Well, there have been many other threads on here about Asian guitars, even specifically some Vietnamese ones have been covered elsewhere.
So, to get back to Europe.......Jeongwoo Cho in Korea making guitars for the JWC brand has come up with a nice looking copy of the unusual Marius guitars. I know AndyW posted a photo a while back in the Sicilian Gypsy Folk' thread but I thought it was a neat bridge to quickly get this thread back from Asia to European guitars.
And firmly back in Europe, here are a couple of photos of a 'Chorus' style guitar made for me by Tony Petrarca in 2014 and I still have that as my #1.
But foolishly, there was one the 'got away'. Another by Tony Petrarca I bought it from him second-hand although it was in near new condition. Then tempted by some dollars in a moment of weakness I sold it to someone who insisted he really wanted it, only to promptly sell it on again for profit. And when I decided I missed it and would like it back he had no contact with the buyer although I think he said it went to Canada, so if anyone recognizes it and might want to sell, send a message.
Searching for more Patenotte labels to see if there are dateble changes I found this one with a 5 digit postal code instead of the 2 digit code on the other label (postal code = department number; 88 = département Vosges):
If I understand the german wiki right, they used the 2 digit department code combined with the first three letters of the place name between late 1965 and 1972:
The neck was crooked, so Karsten inserted two carbon rods (no steel rod because the guitar is so wonderfully light).
A new fretboard will be applied next week, the guitar will be ready end of march. I hope he doesn't manage to straighten the neck right, and that the guitar will not sound good - otherwise I might be heavily tempted to buy it ...
Sorry, nothing to see here, i'm a quiet reader of this topic, but did not want to comment- I guess my phone made this post while in my pocket, don't know how to delete
My wife said to me today: "There are some interesting instruments at Seefeldt Guitars, you should have a look." And that's what I saw there (among some flattops, concerts and electrics):
An old Höfner archtop with a 17" body
An old Neubauer
An old Arnold Hoyer archtop mandolin
... and I left Andreas Seefeldt's workshop with this old Höfner on my back:
16" body, small and comfortable neck (no baseball bat!), zero fret, warm tone (flatwounds).
(recorded with the poor voice recording app of my cheap phone)
Payed 220 € for it, including a simple but well padded gigbag. As I wanted to stop by anyway at Karsten Schnoors workshop, because I had to give Dregni "Gypsy Jazz" back to him he had loaned me, I proudly showed the guitar to him. The price is more than fair, he said, as the condition really is very good. He gave me some strips of veneer wood to shim the bridge, 'cause the action is a bit too low.
Comments
Well, there have been many other threads on here about Asian guitars, even specifically some Vietnamese ones have been covered elsewhere.
So, to get back to Europe.......Jeongwoo Cho in Korea making guitars for the JWC brand has come up with a nice looking copy of the unusual Marius guitars. I know AndyW posted a photo a while back in the Sicilian Gypsy Folk' thread but I thought it was a neat bridge to quickly get this thread back from Asia to European guitars.
And firmly back in Europe, here are a couple of photos of a 'Chorus' style guitar made for me by Tony Petrarca in 2014 and I still have that as my #1.
But foolishly, there was one the 'got away'. Another by Tony Petrarca I bought it from him second-hand although it was in near new condition. Then tempted by some dollars in a moment of weakness I sold it to someone who insisted he really wanted it, only to promptly sell it on again for profit. And when I decided I missed it and would like it back he had no contact with the buyer although I think he said it went to Canada, so if anyone recognizes it and might want to sell, send a message.
Chris,
I know Jeong Woo has 2 variants of that Marius. One has the round soundhole you showed and the other has this ellipsoidal hole.
Both of your Petrarcas look great. Hope you can find the one you let go.
Luthier Karsten Schnoor is restoring an old Patenotte. He is not sure but the guitar "feels like" 40ies more than 50ies.
I took a pic of the label (and actually forgot to take one of the entire guitar, will follow next week):
Do the Patenotte labels differ over the years when Louis ran the workshop?
This is the label of a Grande Bouche, the seller says 1958 https://reverb.com/au/item/2637039-louis-patenotte-manouche-gypsy-1958-natural:
Searching for more Patenotte labels to see if there are dateble changes I found this one with a 5 digit postal code instead of the 2 digit code on the other label (postal code = department number; 88 = département Vosges):
If I understand the german wiki right, they used the 2 digit department code combined with the first three letters of the place name between late 1965 and 1972:
So the 5 digit code guitar should be built after 1972.
The 2 digit code guitar not 1958, but 1964 or 1965?
Karsten's no digit guitar at least before 1964?
So "Fabrique d'instruments de musique" and "Fabrique de guitares et mandolines" are labels of different periods?
This is Karsten's Patenotte, the pics are from the original auction:
Tailpiece and tuners of german origin according to Karsten.
More details and pics to the actual state of the guitar next week (fretboard removed, carbon insert in the neck).
The neck was crooked, so Karsten inserted two carbon rods (no steel rod because the guitar is so wonderfully light).
A new fretboard will be applied next week, the guitar will be ready end of march. I hope he doesn't manage to straighten the neck right, and that the guitar will not sound good - otherwise I might be heavily tempted to buy it ...
Sorry, nothing to see here, i'm a quiet reader of this topic, but did not want to comment- I guess my phone made this post while in my pocket, don't know how to delete
My wife said to me today: "There are some interesting instruments at Seefeldt Guitars, you should have a look." And that's what I saw there (among some flattops, concerts and electrics):
An old Höfner archtop with a 17" body
An old Neubauer
An old Arnold Hoyer archtop mandolin
... and I left Andreas Seefeldt's workshop with this old Höfner on my back:
16" body, small and comfortable neck (no baseball bat!), zero fret, warm tone (flatwounds).
(recorded with the poor voice recording app of my cheap phone)
Payed 220 € for it, including a simple but well padded gigbag. As I wanted to stop by anyway at Karsten Schnoors workshop, because I had to give Dregni "Gypsy Jazz" back to him he had loaned me, I proudly showed the guitar to him. The price is more than fair, he said, as the condition really is very good. He gave me some strips of veneer wood to shim the bridge, 'cause the action is a bit too low.
Neither Andreas Seefeldt https://www.seefeldt-guitars.com/ nor Karsten could tell me, what model this guitar is. Any help?
... and short news from the Patenotte: