Handmade Flamed Maple Classical Guitar -- Stunning in Shepherdstown, West Virginia

$1,650

Larry Whatley is an 84-year-old retired electrical
engineer who made his first guitar in 1967 as a ‘keeper’ for himself to play.  In addition to building classical guitars, he
has built stand-up basses, violins, violas, and ukuleles.  He specializes
in restoring vintage violins, violas, cellos, and basses for use by needy
orchestra students in his local school district.  I have had the pleasure
of speaking with him by phone and conversing via email.
This is the 6th classical guitar he made, dating
from 2002.  It uses a Romanillos plantilla and bracing design, and the
Irving Sloane construction method.  The top is tight-grained Western Red
Cedar with cross-grain silking, while the back and sides are a spectacularly
figured, book matched set of Eastern Curly Maple. The neck is Mahogany, and the
fretboard and bridge are Rosewood.  Hot hide glue was utilized throughout
the construction process.  The Hauser style headstock utilizes Schaller
tuners from Germany.  The bracing is traditional Spanish fan with the
addition of Bouchet harmonic bars. As a result, the sound is distinctively
crisp, with excellent note separation, and precise voicing with a minimum of
overtones.  Vibrato is easily achieved.  It lends itself especially
well to contrapuntal music.
This guitar was played for 20 years by a close
family member of his, and the top shows evidence of this use. There is a small
patch of fingernail wear above the bridge by the high E string, and there is a
cloudy, slightly discolored patch of top finish on the upper bass bout where
the arm rests.  I have intentionally photographed these to exaggerate them
as much as possible.  In person they are not nearly so noticeable. 
One small top crack was glued and internally cleated, but it is essentially
invisible as it runs precisely on the grain line (as circled in red in the
photo).  I discovered it only by inspecting the underside of the top with
a flashlight and mirror.
She sounds wonderful, and the playability is
excellent.  The present setup is as low as can be, but it could easily be
raised to suit your playing style preference simply by shimming the bridge
saddle.  The neck profile is a substantially chunky C shape.  The
scale length is 650mm, and the nut width is 50mm.  The label is signed and
dated by the maker.  As the original case was worn out, I’ll ship this in
a brand-new Levy padded gig bag made to fit a classical guitar.
All in all, this is a very satisfying
instrument.  It is well suited for a beginning or mid-level student and,
as an entirely handmade instrument, it far surpasses any factory-made guitar at
DOUBLE the asking price.
For a sound demo filmed on an old iPhone, search YouTube for:
ANLmUTAjnRg


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