NMM 2531.  Harp-guitar by Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Company, Kalamazoo, 1916.
Style U (18-3/4").  Serial number 30907.  Factory order number 3125.
Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979.

This 1916 harp-guitar bears the customized, engraved initials of an early owner on the pick guard. The letters CEF appear inside a circle surrounded on each side by sprigs, engraving work that looks professionally done. The instrument also bears rhinestones inlaid in the pillar and the fingerboard.

Front, Side, and Back Views

Note: Click on any major structural area of the front or back to see a close-up of that area.

Soundhole and Label

Patent Date on Pickguard Support

Literature:  Joseph R. Johnson, Mandolin Clubs and Orchestras in the United States (1880-1920): Their Origin, History and Instruments, M.M. Thesis (Vermillion: University of South Dakota, 1987), pp. 66-68, 143.

Joseph R. Johnson, "The Mandolin Orchestra in America, Part 3: Other Instruments," American Lutherie, Vol. 21 (Spring 1990), pp. 50-51.

Joseph R. Johnson, "The Mandolin Orchestra in America," The Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Two, 1988-1990, (Tacoma, Washington: Guild of American Luthiers, 2000), pp. 274-276.

Steve Beckermann, Rusty Freeman, Michael Keller, and Michael J. Olsen, Art of the Guitar: A Luthier's Renaissance, Catalog of Exhibition at the Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota, February 26-June 7, 2009 (Fargo: Plains Art Museum, 2009), pp. 3 and 15.

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