Two trademarks in vintage Larson guitar
open a window onto its illustrative past
Swedish craftsmanship meets "syncopating, fascinating jazz"
This article updates the original posting of Thursday, January 31, 2013.
Video, References and Links at end of article
_______________________________________________
© 2013 and 2018 by Kenneth Lelen — All Rights Reserved
Several
years ago I spied an auditorium-sized Maurer model guitar built by Carl and August Larson on the website of
Schoenberg Guitars, a Tiburon, CA vintage instrument dealer. Presented as a finely
made, mid-1920s instrument with a unique, non-Martin sound, it was a less
costly alternative to a comparable 12-fret 000-18 Martin from the same era.
 |
| c. 1926 Maurer Style 493 by Larson Brothers |
A Maurer Style 493 (no serial number), it has a fine-grain ribbon mahogany back and sides and X-braced white spruce top with non-laminated bracing. The instrument has an ebony fingerboard and flattened-pyramid ebony bridge. It has a V-shaped mahogany neck with 12 frets to the body and 1-7/8-inch nut width. It also has a 15-inch lower-bout width, 3-5/8-inch body depth and 25-1/2-inch scale length.
Now 90+ years old, it was restored in 2007 by luthier Chris Berkov of Novato CA. Today it has a perfect action as well as a smooth and balanced tone thanks to the integrity of its original design and Berkov's work.
This guitar also has a surprise inside on its back rib: period brands in wood, one for Maurer and one for S. Ernest Philpitt. They offer a hint of its special design and early history. They also open a window on this guitar's journey from a two-man guitar shop in Chicago to a jazz-era music retailer in Florida who first sold it and, ultimately, into the hands of today's vintage guitar dealers, restorers, collectors and players.
 |
| Maurer (maker's brand) on left and S. Ernest Philpitt (retailer's brand) on right |
Maurer Style 493 was hand-built by the Larson Brothers
A steel-stringed beauty, the guitar was built circa 1926 by Carl and August Larson, who emigrated from Sweden to Chicago in the mid-1880s. By one estimate the pair built 2,500 guitars, mandolins and harp-guitars between 1900 and 1940 under various trademarks, including Maurer, Dyer, Stetson, Stahl, Prairie State and Euphonon. Half of these were guitars; sadly, a small number, perhaps a couple hundred, of these instruments are known to exist today.
Larson guitars were popular with singing cowboys, country music stars and other entertainers during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Famous Larson owners included Gene Autry ("Public Cowboy No. 1"), Patsy Montana ("Cowboy's Sweetheart"), Ester Martin and Kay Reinberg (the "Prairie Sweethearts"), Luther Ossenbrink ("Arkie the Woodchopper") and Lloyd Perryman (one of the "Sons of the Pioneers). Back in the day many of these musicians performed on National Barn Dance, a Saturday night program airing on WLS-AM radio in Chicago.
In the late 1920s and 1930s the Maurer Style 493 cost one-third less than a comparable Martin 000-18, which was priced at $45. A 000-18 was Martin's largest steel-string instrument and most costly mahogany-bodied guitar. With a 15-in. lower-bout width, it was a big sounding guitar and popular choice for entertainers who worked the vaudeville and hillbilly circuits.
Martin achieved peak production on 12-fret versions of this model with 224 built in 1926. A year later the price on a 000-18 hit $50, which was a big investment for most guitarists.
Prices on currently available vintage examples in good-to-excellent shape are steep as well. Restoration work is common on these vintage examples. As evidence, here are asking prices and repair-work thumbnails for 1920s-era Martin 000-18 guitars found in dealer listings offered in 2018:
• $ 4,900 — 1927 — new sides, X-brace by Kovacik, Lark Street, Teaneck NJ;
• $ 8,500 — 1926 — new bridge, bridge plate, Vtg Instrmts, Phil'a PA;
• $ 9,975 — 1929 — new board, frets, bridge, Schoenberg, Tiburon CA;
• $11,259 — 1923 — neck reset, new bridge, Schoenberg, Tiburon CA;
• $12,500 — 1926 — neck reset, new bridge, Gruhn Guitars, Nashville TN;
• $15,500 — 1927 — neck reset, new bridge, refret, Jet City, Seattle WA;
• $15,650 — 1926 — neck reset, new bridge, frets, Schoenberg, Tiburon CA.
