Post by rbleu on Dec 11, 2019 23:46:17 GMT
Dec 4, 2019 12:50:02 GMT bod said:
rbleu, The story about your Russian Hawaiian French family heirloom is extraordinary and it is a wonderful piece of history for your family.
Outside of your family I am not sure if it is of much interest, because to me it doesn't remind me of Knutsen, Kona or Weissenborn guitars, it just appears to be an acoustic guitar with a raised nut and seven strings.
For my taste the restoration has not been done authentically. The new tuning machines don't look right, if you search www.stumac.com you may find something a little more "period" looking. The pins should be bone or fake ivory, not shiny steel, and so should the bridge saddle.
I also think it is most unusual and therefore questionable that it was originally made as a seven string guitar. Do you know why it was made as a seven string guitar and how your ancestor would have tuned it. How do you tune this guitar, which notes are the strings tuned to? Did you ancestor make any recordings with this guitar?
Going to California at that time, your ancestor would have caught the Hawaiian music craze in its early stages. He may well have seen some of the pioneers of Hawaiian steel guitar, but I doubt that any of them played a seven string guitar.
At this point in time and reading what you have said, I am more interested in your ancestor and his travels than I am in his guitar, although it is most unusual and I thank you for sharing the story and photos with us.
My best wishes
Shine On
Michael
How so? Glad you asked ;)There was a significant tradition of seven string guitar in Russia and its territories, dating from at least the late C18th. The seven stringer (semistrunka) was, apparently, far more prominent in Russian culture than the six string guitar until we’ll into the Soviet era. The “classical” models are gut or nylon strung, while the “gypsy” style used steel strings - fit one of the latter with a high nut and ... voila!
Interestingly, to me at least, the traditional tuning is a variety of open-G that is like the high bass G used for steel guitar, but with an additional D on the bottom end, i.e., D, G, B, D, G, B, D. (I have one that I picked up on eBay because I was intrigued, it’s fun and gives me a different kind of open G workout...)
Pure speculation, but if rbleu’s ancestor was already familiar with or even a player of the Russian guitar the Hawaiian style would probably have made ready-sense in some respects whilst offering new approaches to the Russian instrument and an extension of the range and possibilities. Also, if getting an instrument built or adapted for steel guitar in Russia at that time the Russian guitar would be the likely starting point - the spread of the six string instrument there, apparently, came rather later (along with Western popular music).
I love this sort of thing - to me it captures a moment in which one musical tradition alights on another...