Larson Brothers Wm. Stahl Style #7 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1914)
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Item #10696
Wm. Stahl Style #7 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, made by Larson Brothers (1914), made in Chicago, serial # 18004, natural varnish finish, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, spruce top, mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, black hard shell case.
Any discussion of the finest flat-top guitars ever made will soon enough come around to the work of Carl and August Larson. From the very beginning of the 20th century up until WWII, the Larsons' small Chicago workshop turned out a dizzying assortment of exceptionally well-crafted fretted instruments -- guitars, mandolins, the occasional ukulele, and even harp guitars. The catch is, the Larsons never put their own name on their instruments. Much of their output was contracted to sell under other brands, with guitars labeled "Maurer" sold by themselves. When building instruments to order, the Larsons made what was requested, but always to their own lofty standards.
One of their most prominent resale accounts was William C. Stahl of Milwaukee, a virtuoso mandolin player turned to authoring instruction methods. Around 1906 the Larsons began supplying mandolins and guitars to Stahl, who claimed himself as the maker, a deception common in this "patent medicine" era. Wm. C. Stahl remained one of the Larson's biggest accounts in the 'aught years and 'teens, and they built a steady stream of mandolins and guitars for him up into the 1930s. If Carl and August seemed reticent to promote themselves, William Stahl was the opposite: garrulous, confident, and endlessly chatty.
Stahl's 1910s ads scoff at "machine-made" instruments, insisting his are strictly "handmade ... reasonable in price and perfect as human hands can make them" and built under his "personal supervision". This would have been quite a trick, as the Larsons were building in Chicago while Stahl's offices were in Milwaukee! While Stahl primarily promoted mandolins, he also sold a decent proportion of guitars, including high-end pieces like this one.
This particular instrument is a lovely example of the brothers' finer work, labeled for Willian Stahl but in every way a Larson product. The brothers' instruments have become recognized as uniquely desirable and historically important in recent years, and the best grade flat-top guitars are the most sought-after pieces. This appears to be a Stahl Style #7, priced at $40 in 1912 or so. The very few extant catalogs are often not exactly representative of the actual instruments made over many years, but this is the closest match. Based on Larson scholar Robert Hartman's research this appears to be a fairly early example of a Stahl dating to around 1914.
Whatever its actual designation this is a beautiful guitar featuring many of the Larson brother's higher grade appointments. The back and sides are high-grade Brazilian rosewood with a lovely straight grain figure on the back and some colorful swirling on the bass side. The top is very tight-grained spruce, built with sturdy X-pattern spruce braces; most Stahls do not have the Larson's patented laminated bracing system. Both the top and back are built with the subtle arching that is a Larson trademark.
The top is bordered with a wide beveled celluloid strip, two half-herringbone bands and gleaming abalone inlay around the circumference and sound hole rim. The bridge is ebony with an inlaid pearl clover at each end. The neck is one piece mahogany, slim with the hint of a soft "V" profile the Larsons stopped using by the 1920s. It still has a surprisingly supple modern feel for a nearly 110-year-old guitar. The thick ebony fingerboard is very thinly bound with grained ivoroid and inlaid with shaped pearl pieces. The headstock is overlaid with Brazilian rosewood, bound and inlaid with small pearl doodads on the face. This is a physically small but sonically imposing guitar, a truly fine representation of the Larson's artistry and after well over a century an exceptional sounding instrument.
Overall length is 38 in. (96.5 cm.), 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 11/16 in. (11.9 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
Overall this is a lovely 100+ year old example of a small body, high grade Larson-made instrument. The top finish shows only a few signs of wear, with pickwear in a small area next to the high "E" string running from the soundhole rosette and towards the bridge. Otherwise, the finish shows light crazing throughout and only a few press marks, dings and dents. The neck is similarly clean with only a couple of non-feelable marks along its length. The headstock has a couple of scuffs on the bass side of the front face, but is also otherwise clean.
The top has one carefully sealed grain crack just below the fingerboard, running from the rosette to the neck block. Only a tiny portion of it shows at the edge of the rosette below the fingerboard extension. Except for this one neat repair the interior is clean, showing just a tiny carefully made maple bridge plate cap to protect the original spruce plate from string ball end damage. The bridge is original and show no signs of regluing, though the front edge has been shaved slightly, presumably to lower the action before a neck set was performed.
There are a pair of tightly sealed and lightly touched up rosewood grain cracks on the bass side rim next to the heel block. Otherwise the back and sides are clean and free of anything other than a few scuffs, marks and light scratches. The neck has been neatly reset. There are a pair of discrete touch ups on either side of the heel where it meets the rim on each side as a result.
There is a short stretch of edge binding replaced on bass side of the fingerboard edge, running from the 12th fret to the rosette and another tiny section on the treble side next to the rosette. The frets have been replaced with slightly larger wire than the original which most modern players would prefer as that was quite small! This is simply a lovely guitar to play, with the delicate yet powerful sound that is the Larson trademark. Overall Excellent - Condition.
