The older parlor guitar my neighbors have, has identical trim around the edges and sound hole. The headstock is the same except the point on this older one is worn down and rounded off a bit. This guitar has never been in a case since the 1920s when it was purchased USED at a pawn shop in Snohomish County, Washington State, (USA) for $5.00.
so... it is dirty and not as bright as the one shown at the website above but the trim is identical.

The owner played classical and flamenco and the finish is well worn off where a pick guard would be, yet the decoration, which I think must be some kind of tough and thick silk screen paint is still completely intact in that area. The owner also had a Martin but this one was his favored guitar. It used to have steel strings on it.

From what I recall, C. Bruno supposedly did not make any guitars, but privately labelled them 'Bruno' after getting them from other manufacturers, beginning way back in the late 1830s or 1840's. He was in a partnership with CF Martin for a short time around 1838.

Questions:

1) It seems that this headstock had been around for some decades. Does anyone know anything about this design, who may have actually manufactured it and where?

2) What is the white trim material that looks like Ivory? I was told by a piano restorer that they could cut ivory that thin and bend it, etc., with fresh Ivory I can understand that. What else would it likely be?

3) Does anyone recognize the artwork trim and have a guess as to when this guitar may have been manufactured? It could be 1800's, depends upon when they started using that headstock shape.

Good guestimating is acceptable, I guess,
:-)

I took my tricone over there and his wife wanted to play it- she plays lapstyle and her playing technique she calls 'Horses'.

She uses her fingers like little horses galloping and prancing up and down the fretboard- it was really cute.

She wants to learn how to play guitar so I offered to teach her

Thank you for any comments about the guitar.

Now I have to figure out how to get the photos linked up here
phangeaux

Phangeaux

PERSONALLY, when looking at 'The Vernon' guitar on that website, I SUSPECT that the fancy work on it was done at a much later time and is not original. It all seems too new to be original. Is it a restored original or is it a plain old Bruno that was modified and hyped up for a sale? There should be a number of those around if they are original. Anyone ever seen one like that before?
Nowhere in the advertisement is the word 'original' used. I guess that indirectly may answer the question. They may have conveniently omitted information about this being a recent decoration job.

They talk about how 'great' the guitar would be for blues, ragtime, slide etc., is sales hype.

Not that it matters much to me, but if I was a collector I wouldn't buy it until I knew for sure.

There is a topic about 'Ethics' and buying and 'flipping' guitars for a profit and I have avoided that topic like a hot potato. Whenever any knowlege is concealed that is NOT HONEST and therefor it is UNETHICAL. If you buy a valuable vintage guitar for $20 and know it is worth $2,000, you are cheating that person and their family members in a big way, and everyone else down the line as far as I am concerned, and that is UNETHICAL. Not much pride in saying Yeah I bought this great guitar for $2,000 but the guy I bought it from screwed somebodys's poor old mother out of it and and only gave her $20. for it- 'It was just collecting dirt'- sounds like it attracted some dirt in the end.

I can get away with saying this in my own topic, LOL, otherwise in that other topic I would have been singled out as 'the enemy'.

I am learning a little bit about guitar collecting at this site, LOL

Back to topic:

My neighbor's might like to know how much their little guitar may be worth. Obviously it is not a a signed Stradivarius. It is completely original except for one bridge peg on the high E string which is plastic. No markings inside were detected with a mirror.

Thanks for looking at it. If I could post a picture of that cute little lady doing the 'Horses Prancing' on the fretboard it would be worth your time to comment, that was cute, but I don't have permission.

Mostly German made, early 1900's, mail-order catalogue guitars, not too nice woods used and so on..
Kinda cheap and made in huge numbers and sold all over this side of the pond!!

The cool headstock is however something you don't see everyday!!

The headstock and neck look like an Oahu to me.

The guitar in your photos was made in the 1920s by the Stromberg - Voisinet Company (later known as Kay). You may be interested to know that a guitar almost identical to yours was the instrument that Charley Patton was photographed holding in his lap in the recently found, full length seated portrait. Did Charley own it, or was it a prop provided by the studio? We'll probably never know. But Charley was known to have several guitars at a time. He is said to have played Stellas and at least one Gibson. Perhaps a Kay also worked it's way into Mr. Patton's tool box!

you are the man. thanks for contributions on issues like this.

This does coincide with something my neighbor had said about the possibility that the guitar had been made in Chicago, he thought, by a Piano company, just something he had heard a long time ago.

This is wonderful information to bring to this old guitar

My searches, based on the help from everyone here have led me to some fascinating information about this company's history.

Here is a clip from a webpage with the URL so you can read the whole page.

quote:

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Groehsl Instrument Company, who had been in business in Chicago since 1890, changed its name to Stromberg-Voisinet. They were expanding their product line from bowl-backed mandolins, to include banjo's and guitars which would position them to become one of the lead instrument producers in the city of Chicago. Kuhrmeyer wished to be a part of their growth.

The musical instrument producer recognized Henry's talents and offered him an opportunity to invest in the company, which he did with the help of his father, Charles. By 1923, Henry Kuhrmeyer was listed in the Chicago City Directory as Secretary for Stromberg-Voisinet. Charles, while a businessman in St. Paul, Minnesota, was listed as the vice-president of Stromberg-Voisinet in the 1928 Chicago City Directory.

Stromberg-Voisinet hit some tough times during the depression when money was needed to keep inventory on hand. George Nicholas Einsele, a real estate developer and owner of the nation's largest string manufacturing business, had noticed Kuhrmeyer's ingenuity and hard work. Einsele had watched Kuhrmeyer lead the industry in the process of laminating material for instrument tops and backs and offered to invest in the company.

Kuhrmeyer had been able to lure three very talented luthiers away from a large competitor company, Lyon & Healy. Joseph Zorzi, Philip Gabriel and John Abbott designed, built and improved within their trade and brought forth with their talents an archtop guitar.

In 1929-30, Kuhrmeyer served as President of the Chicago Zone of the Association of Musical Merchandise Manufacturers. He was proud of his employees and their many years of experience. Henry was involved in the daily operation of the factory along with the labor negotiations which were always present when dealing with a workforce. Kuhrmeyer negotiated with his employees a 40-hour work week, a first in the music industry.... Source: http://www.kaybass.com/history.htm

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From http://www.mugwumps.com/faq.htm
>>Groehsl Company which had been in business making mostly Tamburitza instruments in Chicago.<<

Another added note clipped from a web page:

quote:

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http://www.tamburitza.org/TAA/bios/kovacevich.html
Jim Kovacevic made his first prim when he was nine, back in Buzevac, Yugoslavia. "I watched and copied my grandfather. The third one I made he took away and sold and gave me a suit!" Mr. Kovacevic once recalled. Constantly striving for better instruments, it was Kovacevich who joined with Andrew Groehsl in what is now considered the 'Stradavari' of tamburitza, the Groehsl cello.

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Thanks again,

Phangeaux and neighbors

The closest I can come to matching your neighbor's guitar is a Stromberg-Voisinet D-800 from 1929. (As always, Neil Harpe is spot-on!) The D-800 I have a picture of has the same peghead, four-dot inlay on the fingerboard and nearly identical decals on the top. But it does not have the binding, and the bridge is rectangular.

Thanks for any info,