Anyone ever played an Albanus archtop?

MrBoZiffer

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Gruhn has one that is really beautiful. Apparently it needs a bit of work like some binding reglued and a new guard. At $4k it's way out of my price range. But if they are good quality then I'm sure that's a great deal in comparison to the 50's Stromgbergs and Gibsons. I wonder how they feel and sound? I'm only a few hours from Nashville, so maybe Gruhn will still have it the next time I'm there and I can try it out. :D

AR3999.jpg
 

AlohaJoe

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Beautiful! And apparently Albanus may have made fewer than 100 guitars in his entire career, each made to order according to Joe at Atchtop.com. 4k for the one at Gruhn may be quite the bargain for a hand carved instrument of this quality.

This 17" Albanus just showed up on his site at $5995 with lots of good historical information:
http://www.archtop.com/ac_albanus17_210.html

2 more previously sold but without much additional info: http://www.archtop.com/ac_albanus1.html
and here: http://www.archtop.com/ac_albanus2.html
 

MrBoZiffer

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Yeah, I read some of that stuff too. Archtop.com always has nice stuff and excellent info, but the prices are certainly high. Although I'm sure it's worth it since they seem to put a lot effort into each guitar.

The Albanus history does seem pretty cool and unique. I think Gruhn has had that one in particular for a while, so maybe it'll sit a while longer. Maybe I'll have some more dough by then. :mrgreen:

That one would probably look good with a black guard like Guild or even a clear guard like Hofner. 8)
 

MrBoZiffer

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Apparently. On the site they say that it needs a little work like a new guard and some binding reglued. My guess is that the pickup and jack were not original.
 

NEONMOONY

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I see two pictures and several more references, on the internet. Both guitars pictured have pickups, don't know if they are original. One looks similar to the one in this post.
 
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