1915 Dyer Harp Guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

On Friday we looked at a modern replica of a W.J. Dyer & Bro Harp Guitar, and here we see the real thing!

This Dyer "Symphonic Guitar" dates from 1915 and is therefore too late to have been made by Chris Knutsen. Possibly it's one of the Larson Brothers' Dyers.

For info, here's the text of the listing on eBay where it is being offered for sale with a Buy It Now price of $29,000:

Here's something you don't see everyday. An original American made Dyer #8 harp guitar made in (approximately) 1915. This was the top-of-the-line Dyer harp guitar and is considered the "holy grail" of harp guitars. In fact there are only 12 known to exist! This particular guitar has a custom side carving veneer (seemingly original by the look of the finish) that has never been seen before, making it truly unique. It is completely playable and is entirely original, except for some small pieces of the elaborate "tree of life" inlay expertly replaced by the genius of pearl inlay, Larry Robinson, some replaced bridge pins and a replaced fretwire saddle. In addition there is some minimal finish touchup around the original bridge by master luthier Chris Berkov, as well as a thorough cleaning and setup by Dexter Johnson of Carmel music. Sounds incredible with excellent playability. This is a true find and will be an amazing addition to any world-class guitar collection. Comes with a brand new custom Cedar Creek hard shell case.

More details are available on page 274 of George Gruhn's Acoustic Guitars, and at: http://harpguitars.net/blog/2010/09/a-custom-dyer-8/

G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Knutsen Dyer-style harp guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here we have a very nice example of a Knutsen Dyer-style harp guitar built by Alejandro Vasquez Rubio. The design of this "one-arm harp guitar" was patented in 1897 by Chris Knutsen, who was contracted to build guitars for W.J. Dyer & Bro in 1899. However Dyer switched to the services of the Larson Brothers in 1902, allegedly because their guitars were more consistent whereas Knutsens were all one-offs and could vary considerably from one example to the next.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!