Classic Guitar Experience

HISTORY OF THE GUITAR AND

WHERE IT CAME FROM

Later Guitar-

Taken from The book was entitled “European and American Musical Instrument” by Anthony Baines; A studio Book - The Viking Press - New York; 1966; Library of congress catalog card number 66-25611.

(Link to blog post of Part I: History of the Guitar Where it Came From)

Later Guitars

The middle of the 18th century was a quiet era in guitar design, even though ‘Spanish guitars’ were sold in most capitals. Yet one can see in the proportions of some examples the beginning of changes which were accelerated in the last 20 years of the century. Average measurements across the body of a full size guitar of the old type are of the older of: upper part, 8 ¼”, waist 7”, lower part 10”, By the end of the century the corresponding figures might be 9”, 6 ½”, 11”, thus wider, though narrower in the waist At this point the great creative period in the guitar’s history may be said to have begun, bring in a host of new features, some of which must now be noticed.

A typical early transitional guitar is by Lamblin (296). By this time, vaulted backs were no longer made, save sometimes in peasant instruments. The interior, previously lined only with paper, had sooden derfing strips or rows of separated triangular blocks. Soundholes are usually left vacant. Pages of Cadiz had already introduced fan-barring of the lower part of the belly before 1800 for acoustical gain. The change from double courses to six single strings commenced also before 1800, first probably not in spain but somewhere along a paris-Naples axis passing through Marseilles. From Naples a guitar in the Claudius Collection, Copenhagen (172), with the label of Antonio Vinaccia, 1784 (318), the single courses are already attached to a pin bridge-a device taken from harp practice. The lyre-guitars also seem to have been single-strung from the first. (The six single strings of the guitar have been normally three of gut and three of overspun silk.)

Alternative shapes of the head enter after 1800, including a figure-of-eight from (298), also machine heads from c. 1802 though not common until later. The guitars played by celebrated musicians like Weber, Schubert, Paganini and Berloiz would have been of the later transitional types with pin bridge, etc, as illustrated by an example by Grobert (298, 299) signed with the names of the last two of these musicians. The fingerboards are still mostly of the old type, flush with the belly and occasionally still fretted with gut. The extended fingerboard came in gradually after 1800 and is uncommon before 1830 save in advanced models like those of Louis Panormo of London, who had been introduced by the soloist Ferando Sor, c. 1809, to the latest Spanish models of the time. Two Panormo examples (302, 304) show this maker’s own development of the Spanish Model and the enormous progress made in advanced guitar design by 1830. Further enlargements of the body, especially in the lower parts, relocation of the bridge to the centre point of the lower bouts, and reduction of ornaments, took place in the 20 years, resulting in the mid-century models of Antonio Torres (305, 306), often cited a the creator of the modern Spanish guitar, and of other forward-looking luthiers like Martin of New York (308), Torres developed the Spanish tied bridge, rejecting the pin bridge which had made inroads into Spain as it had elsewhere. For a flamenco guitar the old peg head had been preferred to machines, for its relative lightness.

Besides these developments, guitars of less advanced models continued to be made up to the end of the century, particularly high decorated ‘ladies models’ (310). Also there have been innumerable variants forms, the most successful being that which is known in Germany as a Wappengitarre, ‘shield guitar’ (303), evolved in Vienna about 1800 on the premise that the upper swell of the body contributes little to the tone and might as well be omitted, or rather, for sake of appearance, be reduced to points. The model was copied to some extent in other countries and is in manufacture still. Other basically round outlines include cittern-like (311), a crescent forms (319) and many others. They are identified as guitars by their six strings (but in Russia often seven) and their guitar string length of around 25”. There are also early nineteenth-century lyre-guitars which the arms reduced to squared-off stumps. An american ‘harp-guitar’ dating from c. 1834 and still used recently by some soloist has an oval body with a long hollow prolongation which reaches to the floor (324).

(Link to blog post of Part I: History of the Guitar Where it Came From)