Classical Guitars - Kent Guitar Classics

La Prevotte - of Paris, Rue Louis le Grand 33.

• Year:

  1839 - written on the label in ink.

• Body:

  Stained bird's eye maple; one single piece of carved arch format for the back and single, solid sides which are joined to the back without purfling or separate bindings.
  Overall length:- 917mm
  Body length:- 444 mm.
  Top bout:- 239 mm wide & 78 mm deep.
  Waist:- 179 mm
  Bottom bout:- 317 mm wide & 79 mm deep.

• Front:

  Spruce - quite fine-grained, with oval-shaped soundhole surrounded by concentric ring of ivory and ebony. Similar ebony and ivory purfling around the front with ebony or rosewood bindings. Rosewood or ebony bridge with ivory edging and saddle. The front has two sets of near parallel, longitudinal bars either side of the soundhole, running the complete length of the front - and one central strut below the soundhole along the centre seam.

• Tuners:

  Original, high quality tuning machines of un-known manufacture with original rollers with brass ferrules

• Scale:

  597mm with 18 full frets, a 19th for 1st & 2nd strings and 20th for the 1st.

• Neck Width:

  50mm at the nut with 41 mm string spacing.

• Weight:

  1157 grams

• Condition:

  For a guitar of 175 years of age this is in remarkable, seemingly crack-free condition. Perhaps through some back shrinkage, a gap has opened up in the joint between back and side on the treble-side, upper bout. The front has no cracks (the dark line down the treble side is not a crack), no gaps nor separations and has very superficial marks only. The ivory facing to the front of the tie-block has been replaced and the broken original is in the case.
  Whilst not guaranteed, there are no indications that there has ever been any re-polishing or re-fretting.
  The machine tuners are original and in excellent working order.
  There is no hole or sign of use of a 'fixateur' (Aguado's tripod) in the heel near the neck-to-body joint.
  In terms of playing action the line of the fingerboard / fret surface is flat and needs some adjustment to be able to play more firmly without buzzing.

• Comments:

  This fine example is apparently an example of the highest of three models made at the time. It has ivory decorations and fittings as well as high quality machine tuners, with enclosed gear mechanism, that run extremely smoothly. Believed to be the same model as one played by Dionisio Aguado and as shown in commonly-seen engravings of the guitarist composer, these are really quite rare and hardly ever come to the market.

  La Prevotte - Click here to find out more about this maker

• Price:
  Sold July 2014
• AVAILABILITY
  SOLD + 44 (0) 1732 453 523 Contact via Email

  Available from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. UK time.