The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #176

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    I enjoyed the book tremendously, but it also requires a bit of reading between the lines, as it stops short of calling out various deeply involved people as corrupt, crooks, and thieves, whose actions over more than one generation led directly to the disappearance of Musima. Perhaps it's implicit for those who experienced the joys of the Worker's Paradise and the period thereafter - OF COURSE these characters were corrupt, crooks, and thieves. But North Americans are more naive when it comes to such matters, I suspect. Anyway, still a good book.

    Regarding John Zeidler, his instruments have many design cues that evoke German archtops, to me. I wish I had had the opportunity to meet the man and talk about guitars with him.

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  3. #177

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    Hammertone, some names of the involved people you call crooks are known - it had no consequence.

    The human factor. We are in a comfortable position to judge from today's perspective, but who of us can say with certainty how far WE would have gone then? After decades of socialism, planned economy and nepotism. After the acting of the Stasi, which was perhaps only surpassed by the Gestapo, or by Alexander von Benckendorff's horrific Russian Secret Police in the 18th century.
    To the people in the East who had lost their jobs, the trust agency was the epitome of inhuman capitalism and mainly associated with deception, expropriation and colonisation. For those in the West, the "Treuhand" stood for a strategy which was indeed painful, but without an alternative; ultimately successful, but first and foremost, extremely expensive.

    The "Treuhand" was a unique experiment - similar to our experiences in this Covid pandemic. What we can say about the former, after more than 30 years, is that the German reunification seems to be successful, but it is far from being over.

    Yes, I also wish I had had the opportunity to meet John Zeidler, and I would have been very curious about Zeidler-designed Musima guitars!





    Hard times create strong people.
    Strong people create good times.
    Good times create weak people.
    Weak people create hard times.


  4. #178

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    I spied this lovely specimen on the local ebay classifieds. It was advertised as an Isana, the Elvis guitar. But the curve of the carve of the top and the fact that the neck was attached with the clock-winding bolt mechanism made me think otherwise. It seemed to me to be from the DDR. Since there is no truss rod I felt like it was from the 50s, in my admittedly amateur opinion. I briefly consulted Hammertone, and he concurred.


    So I went for it. It could use new frets and there are some cracks in the body to deal with at some point. But it sounds really good to me. The tone is bright and clear... and loud.


    The bridge was wrong. It didn't match the fretboard radius and its base didn't fit the curve of the top. The tailpiece, I have no idea if it's original.


    I've attached a few pictures, including one of the inside, which looks like a saloon by the cold light of day. That blob in the corner was a gigantic lint ball that later made its way out, spontaneously, like the last straggler at a party.


    Vintage German Archtops-img_0148-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0149-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0147-jpeg
    Vintage German Archtops-img_0163-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0178-jpeg
    Attached Images Attached Images Vintage German Archtops-img_0153-jpeg 

  5. #179

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    That's an Epiphone Frequensator tailpiece, or at least a copy of one. I would doubt that it's original, but as long as it works, so what. IMO the requirement for having everything completely original is silly. Sometimes replacement parts just work better. Sometimes not, but as long as it gets the job done I'm fine with it. That's a cool-looking old guitar.

  6. #180

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ol' Fret
    To the people in the East who had lost their jobs, the trust agency was the epitome of inhuman capitalism and mainly associated with deception, expropriation and colonisation. For those in the West, the "Treuhand" stood for a strategy which was indeed painful, but without an alternative; ultimately successful, but first and foremost, extremely expensive.

    The "Treuhand" was a unique experiment - similar to our experiences in this Covid pandemic. What we can say about the former, after more than 30 years, is that the German reunification seems to be successful, but it is far from being over.
    It is very rare to hear a thoughtful and balanced characterisation of the "Treuhand"! I feel that in recent years this whole story gets more and more shoehorned into political ideologies leading to very much lob-sided accounts.

  7. #181

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    Quote Originally Posted by supersoul
    I spied this lovely specimen on the local ebay classifieds. It was advertised as an Isana, the Elvis guitar. But the curve of the carve of the top and the fact that the neck was attached with the clock-winding bolt mechanism made me think otherwise. It seemed to me to be from the DDR. Since there is no truss rod I felt like it was from the 50s, in my admittedly amateur opinion. I briefly consulted Hammertone, and he concurred.


    So I went for it. It could use new frets and there are some cracks in the body to deal with at some point. But it sounds really good to me. The tone is bright and clear... and loud.


