Washburn Style 115 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1908), made in Chicago, serial # A-31949, natural varnish finish, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, brown tolex hard shell case.
Back when C. F. Martin & Co. were a small shop building a few hundred guitars a year, Lyon & Healy in Chicago were sending thousands out of them into the world. The best and most expensive of these were branded Washburn, and most at the time would have agreed that --apart from a genuine Martin -- Washburns were the best that could be had. They were certainly the best promoted; Lyon & Healy were innovators in marketing as much as instrument building. Still their products were very much the standard of the day, and 100= years ago Washburn was one of the top prestige instrument brands in America.
This Style 115 actually sat at the bottom of the 1908 Washburn line, but is still a very nicely made, medium-fancy and high quality instrument. This small (under 12 1/2" wide) guitar is built with nicely bookmatched Brazilian rosewood back and sides. The mahogany V-profile neck is capped with a genuine ebony fingerboard. The top is solid spruce, braced in the "canted ladder" pattern specific to Chicago made guitars. The single brace behind the soundhole is set at a shallow angle, something seen from the late 1800's up into the 1930s usually only on guitars from this area by different makers.
The top and backstrip are trimmed with finely detailed wood marquetry, as is the soundhole. The top, back and soundhole edge are bound in celluloid. The fingerboard and headstock are unadorned except for three large pearl position marks. Inside the soundhole is the original Washburn "best in the world" label carrying an A-prefix six digit serial number (also stamped on the heel block) dating to around 1908. The backstrip carries the trademark "George Washburn" stamp for good measure.
This is a lovely sounding guitar, with a delicate but surprisingly robust tone for its diminutive (by modern standards) size. It is very responsive and sings sweetly under a delicate touch, but is also capable of a bluesy bark if pushed. As with all Washburns of this era, it is recommended for silk & steel strings ONLY; regular steel stringing is well more tension than it was designed for.
Overall length is 36 11/16 in. (93.2 cm.), 12 3/8 in. (31.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 1/4 in. (616 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This 110 plus year old guitar has seen a decent amount of work to keep it playable, but nothing that detracts from its sound or character. The original thin varnish finish remains intact on the top, back and upper side; the lower side was some time ago polished out due to a long crack repair through the waist. There is micro-checking with dings, dents and scratches overall, and some notable finger wear to the top.
The neck is finished in a darker black varnish, which looks to have been an overfinish done a LONG time ago, as it is also period varnish. There is a small repaired partial crack through the bass side wing of the headstock (below the low E tuner) that is the likely cause of this. A decent amount of this finish has worn away again since, down to the wood on the back of the neck.
The neck has almost certainly been reset long ago, the fretwire is quite old as well but we assume it is an ancient refret. The bridge is an inexact repro of the original style, lower than the original but serviceable. A tailpiece was mounted on the guitar at some point long ago, and a few mark remain. Internally the original bracing and bridgeplate are in tact and unaltered. The tuners strips are of recent vintage and have been artificially aged. This is a good player's example of an early 20th century Washburn, a sweet sounding and very playable instrument. It is housed in a lovely if battered original Washburn HSC, which is even rarer than the guitar. Very Good + Condition.
