This guitar was made probably in Germany, around 1875-1880, and sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is a 6 course (6x1) Spanish model. This guitar is listed in the accession paperwork as J. Howard Foote item #6055.
This guitar was made in Germany, around 1875-1880, and sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is a 6 course guitar (6x1), with a peghead with wooden tuning pegs. This guitar appears as item #6044 in J. Howard Foote' Catalogue from 1880: "Maple. dark red color, finely inlaid with pearl, etc., Spanish model, finely finished $5.40" "..a line of cheap and handsome Guitars of German make, with peg heads."
This resonator guitar was made by Dobro in Los Angeles, California around 1933-1937. The name originated in 1928 when the Dopyera brothers formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company. "Dobro" is both a contraction of "Dopyera brothers" and a word meaning "goodness" in their native Slovak. This six course (6x1) guitar has a squared-off neck with raised strings for Hawaiian-style playing.
This guitar features U. S. Patent #1,896,484 dated February 7, 1933 by John Dopyera for a musical instrument with a conical metal resonator.
Frederick John Wright (1926-1985) was a classic amateur country music performer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and a year later, his family moved to Toronto, Canada. In 1938, a door to door salesman offered a Dobro guitar with lessons for $5.00 per week, for thirteen weeks. Fred played this guitar and with his father entertained veterans in hospitals in the Toronto area. In 1947, Fred returned to the United States with his treasured guitar.
This guitar was made by an unknown maker in France around 1800-1825. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top, rosewood veneered spruce back, rosewood sides, and friction peghead.
This guitar was made by an unknown maker in France during the 18th century. It was converted from a five course (5x2) to a six course (6x1) guitar and has undergone a number of repairs and restorations. This guitar has a spruce or cedar top, ribbed and fluted fruitwood back, and ebony sides. It has a rounded back, with an inlaid chevron design on the back of the guitar’s neck. There is an intricate starred pattern around the guitar’s soundhole.
This guitar was made by Francisco Lupot of Orleans, France in 1773. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top, veneered burly ash back, and burly ash sides. The neck is not original and was probably added in the early 1800s. This guitar bears the printed label:
Francisco Lupot fecit In Orleano, anno 1773
(with “73” handwritten)
Location
Currently not on view (guitar)
Currently not on view (bridge pin, ebony; bridge pin, ivory; edging; peg; strings; wooden fragments)
This guitar was made by François Sarraillac of Lyon, France in 1652. The guitar was originally a five course (5x2) before being converted to a six course (6x1) guitar. This guitar has a spruce top, rounded yew wood back with ebony spacers, ebony sides, and ebony and ivory veneered neck in a checkerboard pattern. It bears the handwritten label: “a lion [illegible] [/] françois sarraillac [/] 1652.” This guitar is subject to further study.
This guitar was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1845-1855. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top, maple sides and back, and a machine head. The back of the guitar is painted with scenes from the popular British nursery rhyme, “This Is the House That Jack Built." The depictions include "The House That Jack Built," "The Maiden All Forlorn," "The Cat That Caught the Rat," "The Rat That Ate the Corn," "Good-Morrow, Sir Priest! Will You Marry Us Two?" "The Dog That Was Tossed," "The Cow With The Crumpled Horn," and "The Man All Tattered and Torn." The guitar has a strap made from ribbon, possibly silk.
This Adamas guitar, serial #652-93, was made by Ovation Instruments Inc., a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation in Bloomfield, Connecticut, around 1978-1979. The Adamas guitar was introduced in 1976, and took seven years and 186 modifications to complete. This six course (6x1) guitar, model #1187-8 is made with a fibronic soundboard (carbon graphite and birch), rounded fiberglass back, carved black walnut bridge, walnut neck, and sculptured headpiece. To improve the aesthetics of the guitar, Ovation created a special finish with bronze highlights in blue, beige, red or brown, for stage lights and reflectivity.
This treble guitar was made by an unknown maker in the late 19th to early 20th century. It is a four course (4x2) treble guitar with a spruce top and simulated painted softwood back and sides. The fingerboard is black painted wood with brass fretwire. The tuning pegs are open metal machines in straps of four, Spanish style.
This guitar was made by Gaetano Vinaccia of Naples, Italy in 1779. The Vinaccia family were violin and mandolin makers in Naples from the mid-18th century to the late 19th. Later generations, including Gaetano Vinaccia, made mostly mandolins and guitars. This is a six course (6x1) pear-shaped guitar with a cypress back and sides. The label inside the guitar reads: “Gajetanus Vinaccia [/] Fecit Neapoli Strada Rua Catalana [/] Num. 85 Anno 1779.”
This guitar was made by Jean-Baptiste Voboam of Paris, France in 1730. It is a six course (6x1) guitar but the body size suggests that this instrument was originally a four course (4x2) guitar. This guitar has a spruce top and rosewood veneered spruce back and rosewood sides with ivory and ebony inlay. The peghead of the guitar is not original to the instrument and is marked:
This guitar was made by Giovanni Battista Fabricatore of Naples, Italy in 1797. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce and cedar top, non-original ebonized back and sides, and tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl veneer on neck and back. This guitar bears the printed label:
Gio: Battifta Fabricatore Napoli Anno 1797 in S.M. dell' Ajuto. N. 32
This guitar was made by Antonio Vinaccia of Naples, Italy in 1790. The Vinaccia family were violin and mandolin makers in Naples from the mid-18th century to the late 19th. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top and a fruitwood veneered spruce back and sides. This guitar bears the printed label:
This guitar was made by Gaetano Vinaccia in Naples, Italy in 1821. The Vinaccia family made violins and mandolins in Naples from the mid-18th to the late 19th century. Later generations of the family produced mostly mandolins and guitars. This six course (6 x 1) guitar has a maple back and sides, mother-of-pearl and red paste inlay around the edges and soundhole.
This guitar was made by Gennero Fabricatore of Naples, Italy in 1804. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top, walnut and bone/ivory veneered maple back, rosewood sides, and a rosewood and ivory veneered neck. This guitar bears the printed label:
Gennaro Fabricatore Anno 1804 Napoli Strada S. Giacomo n. 26
This guitar was made by Michael Straub in Venice, Italy around 1670-1680. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top, yew wood back, ebony and ivory inlay on sides and neck, and a non-original machine head. The peghead is incised: “Michael Straub in Ventia.” This guitar is probably late 17th century, but is subject to study as it has undergone perhaps two or more restorations.
This guitar was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1878-1882. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top, rosewood back and sides, cedar neck, and a patented machine head with ivory pegs. This guitar appears as item #6073 in J. Howard Foote' Catalogue from 1880: "Solid Rosewood, neatly inlaid with wood inlaying front, stripe down back, plain rosewood edges, finely finished...$23.00.