Maurer 493 originally sold by music maven Philpitt
In addition to a Maurer
trademark on its back rib, this guitar has a wood stamp that says it was
"Manufactured Expressly for S. Ernest Philpitt." With stores in
Washington, DC and six Florida cities, Philpitt (1874 - 1945) sold sheet music, pianos, records, recording players and guitars by Vega, Maurer, Gibson, Ditson and
Martin.
"Anything in the musical line ... from jew's harp to a grand piano" can be purchased in his stores, Philpitt boasted in a June 29, 1918 profile published in Music Trade Review, an industry journal.
Philpitt was a fascinating character. He began his musical career at age 11 by selling sheet music, talking machines and band instruments for retailers in Washington, Philadelphia and Baltimore. By 1910, at age 36, he was general manager of American Music Stores in N.Y. City, which operated 28 stores in 23 U.S. cities.
Six years later he launched his own venture by acquiring a sheet music shop in Washington, DC and opening a retail store in Jacksonville. In less than a decade he expanded his enterprise with additional stores in Miami (1916), Tampa (1917), St. Petersburg (1922), West Palm Beach and Orlando (1923).
The Florida firm's retail premises and musical merchandise sustained periodic damage from hurricanes, yet Philpitt continued to expand his chain of stores. In May 1925, when opening a Miami Beach unit, he told Music Trade Review annual sales for Philpitt & Son had reached three-quarters of a million dollars.
Philpitt attributed his success to a knack at placing Victrolas and musical instruments in local schools, bands, orchestras and churches and to making it easy for his customers to hear and buy records. When he expanded his Orlando store in January, 1925, he told Presto-Times he “offered music loving persons six record demonstration booths furnished as de luxe living rooms."
Alexander's soundhole photo revealed identical wood trademarks for Maurer
and Philpitt. In effect, his photos show this guitar before its restoration — a
key resource for any vintage guitar owner.
 |
| S. Ernest Philpitt Men of the South - 1922 Published by Southern Biographical Assn., New Orleans, LA |
"Anything in the musical line ... from jew's harp to a grand piano" can be purchased in his stores, Philpitt boasted in a June 29, 1918 profile published in Music Trade Review, an industry journal.
Philpitt was a fascinating character. He began his musical career at age 11 by selling sheet music, talking machines and band instruments for retailers in Washington, Philadelphia and Baltimore. By 1910, at age 36, he was general manager of American Music Stores in N.Y. City, which operated 28 stores in 23 U.S. cities.
Six years later he launched his own venture by acquiring a sheet music shop in Washington, DC and opening a retail store in Jacksonville. In less than a decade he expanded his enterprise with additional stores in Miami (1916), Tampa (1917), St. Petersburg (1922), West Palm Beach and Orlando (1923).
The Florida firm's retail premises and musical merchandise sustained periodic damage from hurricanes, yet Philpitt continued to expand his chain of stores. In May 1925, when opening a Miami Beach unit, he told Music Trade Review annual sales for Philpitt & Son had reached three-quarters of a million dollars.
Philpitt attributed his success to a knack at placing Victrolas and musical instruments in local schools, bands, orchestras and churches and to making it easy for his customers to hear and buy records. When he expanded his Orlando store in January, 1925, he told Presto-Times he “offered music loving persons six record demonstration booths furnished as de luxe living rooms."
 |
| Exterior view of Philpitt & Son's main store in Miami Presto Times - November, 1930 — © arcade-museum.com |
But it was the South’s fervor for
"syncopating, fascinating jazz" that gave the firm its biggest
boost, Philpitt claimed in an April, 1919 article in Music
Trades. “There’s a pressing
demand for jazz instruments such as the saxophone, clarinet, trombone, cymbals,
ukulele-banjos,” especially in Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa, he said.
Early on Philpitt offered
Sunday afternoon classical music soirées at his Miami store. In the late 1920s
the impresario introduced such classical musical artists to Lower Florida as: operatic tenor Paul Althouse (1889 – 1954); basso Edward Lankow (1883
– 1940); violinist Mischa Elman (1891 – 1967); and pianist Arthur Rubenstein
(1887 – 1982).
