1936 Hermann Hauser I SP/CSAR

This 1936 Hermann Hauser I classical guitar in spruce and CSA rosewood was built in Munich one year before Segovia's famous 1937 Hauser, which is now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

A Hauser I from 1936: Spanish Style, German Precision

This guitar is an excellent example of Hauser's fulfillment of the integration of the Spanish style into his own Germanic base. The meeting of the Spanish and German techniques and styles is perfectly synthesized in this instrument, which stands out as an example of one of the most iconic styles in history. Along with Torres, his guitars are the most studied, revered and desired of the great historical makers.

Sound and Playability

Sound is as one would expect – great balance and clarity between voices, and at the same time a rich, deep texture that gives it a unique lyricism and great beauty of tone. This instrument has a particularly strong "Spanish" character – warm, dark and very romantic. Playability is a dream for both right and left hands.

Condition

It has had some repair work done in the past, including some well-repaired cracks in the top, and is ready for the concert stage or recording studio, or for a luxurious evening of private playing. Truly a remarkable and rare instrument from one of history's most important luthiers.

Hermann Hauser I: Master Guitar Maker of Munich

Hermann Hauser Sr. (1882–1952) is best remembered for the remarkable instruments he built in the Spanish style after 1924. In that year, both Andrés Segovia and Miguel Llobet visited Hauser. Segovia was impressed by the quality of Hauser's work and wrote his impressions, noting that he "immediately saw the potential of this great artisan if only his mastery might be turned to the construction of the guitar in the Spanish pattern, as immutably fixed by Torres and Ramirez as the violin had been fixed by Stradivarius and Guarnerius" (Segovia in Guitar Review, 1954).

Segovia, Llobet and the Spanish Model

Segovia encouraged Hauser to build instruments based on his 1912 Manuel Ramírez guitar (built by Santos Hernández) after he examined and made measurements of this instrument. At this time Hauser also had the opportunity to examine Miguel Llobet's famous 1859 Torres, which would also become a decisive influence on the maturing "Hauser" style.