1880’s C. Bruno Brazilian Rosewood Parlour – £1799

Aug 1, 2024 | Others

1880’s C. Bruno Brazilian Rosewood Parlour – £1799

NEW ARRIVAL  As Brazilian Rosewood is becoming harder to find, and consequently more expensive, turn of the century Brazilian parlour guitars are a more affordable way of getting that desirable tone. C. Bruno guitars are historically very interesting, as Charles Bruno was a business associate of C.F.Martin during the 1830’s before going into musical instrument distribution for Martin and others in the 1840’s. This example is most likely made by Oscar Schmidt, c. 1880, made in New York, serial # 7380. The bracing, bridge and headstock shapes foreshadow the typical 20th century Schmidt designs, and while this guitar is cosmetically plain it is very well made. The back and sides are Brazilian Rosewood and the top is Adirondack Spruce, with no binding or ornamentation except plain wood inlaid soundhole rings. The Mahogany neck has a V-profile with Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard, while the tuners are brass with bone buttons. The bridge is Brazilian Rosewood with the distinctive slope, wire saddle and sharp pyramid ends that characterise later Schmidt-made bridges. The guitar plays beautifully with silk-and-steel strings and has a wonderfully expansive sound for such a small instrument. Unusually for such an early instrument, it’s in excellent condition, with just a couple of side repairs, and a wear patch on the back below the neck heel. It has a very comfortable action, and is an absolute pleasure to play. It even comes in it’s original coffin hard case.

Others in this category

1890’s Howe Orme Cylinder Top  –  £3999

1890’s Howe Orme Cylinder Top – £3999

NEW ARRIVAL  After having had a Larson Brothers guitar in stock recently, I thought I’d played the best sounding acoustic ever. Until now. This Howe Orme is just amazing. The Adirondack Spruce top has a Cylinder design which looks very unusual, and sounds...

1930’s Regal Parlour   –  £699

1930’s Regal Parlour – £699

NEW ARRIVAL  Regal are probably the best known of the Chicago guitar builders of the 1930’s. From the lower end guitars with floating bridges and tailpieces - often incorporating stencil designs, right through to top of the range Brazilian Rosewood parlour guitars....

2022 Paul Toon PT-000  –  £1999

2022 Paul Toon PT-000 – £1999

NEW ARRIVAL  I’ve known Nottingham based luthier Paul Toon for about 10 years, and he’s always promised to give me one of his guitars to sell, but he’s constantly been busy with private orders. So when he got in touch saying he had a brand new model, and I could have...