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Romantic Guitar - Legnani Model - N.G. Ries - Vienna

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€27.50
€27.50
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A beautiful Viennese romantic guitar from the second quarter of the 19th century.

This guitar was made by Nikolaus Georg Ries in Vienna in the second quarter of the 19th century. Ries was a contemporary of the famous Johann Georg and Anton Stauffer. It is very close to the instruments made by them.

Luigi Legnani (1790-1877) was an Italian singer, composer and guitar virtuoso. It is even thought he made some of his own guitars, but there is still some debate about that. We do know however that he collaborated with Johann Georg Stauffer to made his own “Legnani” model. This guitar became so popular that Stauffer and other makers in Vienna kept making them. The model has some very clever innovations and was far ahead of its time. It has become known as the standard model for a Viennese romantic guitar.

One of the characteristic features of the Legnani model guitar is the adjustable neck joint. The neck hinges on a brass plate in the upper block. A square clock-screw goes through the heel into a brass nut in the upper block of the body. This can be used to adjust the playing action of the guitar.

All in all this is a pristine example of the Legnani model guitars as made by Ries, Stauffer and even the early models by C.F. Martin (who worked as a shop-foreman in the Stauffer workshop before moving to America).

You will get the pdf's for:
  • Full sized plans for the guitar (A0)
  • Full sized plans detailing the neck joint (A1)
  • A chart with the plate thicknesses
  • A 39 page booklet with detailed pictures of the guitar and its parts
You will get a ZIP (12MB) file