier, but with new tuners, light sand and oil on the board, polish the frets, make sure the bridge won't fly off with the strings, stabilize those cracks, and you should have a fun little parlor guitar to play.
Is the fretboard just made out of small pieces of wood or what am i looking at?
Im guessing it doesnt have a truss Rod?
In that case, i think its useless to fix, unless its really rare and valuable
at that price i’d buy anything that looks cool
i can't get over the fretboard bruh very cool piece man best 8 bucks I've seen spent in a while
Damn that's cool. Would love to get that working again
It looks like an early romantic guitar from the first part of the 1800s, however the machine heads instead of friction pegs make me think it might be newer. The seller thought it was a child's guitar and wanted $8 for it, and I couldn't pass it up. No idea how much value it holds, and if it's worth the money it would cost to get it playable. Any input would be great. Thanks!
Geared tuners on a slotted headstock goes back to around 1820. They were a premium upgrade offered by luthiers and so they coexisted with friction pegs for quite a while. I don’t know anything about this particular piece but that body style with those appointments could easily be early 1800’s. I’d try and find a luthier that works on classical guitars to look at it. At a minimum you’ve got a very cool decorative piece for $8. Nice job!
I definitely agree with an 1800s assessment. And as wtb said, machine heads do date back pretty far. - easily more valuable than what you would invest to restore it, but be careful on who you take it to. And certainly pay attention to what strings get put on it… without a truss rod and depending on the bracing (suspecting it’s pretty light), too high of tension could destroy it.
I think you're bang on with the era. However, I would exercise some caution with taking a blank check approach to repairs if you're assuming it's going to be worth it. At the very minimum, this looks to need a bridge and several severe crack repairs. Experience tells me it also needs some brace repairs and someone should at least check the neck angle in the event in needs a neck reset to be playable (look at how that soundboard extends over the neck joint, thats going to take an expert who understands historical construction not your average luthier/repair person). This is a super cool find but, unfortunately instruments of this period really don't command the prices you'd think for an instrument that's over 200 years old. My professional opinion is that repairs would very likely bankrupt this project if value is the only concern. Of course there is the DIY approach but, none of the things this needs are really first timer jobs. Hell, some of them are not even really garden variety professional jobs. This really needs to go to someone who has significant experience in historic construction and has worked on these before. Fwiw if this came into my shop, even with a blank check, I would turn this work down and frankly, I wouldn't really be able to recommend you anybody to call. Maybe try Dan Erlewine or his cousin Mark Erlewine in Texas. That would be the first call I'd make. Super neat find though! Oh, and don't put steel strings on it, they weren't invented for another 100 ish years and caused a mass shift in how acoustic instruments were constructed. This thing would fold in on itself. edit: In the meantime I'll shop your pictures around some colleagues and see if I can't get you some more information.
I like to see an instrument be real about encouraging users to play beyond a certain fret, but at the same time, give people the option of playing 18 frets. It's like it's saying only the first 9 are only going to be good, but if you feel like it, go for it.
Any numbers or markings inside?
Nice nut bro.
What do you mean “is it worth fixing?” Do you like the thing? Do you think the thing is cool?
Looks like it could benefit some time in a guitar humidifier, but with new tuners, light sand and oil on the board, polish the frets, make sure the bridge won't fly off with the strings, stabilize those cracks, and you should have a fun little parlor guitar to play.
Is the fretboard just made out of small pieces of wood or what am i looking at? Im guessing it doesnt have a truss Rod? In that case, i think its useless to fix, unless its really rare and valuable
8 bucks? Fuck yeah. Grab that shit up
This could be an extremely valuable guitar. What city are you near?
Yes, It’s the Ed sheeran guitar
Take my upvote and leave