Beginning in 1930 Philpitt’s music recitals
received radio airplay across the Sunshine State, though often at his own
expense. But by then he'd solidified his reputation in the music industry as
president of the Sheet Music Dealers Assn. and secretary of the National Music
Merchant Assn. (now called NAMM).
S. Ernest Philpitt & Son saw
three generations of family management between 1916 and 1982. The founder
brought his son, Marshall Swisher Philpitt (1902 – 1967), into the
business in 1925 when it incorporated. Marshall managed the Philpitt
business from the 1930s until 1945, when his son, Marshall
Swisher Philpitt Jr. (1922 - 2011), took over. Junior ran the stores
until 1980, after which the family formally dissolved the firm.
Pre-restoration photographs found
The more I learned
about the man who sold my guitar in Florida in the late 1920s or early
1930s, the more I knew Philpitt's trademark was as valuable as the Maurer
label. This insight blossomed when I found photographs of my guitar among
several Larson guitar photos on a website managed by Dan Alexander, a Berkeley,
CA dealer.
In Alexander’s gallery my guitar was displayed in lacklustre condition with a
rosewood bridge and fingerboard markers (pearl dots) on the 3rd, 5th,
10th and 12th frets. The photos also showed wood
grain lines in the mahogany back and headstock as well as surface dents, case
bites and finish blemishes to the top in the identical locations
as my guitar.
Alexander's soundhole photo revealed identical wood trademarks for Maurer
and Philpitt. In effect, his photos show this guitar before its restoration — a
key resource for any vintage guitar owner.
Sadly, he could not say who owned the Maurer 493 on his site or offer any provenance. "I'm
afraid I have no specific memory of your guitar," he told me.
When Schoenberg acquired the guitar, the top and back finish was badly worn and the original tuning machines had
failed. What's more, it needed a neck reset, proper bridge, bridge-plate
patch and other set-up work.
Maurer Style 493 repairs and updates
According to Schoenberg, Berkov's
repairs included: refinishing the top, sides and back with French polish; shaving,
but not refinishing, a sharp V in the mahogany neck; installing an ebony bridge with flattened wings and pearl inlays in a
stylized cloverleaf; replacing the faulty original tuning machines with new engraved Waverly
slot-head tuners; and replacing the original Argentan or German silver frets (an alloy of
nickel, copper and zinc) with modern frets.
The instrument originally had fingerboard markers (1/4-inch diameter pearl dots) at the 5th, 7th, 10th and 12th frets. For some reason - perhaps to appeal to modern players - Berkov moved the 10th fret marker to the 9th fret. Alas, when I called Berkov in June 2009 to discuss the work he'd done on this guitar, he said he could not remember the instrument or the restoration work.
Nevertheless, today the woody tone of this Maurer Style 493 is powerful, with a big bottom end, full projection, individual note clarity, head room to spare, and huge, shimmering sustain.
"It has the preciseness we've come to expect from Larsons," Schoenberg said. "A beguiling vintage guitar, with charm, class, and unique, non-Martin sound."
Acquiring this Maurer 493 in a trade
I acquired
this Maurer Style 493 in early 2009. At the time I was considering the sale of
a 1937 Martin 00-18H, one of 255 made between 1935 and 1941 and priced for $55.
It is a fine grand concert guitar (SN 65183), called the Lorizio after its
original owner, Jeanette Lorizio, nee
Porcello, who was born January 2, 1913 and deceased December 30, 2000 in
Norton, MA near Boston.
Long-ago converted from its original Hawaiian set-up, I acquired it in decrepit condition for $5,500 in June 2007 at the height of the vintage guitar market from vintage dealer Fred Oster in Philadelphia, PA. By year's end I paid luthiers Greg Hanson and David Crawford of Raleigh, NC another $1,650 to restore it.
Hanson and Crawford's work included: neck reset; fingerboard planing to achieve proper radius and removal of a hump at the 12th fret; refretting with modern T frets; installing a forgery-grade ebony bridge and intonated bone saddle; gluing a small piece of maple rescued from a 100-year-old piano onto the original bridge plate to eliminate string-ball damage; repairing two small irregular holes in the upper treble rib; and set-up work to accommodate my flatpicking playing style.
