A 17th.C. Italian style marquetry guitar I made

george wilson

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This is woodworking,but it is also where the moderators put pictures of their work. Since we do now have a woodworking forum,I suppose woodworking is not forbidden now.

I made this when I was Master Musical Instrument Maker in Williamsburg from 1970 to 1986.(In 1986 the director finally,after 3 years,persuaded me to also take the title of master tool and instrument maker. I had been making tools in my small home shop and he wanted authentic tools for the craftsmen to use.)
It was made entirely by hand with period tools in public and took months to make. Since we talked about instruments and worked also,I can't put a real time line on the construction as it wasn't continuous.

The designing took research and time,too. This is not a copy of any existing original instrument,but the elements of the design are 17th. C. Italian. The guitar was ordered by a movie star who just said to make the guitar as fancy as I could. I love instructions like that from a wealthy customer.I get to be as creative as I want!!:) Actually,this is not as fancy as I could have done,but a some point I had to start working on other orders.

The walnut and holly marquetry was sawn with a very deep throated fret saw I also made of yew wood. Its throat was deep enough to encompass the length of the body and the sides. It took a strong wrist to hold it up while sawing the marquetry. Yew is a strong but reasonably light wood that was used for bows in medieval times.

The neck is pear wood with rectangular fine silver wire inlaid into thin grooves. The grooves were punched with a thin chisel that had a sharp edge. It neatly opened up a groove the width of the wire. By burnishing a "T" shape onto the bottom of the wire,and wetting the wood afterwards,the wood closed over the wire,the T section locking it in place. Gut frets were tied around the neck as you can see. They didn't have a tempered scale like we now have,and played in "mean tone" tunings until the 18th. C.. Frets could be slightly moved to play perfectly in tune in different keys. Musicians had to know a lot more about maintaining their instruments back then than they have to today. Harpsichords required daily tuning by the owner,for example. Today,pianos have cast iron harps in them to hold tunings. The wires are of spring tempered music wire,and hold better tune than wrought iron and brass wires. We hire a piano tuner once in a while (well,I don't). They maintained their tuning themselves.

The ebony strips in the top were done similarly,but glued in place.

The rosette consists of ivory elements sawn out,and decorative purflings inlaid in curved patterns. Small squares of ivory about 3/32" square were sawn in a little miter box and glued in place.

This is a full size guitar for the period. They did not start becoming larger until much,much later.

A beautiful case was also made for the guitar,but I neglected to take pictures of it (or of over 90% of my work,unfortunately).

guitar back2.jpg guitar neck back.jpg Italian guitar front.jpg
 
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George,
That is pretty darn spiffy!!! Are the designs inlaid or carved? It truly is an outstanding piece of work regardless of whether it is metal or wood. Thanks for the pics

Bob
 
They are inlaid. Sawn out as I mentioned in my description. I didn't want to write too long a post as people don't read long posts,and I'm not up to it anyway today. Glad you enjoyed it!!:)
 
WOW George!!!
:man:

The guitar is a thing of beauty.
Well done!!!!

mke:))
 
This one takes my breath away George.

"Billy G"
 
George, I've probably said if before and I'm sure to say it again but, I want to be like you if I grow up! Fantastic work, as always.

Thanks for sharing,

-Ron
 
Thank all of you for the kind remarks. I am glad you enjoy the work.
 
Phil,knowing what a super careful and exacting craftsman you are,I appreciate the compliment. Which one of us is the most OCD.:)
 
Outstanding piece of work. I think that kind of work should be shown to young people in our country to help demonstrate what hard work and dedication can create. Thanks for sharing the product of your creativity.
 
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