Weissenborn Style 1 Lapsteel Koa 1920s

The very rare Weissenborn guitar is an icon of Hawaiian music and is praised by enthusiasts for its expressive sound. The simple construction makes the instrument particularly light and resonant.

Hermann Weissenborn was born in 1863 in Hanover, Germany. He left for the United States at the beginning of the 20th century and, after a short period in New York, eventually ended up in Los Angeles. He had been known as a builder and repairer of musical instruments since his early years, but truly gained fame with the construction of the iconic slide guitar that eventually came to be known as the Weissenborn guitar.

The guitar features a unique construction with a hollow square neck, allowing the entire guitar to be viewed as one large sound chamber. The guitar model was used during the heyday of Hawaiian music and later also ended up in the hands of modern artists such as Ben Harper, Xavier Rudd, and David Gilmour. The introduction of resonators such as the National and Dobro eventually drove the Hawaiian guitar out of the musical landscape, although Weissenborns have always remained praised by enthusiasts for their expressive sound.

This Weissenborn was built in the 1920s and, as Style 1, is the most austere version of the guitar model. Other styles were inlaid with detailed decorations, but this version had only a rosette consisting of three rings and five position markers on the fretboard. The body and neck are made of koa, which makes the guitar particularly light and resonant.

The lightweight construction also had its downsides, as most Weissenborns suffered from loose braces and cracks in the body over the course of their existence, and this Weissenborn has not escaped this fate either. Some braces have been re-glued, as has the bridge. A small crack can be found on the side of the body in the waist on the bass side, but the guitar is stable and in very good condition. Moreover, the craquelé gives the guitar the unmistakable character of a century-old instrument!

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