Though the quality of Hanson & Crawford's work was beyond reproach, Oster sniffed dismissively when he examined the fully restored guitar in January 2009. He called the work "passable, not great."
Whether accurate or not, Oster's negative opinion of a perfectly fine guitar spelled trouble. It could spoil my chance to ever sell the guitar through his shop or elsewhere in the vintage guitar market.
So I looked for a way to trade it away. When the Larson appeared for $6,675 at Schoenberg's website, I jumped to trade the Lorizio 00-18H for the Maurer 493, netting $1,000 from Schoenberg in the process.
The Lorizio is a great guitar and I enjoyed playing the restored instrument for a year. Still, I don't miss it. On the other hand, the Maurer 493 is an outstanding instrument that offers sublime pleasures to its player. Indeed, it's hard to put down even after playing it an hour or more.
Listen to this c. 1926 Maurer Style 493
Long-ago converted from its original Hawaiian set-up, I acquired it in decrepit condition for $5,500 in June 2007 at the height of the vintage guitar market from vintage dealer Fred Oster in Philadelphia, PA. By year's end I paid luthiers Greg Hanson and David Crawford of Raleigh, NC another $1,650 to restore it.
Hanson and Crawford's work included: neck reset; fingerboard planing to achieve proper radius and removal of a hump at the 12th fret; refretting with modern T frets; installing a forgery-grade ebony bridge and intonated bone saddle; gluing a small piece of maple rescued from a 100-year-old piano onto the original bridge plate to eliminate string-ball damage; repairing two small irregular holes in the upper treble rib; and set-up work to accommodate my flatpicking playing style.
Though the quality of Hanson & Crawford's work was beyond reproach, Oster sniffed dismissively when he examined the fully restored guitar in January 2009. He called the work "passable, not great."
Whether accurate or not, Oster's negative opinion of a perfectly fine guitar spelled trouble. It could spoil my chance to ever sell the guitar through his shop or elsewhere in the vintage guitar market.
So I looked for a way to trade it away. When the Larson appeared for $6,675 at Schoenberg's website, I jumped to trade the Lorizio 00-18H for the Maurer 493, netting $1,000 from Schoenberg in the process.
The Lorizio is a great guitar and I enjoyed playing the restored instrument for a year. Still, I don't miss it. On the other hand, the Maurer 493 is an outstanding instrument that offers sublime pleasures to its player. Indeed, it's hard to put down even after playing it an hour or more.
Listen to this c. 1926 Maurer Style 493
For years I've played vintage guitars and sung vintage songs, pairing each song with a guitar made in the same period. For this performance of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," composed by Jimmie Cox in 1923, I'm playing my 1926 Maurer Style 493. My accompanist is Matt Koch on bass.
The song was a hit in the 1920s and 1930s for Bessie Smith and other female blues singers who bemoaned the vicissitudes of fortune and the fickleness of friends amidst hard times. More recently, the song was popularized by Eric Clapton at his so-called Unplugged Concert of August, 1992.
The song was a hit in the 1920s and 1930s for Bessie Smith and other female blues singers who bemoaned the vicissitudes of fortune and the fickleness of friends amidst hard times. More recently, the song was popularized by Eric Clapton at his so-called Unplugged Concert of August, 1992.
This video was made in July, 2009 at Minstrel Coffeehouse in Morristown, NJ when we opened for jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. Unlike that Clapton feller's guitar, you'll notice there are no pick-ups, no wires and no electronic gimmicks attached to this vintage guitar.
____________________________________________
References Links
Centerstream
Publishing - centerstream-usa.com
C.F. Martin & Co. - martinguitar.com
Larson Bros
Guitars - larsonbrothersguitars.com
Larson
Creations - larsonscreations.com/home.htm
Schoenberg
Guitars - om.28.com
Vintage
Instruments - vintage-instruments.com
_______________________________________________
This article was originally posted on Thursday, January 31, 2013.
© 2013 and 2018 — Kenneth Lelen — All Rights Reserved
© 2013 and 2018 — Kenneth Lelen — All Rights Reserved
