Mirecourt Guitar

[Steve Bettesworth]

I know Martins and Gibsons are what seem to float most boats on this forum, but this does it for me. It went on 'a well known internet auction site' today and made £650.I think its from the Mirecourt region of France, and must be about 150 - 200 years old. Not one of the best I've seen but  I would have loved to have had it in my work shop.

[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/derekfisk/media/T2eC16hygE9s7HLdLGBRqMhEGRFQ60_57.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/derekfisk/T2eC16hygE9s7HLd...[/IMG][/URL]

[Mark Pollock]

I'm always amazed at what is damaged/remaining on guitars like this. How can all six tuners (assuming they are original) still be on there?

[Ned Knepp]

I like that a lot, Steve. I freely admit to a weakness for small guitars and I'm fascinated by these older guitars from Europe. We don't  seem to have a lot of them over here but I know that I'm not the only one on these forums that like these guitars. I wouldn't say that this is a forum for "Martin's and Gibson"  but they are plentiful over here.  I've owned both and still own a martin  but they are not my "focus" and the appeal of an instrument like this Mirecourt is great to me.

BTW, are you aware of the "Crane guitar" site here.  If you haven't seen it, it may be of interest to you.  

[Kerry Krishna]

[Kerry Krishna]

 These are amazing looking instruments. Over here in North America, they are ONLY in Museums. Europe still has all the ones that are still floating around. I never expect to see one in person, and doubt anyone here on this Forum that is based here ever will either. Thanks for posting this...

[Eric Steven Johansen]

Beautiful piece. It always amazes me that instruments so lightly built survive. I guess heavy metal wasn't as big in the 1700's as it is today.

[George Roberts]

What a treat to see these instruments.  That looks like a lot of radius on that fingerboard.  Is that unusual, or have I just been unaware?