    The bridge was wrong. It didn't match the fretboard radius and its base didn't fit the curve of the top. The tailpiece, I have no idea if it's original.


    I've attached a few pictures, including one of the inside, which looks like a saloon by the cold light of day. That blob in the corner was a gigantic lint ball that later made its way out, spontaneously, like the last straggler at a party.


    Vintage German Archtops-img_0148-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0149-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0147-jpeg
    Vintage German Archtops-img_0163-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0178-jpeg
    That is a lovely instrument. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

  8. #182

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    @supersoul: That looks like a very nice and good quality guitar you found! Interestingly, there is one quite similar on eBay Kleinanzeigen at the moment.

    @sgosnell: Several German makers also used the Frequensator tailpiece on their archtops, so it may well be original.

  9. #183

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    What I don't know about German archtops fills several books.

  10. #184

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    ABM made a very good copy of the Frequensator tailpiece. The baseplate was thicker than that on the original Frequenstor and did not split. It was used by Hofner on the Model 462 archtop, as shown below. A similar tailpiece was also used by Roger on a few Berlin-labelled guitars, as shown below.

    I think there was also an East German version - IIRC, I have one on a guitar around here somewhere...
    Attached Images Attached Images Vintage German Archtops-img_0210-jpg Vintage German Archtops-roger-super-986-1_zpsb67b4e13-jpg 
    Last edited by Hammertone; 02-23-2021 at 03:29 PM.

  11. #185

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    Here's another East German guitar with a body similar to that posted by supersoul:
    Attached Images Attached Images Vintage German Archtops-img_0137-jpg 

  12. #186

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    What I don't know about German archtops fills several books.
    Me too, and those books are in German which I'm not so good at reading. I have been reading up on them a lot lately, mainly the various German vintage guitar sites, and also the article on Rogers guitars. I'm thinking of picking up the book mentioned above, Musima - Guitars for the Whole World, A Musical Giant from Markneukirchen and its History 1954 - 2003 and I'd like to visit Markneukirchen when it's possible to travel again. Premiere Guitar has a nice long article about Markneukirchen.

    I agree about not keeping these old guitars "mint." For one thing, I tend to feel more comfortable playing guitars that aren't mint, and perhaps have some scratches and wear marks. With a brand new guitar I'm afraid that I'm going to hurt it somehow, and my playing can be inhibited. Aside from my first couple guitars (an Aria Pro II shredder with a lightning bolt across the front!) I've always bought used. The Frequensator looks nice and it does it's job.

    @cmajor9 not that I'm going to buy it, but where is the one that looks similar? These old guitars are addicting.

    @Hammertone That does look a lot like mine, except in Fire Engine Red! It's a beauty. And thanks for answering my questions back when I was looking.

  13. #187

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  14. #188

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    Quote Originally Posted by supersoul
    I spied this lovely specimen on the local ebay classifieds. It was advertised as an Isana, the Elvis guitar. But the curve of the carve of the top and the fact that the neck was attached with the clock-winding bolt mechanism made me think otherwise. It seemed to me to be from the DDR. Since there is no truss rod I felt like it was from the 50s, in my admittedly amateur opinion. I briefly consulted Hammertone, and he concurred.


    So I went for it. It could use new frets and there are some cracks in the body to deal with at some point. But it sounds really good to me. The tone is bright and clear... and loud.


    The bridge was wrong. It didn't match the fretboard radius and its base didn't fit the curve of the top. The tailpiece, I have no idea if it's original.


    I've attached a few pictures, including one of the inside, which looks like a saloon by the cold light of day. That blob in the corner was a gigantic lint ball that later made its way out, spontaneously, like the last straggler at a party.


    Vintage German Archtops-img_0148-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0149-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0147-jpeg
    Vintage German Archtops-img_0163-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0178-jpeg


    Until the 1960s, some of the old-school master guitar makers were still busy in the Markneukirchen area. Usually, these were educated violin makers, so they were able to carve really good archtop bodies from solid woods. Just have a look at the cleats, the hot hide glue, the shape of these tonebars: that's one way to form extraordinary bracing for an acoustic archtop, not just using plain bulky and uniformly rectangular bars!
    OTOH, violin makers didn't know too much about making guitar necks. The necks of these guitars were not reinforced, thus more like little baseball bats. Only top masters like the Seiferts, Herbert Todt, Willy Wolfrum etc., were able to manufacture slimmer and well-playable necks (unreinforced). The resourceful Wenzel Rossmeisl, during his Markneukirchen stay (around 1947 - 1951), was one of the first to create stiff and slim guitar necks in Germany due to a special gluing technique involving heat and high pressure over some days. The Roger guitars he made later in Mittenwald until 1958/59 are more Louisville Sluggers ...


