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C. 1940 Hensel Artist
Offered here is an Artist model, built in the late 1930's or early 40's for the R.S. Williams & Sons Co. in Toronto. The guitar is an X-braced nearly 000-sized spruce and mahogany 12 fretter, with a 24.75" scale length. Its body and Brazilian rosewood fingerboard are bound in white celluloid, and the matching pickguard is screwed to the top. The original gloss lacquer finish is in fine condition, and the instrument is crack free. We've reset the neck and set up the instrument for standard Spanish-style playing (it was equipped with a riser nut for Hawaiian playing its entire life). The neck is a fairly chunky C shape, not unlike a Tonk Bros. Washburn or 30's Larson, and the flat fingerboard has a nut width of 1-13/16". The frets are unworn, and the instrument plays very nicely in all positions. The best part about this guitar is that it sounds great. It's different than a Martin or Gibson, so its tonality is difficult to describe. The first thing you'll notice is that it has a surprisingly big bass response for a smaller guitar. It's not as refined as a Martin, but not as mid-range heavy and woody as Gibsons tend to be. It is a guitar that will make you want to play Mississippi John Hurt and Elizabeth Cotton tunes, and fingerstyle rags are particularly fun. We all love this guitar around here, and we're pretty sure that you will too. No case included.
SOLD
