Presented here is the model 15 I have in my posession.
I didn't bought it new but second hand just recently.
Built earlier by Hirade for Takamine as the label attests.
The number on the heelblock as well on the label itself
says it to be from 1984.
The own frequency of this guitar which means on
which it resonates the most is the note A so in Hz
that would be around 110 Hz. At first the sound of
this guitar didn't appeal to me to be honest but as I
couldn't imagine this was not a top guitar I searched
for some possible "defects. No issues at all but the
former own heightened the bridgebone with a
piece of a nylon string. Once removed and
having made a new bridgebone, the sound of
this guitar certainly was there!
A nice rosewood back and flawlessly built as can
be expected from Japanese guitars of that era.
Not the Kohno style bracing but a quite traditional
7 fan bracing. Back and sides: Solid Indian
rosewood. Scale 650 mm.
A really carefully cut nut that has a width of 52 mm.
Really great tuners that work very smoothly and even-
ly and have a nice ratio of about 1:18 (?)
Good Gotoh tuners, ebony fingerboard and provided
with knobs that are changeable.
This should be the label, just number 15 without the
"H". Odd is that they wrote "fifteen" the wrong way!
Remarkable is that the label in this Master Arte serie
normally has been hand signed and that counts
already for the lower grade models.
One can clearly notice the slightly sprayed back of
this guitar. Probably the influence of Masaru Kohno,
who at those times supervised the production of the
high end Takamines. The Hirade guitars however
have developed their own bracing and character,
although Mass Hirade was a pupil of Kohno.
The edge inlay seems to be copied from the Kohno
guitars but probably a third party is responsible for this.
The spruce top has been colored to a "Cashew" like
varnish, so called and used by several Japanese
luthiers.,
Highly ornamented as also is the even higher model 20.
The latter has Brasilian rosewood for sides and back.
Even better visible here. The inlay around the sound-
board. You can click on this picture to even enlarge it.
Most remarkable, apart from the beautiful sound is
the playability. Much attention has been devoted to
the carefully cut topnut and playing action they
provided these guitars with. In comparison with
other "makers" of that time like Juan Orozco, these
guitars have a lighter, more vibrant sound but still
the real depth is there as well as volume.
Husson Duchene (plm. 1840)
Here is a front view of the guitar that most likely
was made for the house Husson et Duchene.
The label in this guitar is lost but a lot of features
are pointing in that direction. When you compare
this picture with the one beneath you might be able
to trace the repaired cracks (3) and the outer
ends of the bridge. It received new fretwork as well.
The firm Husson et Duchêne was established in Paris
in 1839 by two luthiers Claude Charles Husson (1811-1893)
and Jean-Baptiste Colin Duchêne (b. c.1800-d.1889) This
French romantic classical guitar was made between 1839-
1845 when their shop was at Rue Grenéta, no 13.
This firm eventually gave birth to Thibouville-Lamy,
the largest purveyor of musical instruments in France.
When Duchêne left the partnership in 1848, Husson
took on a new partner, Charles Buthod (1810-1889).
In 1861, they were joined by Jerome Thibouville.
The firm of Husson, Buthod, and Thibouville brought
together regional factories which made woodwinds at
la Couture, brass instruments at Paris-Grenville, and
string instruments (including guitars) at Mirecourt.
By 1867, the partnership had become simply the firm
Thibouville-Lamy. By 1900, Thibouville-Lamy had
branches London and New York. This firm, in fact, still
exists. This little finely made French guitar has rosewood
back and sides, a bit uneven grained spruce top, and a
very lovely engraved rosette made of mother-of-pearl.
Machine heads with metal rollers. These are marked EON
fils and are not original. The scale is 625mm, with a
47 mm nut. The tone is romantic, with some silky soun-
ding trebles, firm basses, and excellent volume. This
Husson et Duchene classsical guitar will be restored
and can be brought back in excellent condition.
as was common on more instruments of that time.
The inner layer is mostly made of quarter sawn spruce.
You can see that in the next picture around the label
of this instrument that furthermore has a simple
ladder bracing glued to the soundboard.
Presented here is the label later placed in this guitar. Around
the label the use of a spruce layer on the rosewood back can
be seen here. Husson Duchene were not the only ones though
A lot of Thibouville Lamy guitars are equipped with a back
like this. Not that strange as Husson and Duchene were the
predecessors of the Thibouville Lamy & Cie company.
As can be seen here above, there were more labels
from this luthier, in this case with another address but
still with the name "Husson" not mentioned. Duchene
moved to Nancy and thus left the partnership with
Husson who later worked together with Buthod.
Duchene started in 1839 and ended the collaboration
with Husson in 1845 thus marking the exact period
in which this guitar must have been made.
This link will show you the stringed instruments such as mandolins and
guitars. It might give problems to enter it with this link but you can
always search for "Musee Mirecourt - France". A lot of names from
the 19th century French luthiers and pictures!
By clicking on this picture you can enlarge it as the
fingerboard is in one line with the soundboard. The
bridge with the damaged outer ends: In fact this guitar
came to me with metal strings so the bridge came off
as well! Luckily it has been glued with the original old
glue so removal isn't that difficult.The outer ends will be
glued again to the existing bridge. These models can be
found on the Lacote as well as the Aubry Maire
instruments, making it possible to examine it carefully.
Especially the green abalone motives are attractive as
was done on many Aubry Maire instruments. In fact the
plantilla resembles these instruments a bit. There were
possible relations with Aubry Maire as a supplier of
instruments for Husson et Duchene but regarding this
instrument it is still a supposition.
(source: Sinier de Ridder)
The unusual shape of the head makes these guitars
easy to identify though I found this headshape on a
Boulanger guitar as well. That instrument (and many
more) can be found at the Mirecourt museum site.
Carefully veneered head on front as well as its' back.
The back of the head that shows the
carefully placed head on the neck.
The heel of this instrument appeared to have a lining
after some cleaning. I have to place a new one on the right
side of the heel. Some additional gluework will be done.
I've added a new inlay on the right and flattened out the
side on that spot as well. After cleaning the left side it
was obvious there was no restoration needed.
Restauration of the endpin would have been allmost
impossible as it allways will be prone to future damage.
I made a new one out of a very old cello tuning peg.
Here's a picture of the restored endpin though the first one
could be a later addition as well. But that's part of this guitars'
history and I kept it that way. A trick that I learned from
a musical instrument dealer (Mr. Bissonet) near Place des
Vosges (Paris) was to place that old peg in a drilling
machine thus creating a kind of turning lathe. Some
secure working files then will do the job.
The EON tuners that were introduced in the second
half of the nineteenth century. In combination with
the inline fingerboard / soundboard one must conclude
that though these tuners are of good quality, they are not
original. Metal rollers and ebony knobs. It is very obvious
that this guitar has been built a bit earlier than these tuners.
Probably due to the use of metal strings the original bridge
cracked into two pieces alongside the openings for the pegs.
As there were allready some reparations made to it I
decided to replace it and made a copy of the original one.
It has to be sturdy and strong in the first place to prevent
future damages to the soundboard.
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