Wow, it's been four years since my last post? I really suck at blogging. However, I have been digging up a lot of old guitars and making them playable again.
This guitar is a circa 1891 C. Bruno & Son (New York) Style 1884 Parlour Guitar with original hard shell case that sold for $24 new ($27.75 w/case).
When it arrived it looked like the guitar had exploded from the inside.
The Adirondack Cedar top was uncracked, but the one piece Brazilian Rosewood back and sides needed a lot of work to piece back together. The Honduran Mahogany neck with no truss rod was straight and the brass tuners with bone buttons were in working order. As well, the original ebony bridge and nut needed to be re installed. The only parts I needed were a set of end pins, a new bone saddle, a bottle of glue, and a ton of clamps.
And here it is all glued back together. I only touched up the repaired areas and tried to keep as much of the original patina as possible.
This little guitar originally belonged to Mrs. J.W. Hummell of West Ashland, Wisconsin. Below is the tag on the case which was written on the back of her husband's Stag Party Invitation from September 1891.
The C. Bruno & Son Co. of New York was a musical instrument distributor and not a manufacturer, so I got to wondering who made such a quality instrument as there is no indication in the catalogue. Charles Bruno does however have a connection to the C.F. Martin Guitar Co. and was at one time their accountant. Check out the similarities between the C. Bruno Style 1884 and the Martin 2 1/2 Model 17 below.
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| Martin |
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| Bruno |
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| Martin Logo |
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| Bruno Logo |
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| Martin Harp |
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| Bruno Harp |
The maker may be a mystery but one thing is for sure, this little C. Bruno Parlour Guitar probably hadn't been played in decades, and now it's back together again making music and sounding incredible.