    Master archtop guitar makers had been working in and around Markneukirchen before Roger arrived (for example, Otwin, and others), but Roger, the very first musical company that was expropriated by the GDR (the next one, among many, many others, had been Ernst Heinrich Roth / EROMA, a legendary family in the violin world - Charles Mingus' 'The Bass' was a Roth) was the starting point for many East German guitar "brands". You can notice this by the fact that craftsmen like the Seiferts or Herbert Todt, and others, offered archtop guitars both in the cello and the German carve style. German carve not only means a certain appearance, but a defined way of production: Hammertone's flashing red guitar above (a Marma specialty, though this one could or could not be a Seifert) was made according to the German carve method, which was originally invented in Markneukirchen before WW I. Others, like supersoul's bordeaux-colored guitar, fall in between: they appear to be manufactured in the cello style, with a flattened, just slightly arched center (German carve is always straight flat) to offer a more_visual_only Roger German carve.


    A nice guitar! Do we know who made it? Not sure here. East German quality "brands" (international dealers in the GDR or in German "Fortschicker"), allowed only in the GDR's early years - like Hemosch (Heinrich Moritz Schuster) or PerlGold (Kurt Gropp) - sold such quality guitars. Master names didn't mean anything in the workers' and peasants' state: from 1960 or so, by far most big names (completely unknown outside the GDR, and often inside as well) were "integrated" in producers' cooperatives like the Migma or Sinfonia, finally Musima. The old masters got tired and retired ...

    More than in West Germany, these guitars were handmade or somehow custom made according to the wishes of the Fortschicker - rarely the customer. The sound hole shapes, the headstock, the bling, and so on, don't mean too much for assigning the actual makers.
    The overall style (and the dimensions) of this guitar should be very similar to some particular models that were sold by Kurt Gropp, and were finished in a not frequently found bordeaux-red. The pics below are not mine, but I own the same model - can't find the pics on my machine at the moment. A great sounding electro-acoustic archtop that really deserves that name:


    Vintage German Archtops-perlgold-seifert-style-cutaway-bordeaux-sunburst-front-back-jpg

    Sorry for (m)any omissions - German vintage guitars could cause considerable confusion and often demand much background knowledge! I agree that some books on this subject should be compiled by knowledgeable folks ...



    Yes, Frequensator-style tailpieces were produced in East and West Germany since the 1940s. By far most of them work until this day without problems. Note that the short leg isn't as short as the original by Epiphone, so no problem with whatsoever string length ...



    << [...] the last straggler at a party. >>
    Wow, what a nice thought in these times in particular - being a night owl in a overcrowded jazz club!
    Once again, jazz guys, stick that stupid pandemic out: all pandemics were gone after two, or so, years (ok, a former teacher of mine would have said: all, except our human stupidity!). The Golden Twenties have to appear again!
    Last edited by Ol' Fret; 02-23-2021 at 07:56 PM.

  15. #189

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    Quote Originally Posted by cmajor9
    Cool, that looks pretty similar to the one I got. It looks nicely refurbished.

    @Ol' Fret

    I looked up Kurt Gropp Perlgold and found this:

    which also looks a lot like mine. He's picking/strumming close to the bridge and sometimes he has on a capo, so it's not a good representation of how it sounds for jazz.

    The neck on mine is rather like a baseball bat, but it fits my hand comfortably. The nut is about 40.5mm, pretty narrow. The frets are pretty bad, so I have the action at a little over 2 mm at the 12th fret. I intend to change the frets in the near future.

    The top of mine indeed has a slight curve to it. It's not flat. That's good to know that the German curve is always flat on top.

    I spent a few days on a deep dive into German archtops on the internet, trying to figure out what mine is, trying to match characteristics to individual makers. Like you said, the bling isn't really useful to determining individual makers.

  16. #190

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    Supersoul, the PerlGold guitar construction in the video above is quite different to your guitar:

    This one has a domed or pressed soundboard with a comparably low arching, yours is a conventionally- or cello-carved guitar - like the gut pics reveal.
    This one has a cross bracing on the back, yours should have no bracing there.
    These factors alone contribute to a very different tone, in addition to the picking, the chords and probably the strings as well, which to most ears used to jazz must sound a bit "unjazzy".


