after Hauser Romantic guitar
Second hand. C.1900s. Something a little out there even by our standards, this distinguished old lady is the nicest sounding Romantic guitar we can remember coming across. The elevated fingerboard was devised by JG Staufer in the 1820s, and is found on many Austrian guitars of the 19th Century, but our example has a fairly large body and Germanic styling that puts us in the mind of early instruments by Hauser. Sadly there’s no label, but this is a handmade instrument rather than a factory example, with exemplary woodworking and a very fine, sophisticated tone. True enough it’s not as loud or boomy as a modern classical, but the sound is very articulate with lovely treble response and a cleanly defined bass. The condition is fair, with a couple of long cracks in the Birds-eye Maple back which we’ve cleated, and the shellac varnish has been touched up. On the plus side there are no cracks in the top, and that ingenious neck mechanism works smoothly. An excellent period piece that plays and sounds as good as it looks.