UNRESERVED. Although the brothers left Sweden many years before, this particular instrument was ironically found in their home country. According to noted vintage instrument dealer George Gruhn, this guitar is “the most ornately-ornamented early Larson” he has ever seen. The Waverly tuners with special ivory buttons were engraved by Handel and inset with flowers in a gold inlay, the same seen on Martin guitars as early as 1893. It has a mahogany neck and the fingerboard is adorned with a pearl “tree-of-life” vine and flower pattern.

The guitar’s body is constructed of Brazilian rosewood and a fine spruce top; the top, back, and sides are trimmed with abalone. The standard Larson-shaped ebony bridge contains pearl inlays resembling pairs of inverted “f”s on each flat end. The beautiful, straight-grained, book-matched Brazilian rosewood back has abalone trim around the edges as well as down the backstrip. According to Robert Hartmann (grandson and grandnephew of the Larson Brothers, respectively), this specific guitar is the first Larson six-string he has seen with abalone trim on the back.

The spruce top has crack repairs in the lower bass bout and there was also a repair made to the bass side rim. Despite these repairs and its age, this guitar still emits a bold, yet sweet tone very pleasing to the ear.

Some playing wear on top, some playing wear on neck and back, some top cracks showing signs of repair