    Only 40.5mm nut width? (let's talk of the zero fret width, and a string spacer instead of the nut)
    This would strongly point to a 1960's guitar: most Germans archtop guitars didn't follow exactly the general neck width the US market leader rolled out on their Gibsons during the 1960s - after all, how would the East Germans behind the Iron Curtain know about? -, but in some cases they did so, more or less.

  17. #191

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    Some uncertainty still seems to exist in the international guitar world when it comes to the Roger (or real) "German carve".
    How can we recognize if a hollowbody guitar was made in the German carve tradition? Well, we have to know how exactly the German carve was made. The steps are comparably simple and reproducible, so that Wenzel Rossmeisl, the "inventor" of the German carve in the guitar world, is sometimes called the Leo Fender of archtop guitar making.

    Let's have a look:
    1. Glue the radial cut, aged, solid plate halves together (usually spruce and maple).
    2. Plane the plates to a uniform thickness throughout.
    3. Shape the inside hollowing with a wood cutter along a mould.
    4. Blend the transition of the cut hollow to the gluing surface along the bottom edges. Roger and his folks did this probably with a (handheld) sanding machine.
    5. Flip the plate and cut the channeling (recurve) with a channeling cutter, again along a mould.
    6. Plane down the edges outside of the recurve to the desired thickness.
    7. Cut the sound holes.
    8. Select, fit and glue two longitudinal tonebars underneath (again, like with the corresponding upper surface, that bottom center area is strictly flat)
    After the box is closed:
    9. Cut the channels, then glue in the purfling and binding.
    10. Blend and smooth the transition of the binding and recurve area with gouges, violin maker planes and scrapers.


    For better illustration below three pics of an original Roger Super / Luxus Alpine spruce soundboard.
    It's a late one, hence these conventional ff-holes, instead of the former cateyes; hand-lettered (probably by Wenzel himself) with the note "Super Nat.[ural]". The wood for these Roger flagships must have been selected by hand. It shows small / tight annual rings in the center, widening evenly towards the edges, and it has a very nice ringing sound when tapped. As for tonewood it certainly doesn't go much better.
    The plate shows the status after step #7 in the list above was completed. Note that the rough channeling of the recurve was cut in one single direction all around - the up-milling led to some "coarse" patches where the wood fibres run in opposite direction.

    Vintage German Archtops-dscf5393a-original-roger-super-luxus-german-carve-spruce-top-jpg

    Vintage German Archtops-dscf5395b-jpg

    Vintage German Archtops-dscf5394a-jpg
    Last edited by Ol' Fret; 02-26-2021 at 03:54 PM.

  18. #192

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    Some additional notes:

    - The f-holes for the later Super are different from the f-holes for the Junior, Standard and Luxus models. They are routed out slightly larger to allow for a single layer of perloid binding. The Junior, Standard and Luxus models do not have bound f-holes.

    - here is the underside of a braced top:
    Attached Images Attached Images Vintage German Archtops-23-inner-jpg 
    Last edited by Hammertone; 02-26-2021 at 04:51 PM.

  19. #193

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    Here are a couple of shots that show some details of the German carve on a finished guitar:
    Attached Images Attached Images Vintage German Archtops-rogerluxus-carve1-jpg Vintage German Archtops-rogerluxus-carve2-jpg 

  20. #194

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    << The f-holes for the later Super are different from the f-holes for the Junior, Standard and Luxus models. They are routed out slightly larger to allow for a single layer of perloid binding. The Junior, Standard and Luxus models do not have bound f-holes. >>

    That's correct! An esthete would object: white perloid binding around the sound-holes would be ill-matched to the rest of non-perloid binding on the guitar!




    << Steps 8 and 9 above occur after the top is glued to the rims. >>

    Yep, at least, that's how it should be done, and certainly was done until the very last Roger period! I corrected the last numbers in the list above.
    The strange thing is: some of the left-over original plates (not-assembled) from the Roger production show the purfling and binding already glued in place!? No idea how they did that: maybe it relates to the latest models only with these nice-looking three stripes of "Adidas" (just kidding), i.e., the white-black-white, white-red-white or white-tortoise-white binding.

