Luthiers and repair people. Need quick advice.

[stephendavis@ameritech.net]

There is a guitar for auction on eBay that was built by Louis Sutz, my
wife's great grandfather, circa 1900.
Here's a link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/A-NATIONAL-TREASURE-1900-LOUIS-SUTZ-CINCINNATI-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ140041328773QQihZ004QQcategoryZ118 981QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The guitar seems to be a total wreck. It looks like someone used tire
chains for a capo. It looks like the neck collapsed once, and it looks
like there is a rod with a turnbuckle on it all the way through the
body holding it together. You can see bolt ends on the neck heel and by

the endpin. There are assorted cracks.

I know the price is completely out of line, but I've had some contact
with the seller. He says if it doesn't sell, I could make him an offer.


I wouldn't even consider an offer except for the fact that this guitar
was built by my kids' great-great grandfather.

Is there any chance of making this instrument playable? Any guess as to

how much it would cost to do so?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[stephendavis@ameritech.net]

Sorry about the duplicate post. The link in the first message didn't
seem to work, hence the second.

[Warren]

stephendavis@ameritech.net wrote:
> Sorry about the duplicate post. The link in the first message didn't
> seem to work, hence the second.

On the website, you say "great uncle" but here you say "great
grandfather"...which one is true?

Have you done any research on the value of Sutz work? Since the seller
can't give you and provence, I would be skeptical of claims it belonged
to a famous blues player. Besides, I doubt if that makes it too highly
collectible since most folks only know a few blues player's names and
there are even fewer collectors. Now, if it IS a blues player's guitar,
then don't restore it at all...just enjoy the history of it.

After you get the story straight about Sutz (who he was, whether he is
related to your wife, etc), I'd offer what it is worth to you to have
it in the family. Check to see if you can find a related guitar that a
collector has to get an idea of what others might pay.

[stephendavis@ameritech.net]

Warren,

Originally, I called my brother-in-law to see if he wanted to bring
this guitar back to the family. He thought it was built by his uncle
Louis. That may be possible, but I have since found out that that
uncle's father was also Louis. I think they were both in the business.
My mother-in-law is not alive, so we're just trying to piece this
together. There are members of the family that have violins made by
Louis Sutz (Jr./Sr???).

My wife and I have old glass photo negatives of the shop in Cincinnati.

I really have just been trying to decide if I wanted this guitar. It
would be fun if it was restorable, but even if it was, there is no way
to know how it would sound, and for what money. That's why deep
comparative research on this doesn't make a lot of sense.

Even if it only cost $100, I'm not sure the kids would be impressed
with that nasty looking thing their great-great grandfather or uncle
made.

I assume that restoration costs would preclude me adding other nice
guitars to my stable. Not sure I want to go that way.

Thanks for your reply.

[Benoît Meulle-Stef]

It looks to me like a crap 1900 guitar, nothing amazing, the capos you
decrives have been used by generations of players living amazing damages on
the back of the necks. Usualy blues players prefer to use open tuning on
first position, capos lowering down the action gives you buzzes with the
slide... I dont see the point in calling that a national treasure, just
maybee to try to sale it more expencive.
To be shure a guitar have been playd by a bluesman, you need to find
the bluesmans left hand on the case along with the famous contract paper
with the devil, a half finished licor bottle, some female underwears and
better a photo of the guy holding the guitar with his name and the date on
the back...
Sorry having seen too many fakes around recently.
Ben
<stephendavis@ameritech.net> a écrit dans le message de news:
1161029487.760979.263230@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups. com...
> Warren,
>
> Originally, I called my brother-in-law to see if he wanted to bring
> this guitar back to the family. He thought it was built by his uncle
> Louis. That may be possible, but I have since found out that that
> uncle's father was also Louis. I think they were both in the business.
> My mother-in-law is not alive, so we're just trying to piece this
> together. There are members of the family that have violins made by
> Louis Sutz (Jr./Sr???).
>
> My wife and I have old glass photo negatives of the shop in Cincinnati.
>
> I really have just been trying to decide if I wanted this guitar. It
> would be fun if it was restorable, but even if it was, there is no way
> to know how it would sound, and for what money. That's why deep
> comparative research on this doesn't make a lot of sense.
>
> Even if it only cost $100, I'm not sure the kids would be impressed
> with that nasty looking thing their great-great grandfather or uncle
> made.
>
> I assume that restoration costs would preclude me adding other nice
> guitars to my stable. Not sure I want to go that way.
>
> Thanks for your reply.
>

[alex matthews]

I'm currently looking to sell a violin by Louis Sutz (cincinnati c.1900) so I was very interested to find your post.

I purchased the Violin about six years ago in a small dealer in Surrey, England for around £1000. It has a wonderful sound, so I would surmise that your grandfather was a very skilled maker of stringed instruments. It has served me very well over the past years, but is sitting largely unused at the minute.

Do you have any further details about your grandfather that might assist me in selling the violin? I have been interested in its origin since aqcuiring it anyway: I assumed that due to its American origin the instrument was originally used for another genre of music than the classical music i've used it for, and would love to know a bit of the history at any rate.

Alex Matthews
alexmatthews@timeout.com