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Any discussion of the finest flat-top guitars ever made will soon enough come around to the work of Carl and August Larson. From the very beginning of the 20th century up until WWII, the Larsons' small Chicago workshop turned out a dizzying assortment of exceptionally well-crafted fretted instruments -- guitars, mandolins, the occasional ukulele, and even harp guitars. The catch is, the Larsons never put their own name on their instruments. Much of their output was contracted to sell under other brands, with guitars labeled "Maurer" sold by themselves. When building instruments to order, the Larsons made what was requested, but always to their own lofty standards.
One of their most prominent resale accounts was William C. Stahl of Milwaukee, a virtuoso mandolin player turned to authoring instruction methods. Around 1906 the Larsons began supplying mandolins and guitars to Stahl, who claimed himself as the maker, a deception common in this "patent medicine" era. Wm. C. Stahl remained one of the Larson's biggest accounts in the 'aught years and 'teens, and they built a steady stream of mandolins and guitars for him up into the 1930s. If Carl and August seemed reticent to promote themselves, William Stahl was the opposite: garrulous, confident, and endlessly chatty.
Stahl's 1910s ads scoff at "machine-made" instruments, insisting his are strictly "handmade ... reasonable in price and perfect as human hands can make them" and built under his "personal supervision". This would have been quite a trick, as the Larsons were building in Chicago while Stahl's offices were in Milwaukee! While Stahl primarily promoted mandolins, he also sold a decent proportion of guitars, including high-end pieces like this one.
This particular instrument is a lovely example of the brothers' finer work, labeled for Willian Stahl but in every way a Larson product. The brothers' instruments have become recognized as uniquely desirable and historically important in recent years, and the best grade flat-top guitars are the most sought-after pieces. This appears to be a Stahl Style #7, priced at $40 in 1912 or so. The very few extant catalogs are often not exactly representative of the actual instruments made over many years, but this is the closest match. Based on Larson scholar Robert Hartman's research this appears to be a fairly early example of a Stahl dating to around 1914.
Whatever its actual designation this is a beautiful guitar featuring many of the Larson brother's higher grade appointments. The back and sides are high-grade Brazilian rosewood with a lovely straight grain figure on the back and some colorful swirling on the bass side. The top is very tight-grained spruce, built with sturdy X-pattern spruce braces; most Stahls do not have the Larson's patented laminated bracing system. Both the top and back are built with the subtle arching that is a Larson trademark.
The top is bordered with a wide beveled celluloid strip, two half-herringbone bands and gleaming abalone inlay around the circumference and sound hole rim. The bridge is ebony with an inlaid pearl clover at each end. The neck is one piece mahogany, slim with the hint of a soft "V" profile the Larsons stopped using by the 1920s. It still has a surprisingly supple modern feel for a nearly 110-year-old guitar. The thick ebony fingerboard is very thinly bound with grained ivoroid and inlaid with shaped pearl pieces. The headstock is overlaid with Brazilian rosewood, bound and inlaid with small pearl doodads on the face. This is a physically small but sonically imposing guitar, a truly fine representation of the Larson's artistry and after well over a century an exceptional sounding instrument.
Overall length is 38 in. (96.5 cm.), 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 11/16 in. (11.9 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
Overall this is a lovely 100+ year old example of a small body, high grade Larson-made instrument. The top finish shows only a few signs of wear, with pickwear in a small area next to the high "E" string running from the soundhole rosette and towards the bridge. Otherwise, the finish shows light crazing throughout and only a few press marks, dings and dents. The neck is similarly clean with only a couple of non-feelable marks along its length. The headstock has a couple of scuffs on the bass side of the front face, but is also otherwise clean.
The top has one carefully sealed grain crack just below the fingerboard, running from the rosette to the neck block. Only a tiny portion of it shows at the edge of the rosette below the fingerboard extension. Except for this one neat repair the interior is clean, showing just a tiny carefully made maple bridge plate cap to protect the original spruce plate from string ball end damage. The bridge is original and show no signs of regluing, though the front edge has been shaved slightly, presumably to lower the action before a neck set was performed.
There are a pair of tightly sealed and lightly touched up rosewood grain cracks on the bass side rim next to the heel block. Otherwise the back and sides are clean and free of anything other than a few scuffs, marks and light scratches. The neck has been neatly reset. There are a pair of discrete touch ups on either side of the heel where it meets the rim on each side as a result.
There is a short stretch of edge binding replaced on bass side of the fingerboard edge, running from the 12th fret to the rosette and another tiny section on the treble side next to the rosette. The frets have been replaced with slightly larger wire than the original which most modern players would prefer as that was quite small! This is simply a lovely guitar to play, with the delicate yet powerful sound that is the Larson trademark. Overall Excellent - Condition.
