Harp guitar
Maker
Carl and August Larson
Distributor
W. J. Dyer & Brother
(distributor)
Date1917 ca.
Place MadeChicago, Illinois, United States, North America
ModelSymphony Style 5
Serial No.201
SignedPrinted on paper label, the style number and serial number written in black ink: SYMPHONY / HARP GUITAR / Style 5 No. 201 / MANUFACTURED BY / W. J. Dyer & Bro. / St. Paul, Minn. / Under UNITED STATES Patent / OF [illegible]Markingsnone
Description11 strings; 6 melody and 5 bass
soundboard: spruce
back and sides: mahogany
neck: Spanish cedar
peghead: Spanish cedar veneered with ebony; integral with head
frets: 18 nickel-silver frets [highest fret missing]
button: ebony
fingerboard: rosewood with single mother-of-pearl dots behind 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 12th frets
bridge: rosewood
saddle: nickel-silver fret wire
bridge pins: ivory celluloid
nut: ivory celluloid
two sets of worm-gear tuners with nickel-silver-plated brass plates and white celluloid heads
four additional nickel-plated tension tuners with black and ivoroid heads on standard guitar head and five nickel-plated tension tuners with black celluloid heads on harp headstock
Decoration:
large soundhole rosette: strips Black/White/B/B/W/colored/W/B/B/W/B
small soundhole rosette: blue strip/colored strip
soundboard purfling: B/W/B/W
back: colored wood back stripe
rosewood endpin with mother-of-pearl eye
tapered rosewood end graft
Dimensionstotal instrument length: 106.5 cm (41 15/16”)
fingerboard length: 41.8 cm (16 7/16”)
nut to bridge: 64.8 cm (25 ½”)
nut to neck and body joint: 32.3 cm (12 23/32”)
belly width/diameter: n/a
fingerboard width at nut: 4.9 cm (1 15/16”)
fingerboard width at body joint: 5.9 cm (2 5/16”)
width of upper bout: 34 cm (13 3/8”)
width of lower bout: 40 cm (15 ¾”)
width of waist: 27 cm (10 5/8”)
body depth at neck: 9.5 (3 ¾”)
body depth at bottom: 10.8 cm (4 ¼”)
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Published ReferencesRobert Carl Hartman, Guitars and Mandolins in America: Featuring the Larson’s Creations, p. 14.
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number01399
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