  21. #195

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ol' Fret
    << The f-holes for the later Super are different from the f-holes for the Junior, Standard and Luxus models. They are routed out slightly larger to allow for a single layer of perloid binding. The Junior, Standard and Luxus models do not have bound f-holes. >>
    That's correct! An esthete would object: white perloid binding around the sound-holes would be ill-matched to the rest of non-perloid binding on the guitar!
    << Steps 8 and 9 above occur after the top is glued to the rims. >>
    Yep, at least, that's how it should be done, and certainly was done until the very last Roger period! I corrected the last numbers in the list above.
    The strange thing is: some of the left-over original plates (not-assembled) from the Roger production show the purfling and binding already glued in place!? No idea how they did that: maybe it relates to the latest models only with these nice-looking three stripes of "Adidas" (just kidding), i.e., the white-black-white, white-red-white or white-tortoise-white binding.
    Any pix of those plates? Very interesting! Maybe they were removed from bodies for some reason?

    Here's a decent shot comparing a bound Super f-hole (from a guitar body ready for finishing) with an unbound Jr./Standard/Luxus f-hole (from a rough-carved plate):
    Attached Images Attached Images Vintage German Archtops-roger-2f-holes-lo-jpg 

  22. #196

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    Given the fact that the Roger machine cutting was done in the not_so_perfect 1950/60s, by employed woodworkers who weren't educated guitar or violin makers, the Roger tolerances for the guitar bodies comprises between 1 to 2mm. At least, this are about the tolerances when you measure the center thickness of some top plates - showing no noticeable dependence on the wood stiffness or weight, like it occurs in the violin world.

    So, the wood selection makes the first difference when it comes to the sound of Roger guitars. We know from reports by the tonewood dealer, where Wenzel acquired his woods in Mittenwald, how he was doing. Nevertheless, Wenzel himself, at least on occasion, must have selected the spruce and (the figure of) the maple for his Super models. Just compare the eveness, i.e., even widening of the spruce grain lines towards the edges.
    A second difference makes the precision of the cutting / routing procedure, and the third difference, IMO the most important one, was the careful elaboration of the channeling / recurve by the luthier.

  23. #197

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hammertone
    Any pix of those plates? Very interesting! Maybe they were removed from bodies for some reason?

    Here's a decent shot comparing a bound Super f-hole (from a guitar body ready for finishing) with an unbound Jr./Standard/Luxus f-hole (from a rough-carved plate):

    In this context my personal experience is just with unbound plates without tonebars, but I know (from our shared vendor) that Roger top plates with already glued-in binding and purfling must have existed.

  24. #198

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ol' Fret
    Given the fact that the Roger machine cutting was done in the not_so_perfect 1950/60s, by employed woodworkers who weren't educated guitar or violin makers, the Roger tolerances for the guitar bodies comprises between 1 to 2mm. At least, this are about the tolerances when you measure the center thickness of some top plates - showing no noticeable dependence on the wood stiffness or weight, like it occurs in the violin world.
    So, the wood selection makes the first difference when it comes to the sound of Roger guitars. We know from reports by the tonewood dealer, where Wenzel acquired his woods in Mittenwald, how he was doing. Nevertheless, Wenzel himself, at least on occasion, must have selected the spruce and (the figure of) the maple for his Super models. Just compare the eveness, i.e., even widening of the spruce grain lines towards the edges.
    I've noticed some consistency in the choice of wood for the back plates on the Supers. I have always assumed that Wenzel bought fairly large boards with which to work, so that there is a high degree of similarity in the figuring among groups of instruments built within some reasonable timeframe. Here are two Super back plates probably from the same board (the colour difference is due to a layer of cigarette smoke that has yet to be removed from the one on the left - it's a fragrant instrument!):
    Attached Images Attached Images Vintage German Archtops-super-backsx2_0431-jpg 

  25. #199

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    Lovely fiddle-back Roger Super woods, Hammertone! Yes, most, if not all Supers show flamed maple backs.



    << I have always assumed that Wenzel bought fairly large boards with which to work, so that there is a high degree of similarity in the figuring among groups of instruments built within some reasonable timeframe. <<

    Hm, not exactly.
    Question: What made the Schönbach stringed instrument makers so successful?
    Certainly their diligence and excellent instrument making education system, but also their tonewood sawmills and dealers, most of whom restarted a business in Bavaria, right after their expulsion from Bohemia in 1946.
    Only the most established animals in Schönbach, like Höfner or the producers' cooperative, were able to harvest, saw and process their own tonewoods, going through the lengthy procedure of stacking and air drying (nice: they called it "sun-bathing"). The rest, the often small scale, but excellent guitar makers, for example Franz Hirsch and his students, got their woods right from the dealers. If today a handful of archtop guitar makers ostentatiously cut down their own trees, split them in quarters or eights and stack them technically correct for at least 5 years - well, that's show conduct: even the master cello makers don't use split wedges anymore.


