This harp guitar was made by C.F. Martin and Company of Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1905. Harp guitars were designed to provide a fuller bass response and more harmonic possibilities than standard guitars. According to Martin company records, this harp guitar was shipped in 1906 to Lewis & Son, violin dealers, in Chicago. The donor’s father, Fred Norman Vanderwalker is believed to have been the first owner of this harp guitar. This 000-28 model guitar, serial #10163, is one of five known harp guitars made by C.F. Martin and Company, none of which were made to the same specifications. It is notable for its double mahogany neck arrangement, large body style, highly figured rosewood ribs and back, and a harp peghead in the Viennese style of Johann Stauffer. C.F. Martin apprenticed in Johann Stauffer's shop before emigrating to America in 1833.
This production prototype for the Adamas model of guitars was made by Ovation Instruments Inc., a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation in Bloomfield, Connecticut, around 1973-1974. The Kaman Corporation, founded by Charles Kaman, had great success in aerospace engineering. Kaman, a dedicated guitar enthusiast, founded Ovation Instruments, Inc. and applied some of the engineering discoveries to manufacture an acoustic guitar that could be sonically improved by modifying its shape and construction. Patents granted to Kaman include, a sound board for stringed instruments #3,880,040, guitar construction #4,056,034, and a stringed musical instrument body #4,090,427.
This guitar was designed by Mario Maccaferri and made by the French American Reeds Manufacturing Company of Mount Vernon, New York in 1954. Maccaferri (1900-1993) was born in Cento, Italy and at the age of eleven became an apprentice to guitarist and luthier Luigi Mozzani. After an early career as a guitarist and instrument maker in Europe, Maccaferri immigrated to the United States in 1939. Mario Maccaferri developed a variety of plastic instruments including plastic woodwind reeds and a plastic ukulele. This six course (6x1) guitar, model G-40, was made of Dow Styron plastic. As indicated in the original brochure accompanying this guitar, it sold for $39.95.
This guitar was made by Zogbaum & Fairchild of New York, New York around 1865-1875. This is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top, rosewood back and sides, and a mahogany neck with machine head. It bears a medallion:
Wm. B. TILTONS IMPROVEMENT, NEW YORK Patented MARCH 4, 1856 ZOGBAUM & FAIRCHILD NEW YORK.
William Tilton, inventor and musical instrument maker, began manufacturing instruments in New York in 1853. Tilton made new guitars and retrofitted other guitars with his improvements including his two guitar patents (U.S. Patent #10380, January 3, 1854, and U.S. Patent #14378, March 4, 1856). Around 1865, Zogbaum & Fairchild acquired the rights to manufacture guitars using Tilton’s improvements.
Ferdinand Zogbaum and Rufus Fairchild established their manufacturing and importing company in Charleston, South Carolina in 1845. By 1853, Zogbaum & Fairchild had relocated to No. 10 Maiden Lane in New York City.
This chitarra battente guitar was made by an unknown maker in Italy around 1775-1799. It is a seven course (7x2) guitar with a spruce or cedar top and fluted walnut ribbed back and sides. The top of the guitar features ornate inlays and decorations.
This guitar was made by H.F. Gütter & Sons of Markneukirchen, Germany around 1800-1850. It is a six course (6x1) guitar with a spruce top and maple back and sides. Markneukirchen was the center of the Vogtland, Germany music industry for the export of musical instruments to the United States in the late 19th century – early 20th. The guitar bears the label: “H.F. Gütter & Söhne [/] in Neukirchen im Voigtland [/] a Sachsan.”
This guitar was made by Deleplanque in Lille, France in 1790. It is a ten course (6x1, 4x1) theorboed guitar with a spruce top and maple sides and back. This guitar bears the printed label: “PEERENS-DELEPLANQUE, [/] MARCHAND LUTHIER, au coin de [/] la rue de la Grand-Chaufl ée, [/]à Lille, 1790,” with “90” handwritten.
This cigar box guitar was made by an unknown maker in North Carolina around 1875-1899. It is a four course (4x1) guitar made from a Morris & Son cigar box. Homemade instruments such as cigar box guitars and fiddles played an important part in jug bands and blues music in the late 19th century through the Great Depression.
