W. A. Cole 1898 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar , c. 1900
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Item # 9981
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W. A. Cole 1898 Model Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, c. 1900, made in Boston, Mass., serial # 232, natural varnish finish, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
Although best remembered for their exceptionally fine and beautiful banjos, the W.A. Cole firm of Boston, Mass. built very high quality guitars and mandolins as well. These were made in much smaller numbers than the banjos and relatively few have survived, but those that do turn up today are some of the finest of their time.
When W.A. Cole split from the Fairbanks & Cole company in 1890, he immediately launched his own similar operation directly across the street from his old partner! The instruments he created there rank among the most interesting and artistic banjos of the classic five-string era, as well as guitars and mandolins. Cole's Eclipse models are generally considered to be some of the finest 5-string open back banjos ever made, and have pretty much overshadowed the other products of Cole's factory. The guitars are not nearly as distinctive as the banjos but are always beautifully made of high-grade materials.
This example is a large concert size guitar, marked "1898 Model" on the heelblock. It is just over 13 1/2" wide at the lower bout with fairly typical features for the period. The back and sides are beautiful straight-grained Brazilian rosewood, with a fine close-grained spruce top. This is ladder braced in the standard pattern of the time, with a very narrow and thin maple bridge plate under the ebony pyramid bridge. The neck is mahogany with a dot-inlaid ebony fingerboard.
Cosmetics on this guitar are simple and discreetly elegant; the top and soundhole rim are 4-ply bound, some rosette rings are the only other decoration. The headstock is faced in rosewood and fitted with the same New York made tuners seen on period Martins. As is typical of the period, this instrument was designed for gut strings and we would not recommend using steel strings. As it stands it plays very well with a sweet and surprisingly loud sound, a splendid and very playable survivor of the gilded age.
Overall length is 38 in. (96.5 cm.), 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/8 in. (48 mm.).
This guitar remains in extremely fine condition for its 120 or so years on the planet, cosmetically very clean and quite playable. The very thin untouched original varnish finish shows only light checking and some minimal playing and handling wear. The only really notable repairs are several tightly sealed spruce grain splits on the top. One runs from the treble wing of the bridge to the rim of the lower bout, one from the treble wing of the bridge to about an inch away from the outer ring of the soundhole. A third runs from the top of the treble side upper bout for about three inches. All are neatly sealed up without any intrusive overfinishing.
The neck has been neatly reset and there is evidence that the joint between the back and the rims has been reglued at some point. The bridge and bridge plate are original with a replaced bone saddle. Everything else on the guitar is original down to the bridge pins and endpin, which are ebony with pearl dots. The original frets, fingerboard and nut show some very light wear, overall this is one of the best playing guitars of this period we have had, not as fancy as some but exceptionally well preserved and original from one of the finest makers of the period. Excellent Condition.
Although best remembered for their exceptionally fine and beautiful banjos, the W.A. Cole firm of Boston, Mass. built very high quality guitars and mandolins as well. These were made in much smaller numbers than the banjos and relatively few have survived, but those that do turn up today are some of the finest of their time.
When W.A. Cole split from the Fairbanks & Cole company in 1890, he immediately launched his own similar operation directly across the street from his old partner! The instruments he created there rank among the most interesting and artistic banjos of the classic five-string era, as well as guitars and mandolins. Cole's Eclipse models are generally considered to be some of the finest 5-string open back banjos ever made, and have pretty much overshadowed the other products of Cole's factory. The guitars are not nearly as distinctive as the banjos but are always beautifully made of high-grade materials.
This example is a large concert size guitar, marked "1898 Model" on the heelblock. It is just over 13 1/2" wide at the lower bout with fairly typical features for the period. The back and sides are beautiful straight-grained Brazilian rosewood, with a fine close-grained spruce top. This is ladder braced in the standard pattern of the time, with a very narrow and thin maple bridge plate under the ebony pyramid bridge. The neck is mahogany with a dot-inlaid ebony fingerboard.
Cosmetics on this guitar are simple and discreetly elegant; the top and soundhole rim are 4-ply bound, some rosette rings are the only other decoration. The headstock is faced in rosewood and fitted with the same New York made tuners seen on period Martins. As is typical of the period, this instrument was designed for gut strings and we would not recommend using steel strings. As it stands it plays very well with a sweet and surprisingly loud sound, a splendid and very playable survivor of the gilded age.
Overall length is 38 in. (96.5 cm.), 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/8 in. (48 mm.).
This guitar remains in extremely fine condition for its 120 or so years on the planet, cosmetically very clean and quite playable. The very thin untouched original varnish finish shows only light checking and some minimal playing and handling wear. The only really notable repairs are several tightly sealed spruce grain splits on the top. One runs from the treble wing of the bridge to the rim of the lower bout, one from the treble wing of the bridge to about an inch away from the outer ring of the soundhole. A third runs from the top of the treble side upper bout for about three inches. All are neatly sealed up without any intrusive overfinishing.
The neck has been neatly reset and there is evidence that the joint between the back and the rims has been reglued at some point. The bridge and bridge plate are original with a replaced bone saddle. Everything else on the guitar is original down to the bridge pins and endpin, which are ebony with pearl dots. The original frets, fingerboard and nut show some very light wear, overall this is one of the best playing guitars of this period we have had, not as fancy as some but exceptionally well preserved and original from one of the finest makers of the period. Excellent Condition.