1910 Penzel_Muller Guitar Excellent, Soft, $3,495.00

What we have here is something of a mystery. Penzel & Muller were well-known makers of clarinets ca. 1890-1950. They had a storefront here in New York City in the early 19th century at 368 Bowery, in a building that is long gone, and was very near the Cooper Union, a much-revered engineering school where Abraham Lincoln gave a famous speech in 1860, and which building stands to this day. The guitar’s interior label reads G. L. Penzel & Müller / Manufactures of (illegible) / Musical Instruments / 368 Bowery / 3 Doors from Cor. of 4th St. NEW YORK / REPAIRING NEATLY DONE. While the guitar was almost surely made for them, rather than by them, it is of exceptionally high quality, with mahogany back and sides, spruce top, and straight bracing. The body is about the size of a Martin 12-fret 000 and perhaps even a little bit deeper; it certainly gives the impression of being quite large, especially for its day. The 12-fret neck, with original tuning machines, a 1-7/8” ebony nut and truly comfy, full feel, has a 26” scale, long by anyone’s standards. This gives it quite a bit of volume and response with big clear, bright tones across the entire spectrum, with an extremely easy-playing set of .011-.050 bronze strings. We have gone over this guitar thoroughly here in our own workshop to make sure that it is strong and tight in every respect and it is a truly wonderful instrument, in every way. High-quality, solid guitars of this type from the early 1900s do not show up very often these days and when they do, always seem to be in the $5-6000-and-up range. We offer this one, a truly satisfying instrument, now over one hundred years old, at $3495 w/ssc.