This guitar was made by Hijos de González in Madrid, Spain around 1867-1892. This six course guitar (6x1) has a spruce top, Spanish cypress back and sides, rosewood fingerboard, and mahogany neck. There is label inside the instrument:
Premiado por la Sociedad Matritense en 1866. yen la Exposicion de Zaragoza de 1868. GUITARRERIA UNIVERSAL. [medallions and symbols] HIJOS DE GONZALEZ PREMIADO.CON LA MEDALLA DE 1st CLASE, EN LA EXPOSICION UNIVERSAL DE PARIS DE 1867 Carretas, 33 MADRID ANO DE 18
This guitar was made by Lyon & Healy of Chicago, Illinois around 1897-1925. The company was founded in 1864 by George Washburn Lyon and Patrick Joseph Healy as a music publications shop for the Boston company of Oliver Ditson. Lyon & Healy quickly expanded as a retail distributor for musical instruments. The company also made musical instruments but is best known as a manufacturer of harps. As depicted in an 1898-99 Lyon & Healy catalog, this ”Lakeside” model guitar, item number 49-3/4, has and oak back and sides, 16th century finish, hand polished, cherry finish neck, top and back inlay with white celluloid and colored wood edge, colored wood inlay around sound hole, ebony fingerboard with pearl position dots, and a metal tailpiece. This guitar sold for $18.75.
This electric guitar was made by Fender Musical Instrument Corp. in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1995. It is a reissue of the 1957 design with a two-tone sunburst finish. The Stratocaster is arguably the most successful and influential electric guitar ever produced. It is easily identified by its double cutaways, contoured body, and three pickups. It also features Fender's vibrato or tremolo system that allows players to raise or lower the pitch of the strings. In the hands of Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, and many other musicians, the "Strat" has become an American icon.
This chitarra battente was made by an unknown maker in southern Italy around 1775-1799. It is a five course (5x2) guitar with a spruce top, arched walnut back and sides.
This twelve course (12 x1) lyre guitar was made by Antonio Hermosa in Mexico around 1900-1940. The front of the lyre features a line pattern around the edges. A Spanish label inside the instruments reads: "ANTONIO HERMOSA FABRICANTE [/] Privilegio [/] exclusivo conce- [/] dido por el Supremo [/] Gobierno por el per [/] feccionamiento refor- [/] mas y venta del ins- [/] trumento deno- [/] minado Lira [/] MEXICO No 15" which translates to "ANTONIO HERMOSA FABRICATOR (or Maker/Manufacturer) Exclusive privilege granted by the Supreme Government for the refinement (improvement/perfecting) modification (alteration/upgrade/renovation) and sale of the instrument called (dubbed, named, designated, denominated, termed) Lyre. Mexico No. 15".
This guitar was made by John Preston of London, England around 1760-1770. It is a six course (4x2, 2x1) guitar with a spruce top, figured maple back and sides, and tortoiseshell veneered oak fingerboard and four holes for the capotasto or “moving-bridge.” The guitar has a watch-key tuning device which was better suited to the guitar’s short metal strings. English guitars received great popularity with amateur musicians in Great Britain from about 1750 to 1810.
This guitar was made by John Preston of London, England around 1775-1799. It is a six course (4x2, 2x1) English guitar with a spruce top and figured maple back and sides. There is a decorative inlay cover over the soundhole and at the top of the pegbox. The guitar has a watch-key tuning device which was better suited to the guitar’s short metal strings. English guitars received great popularity with amateur musicians in Great Britain from about 1750 to 1810.
This guitar was made by an unknown maker in England. It is a six course (6x2) theorbo guitar with a pine top, and cypress back and sides. The theorbo pegbox is incomplete and the provenance of this guitar is subject to study.
This electric guitar was made by Parker Guitars of Willmington, Massachusetts in 1997. The company began in the early 1990s by luthier, Ken Parker. Parker Fly guitars are unique in their appearance and incorporate a radical new approach to the construction of electric guitars. Ken Parker was co-patentee with Lawrence Fishman on a number of patents for this new style of guitar. In 2003 the company was sold to U.S. Music Corporation in Illinois. This electric guitar is a Fly Classic Model, serial #028017BMH, with four control knobs: master volume, magnetic volume, magnetic tone, and piezo volume and tone, and two toggle switches: magnetic pickup selector and piezo/magnetic pickup selector.
Hascal Haile of Tompkinsville, Kentucky made this guitar in 1972. Hascal "Hack" Haile (1906-1986) began making guitars professionally after retiring from furniture making in the late 1960s. He made guitars for many classical and country musicians and was considered to be among the world’s top makers of custom guitars. This six course (6x1) guitar has a top of Spanish pine, back and sides of Spanish cypress, and a maple neck. The guitar’s edge and soundhole is inlaid with abalone and ebony. Country musician, Chet Atkins previously owned and played this guitar and owned several Haile guitars throughout his career.