    Similar to Artur Lang in Garmisch, Wenzel Rossmeisl bought his tonewoods from the Fuchs Brothers in Mittenwald (expelled from Schönbach as well), one of the world-leading tonewood dealers in the 1950s and 1960s.
    The brothers reported that Artur Lang took his time, half a day or so, checking and tapping painstakingly many wood wedges before he left with a handful of them. By contrast, Wenzel arrived with his trailer, allegedly asked for the cheapest available woods, loaded the trailer, and left within a short time.
    Well, we know from the fine woods that Wenzel used, at least for his Super models in the Mittenwald / Neumarkt era, that the narrative by the Fuchs Bros. must have been a bit exaggerated, but you get the impression. Wenzel was an uncompromising businessman also, after all, he was able to market his Super models for the same price like Lang offered his Supers. I mean, most Roger Supers that I played are great guitars of their own, but not on a par with Lang's work - I've just to find any archtop guitars that are in the same street like Lang's 1960's models.

    Wenzel had been a pro banjo and guitar player in some famous Weimar Republic orchestras in Berlin, had a good time in the Golden 20s, owned a sailing boat on the Wannsee at a time when others suffered badly from the consequences of the Great Depression. He threw parties and was familiar with actors and actresses, the socalled high society. Even before WWII, Wenzel supplied the small German jazz guitar market with fine guitars under his Roger label (made by Franz Hirsch in Schönbach, the father of German archtop guitar making). He was an inventive guitar maker, plus an economical accomplished man - have a look, for example, in which way, and at which miserable time right after the war, he picked up the Markneukirchen workshop!
    Most other people in the biz were simply jealous of Wenzel's success, and thought him and his son Roger to be grandiloquent. Eventually and tragically, many years later, the victim of this long-going grudge was Wenzel's own son: nobody in the guitar making biz, not in Berlin nor in Bubenreuth, gave Roger Rossmeisl, considered an impressive guitar maker in the USA, then an American citizen, a new job after he had been returning to Germany ...


    We know that Lang - like some other master makers who kept a wary eye on their tonewood "treasure trove" - selected tonewoods with special care: the ancient "cathedral wood", the preparing and rough-cutting of the selected and assembled plate halves done only by his brother-in-law Otto Fuchs (not related to the Fuchs Bros. above), a guitar player himself and an enthusiast of all things related to archtop guitar making. Otto Fuchs, the brother of Lang's wife Adele, lived in Lang's house and apparently did a lot for them. In addition, Adele was a relative to the Kollitz folks, another tonewood dealer ... You see, when it comes to Lang, all worked hand in hand; it counts what Epi Stathopoulo stated in 1928: "Good musical instruments do not just happen".


    For any but the biggest West German guitar manufacturers it didn't make sense to buy "fairly large boards" because the folks of tonewood mills did all the rough job for them. The latter, for example, bought a figured maple tree they thought to be fine for tonewoods. In Germany, the whole process was - I think still is - standardized, at least, if it comes to state or local community forest owners (the most common case here): the dealers can inspect the respective tree while it is still upright, can make an official price proposal per cubic meter or for the whole trunk, and accordingly get the tree, or not. Good usable, figured sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) is practically long gone in the Bavarian Alps. I guess, at Wenzel's times, while few trees might have still transported from the French Alps and the Carpathians, most of them already originated from Bosnia.
    Today, the dealers have all branches in Bosnia that process the wood in place: the labor and transport cost are reduced.

    The Fuchs Bros. watered the tree until until it was ready to be opened up with their huge log band saw (tree diameters up to 2.70m). I talked to the successors / former employees of that company who still run the same old band saw beast - nice folks in the impressive Karwendel mountains (
    ToneWood-Impressions )! In the next step the cut wedges were stacked and air-dried in varying places for some years, and finally stored in the warehouse. So, when Wenzel popped up with his trailer, he certainly bought many boards with similar wood figure since they were often coming from the same tree.

    Last edited by Ol' Fret; 02-28-2021 at 12:06 PM.

  26. #200

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    I took the back off my guitar and I thought it might be interesting to post these.

    The back was already separating, and while it had been "fixed" I think there are better ways to fix it. And I have time with the eternal Covid lockdown here in Germany.

    That is decades worth of dirt and grime. I've since wiped away most of it.

    Vintage German Archtops-img_0502-jpegVintage German Archtops-img_0503-jpeg