1951 Edgar Mönch SP/IN

This 1951 Edgar Mönch is a spruce and Indian rosewood classical guitar made in Munich, Germany: a lightweight, Hauser-like vintage instrument that has stayed in one family for 75 years.

A 1951 Edgar Mönch from Munich

This is a fine example by the well-known German builder Edgar Mönch, made in Munich before he moved to Toronto. It is one of the best-sounding Mönch guitars we've ever seen, and the oldest. Its build date is contemporaneous with the final instruments made by Hermann Hauser I at the end of his career.

Played by Segovia, Bream, and John Williams

Mönch guitars from this period have a remarkable history. John Williams played one as a boy and early in his career, and Segovia owned one that he used for his daily practice. Julian Bream recorded his second album for RCA on a 1959 Mönch from the same era as the guitar offered here.

A Hauser-Like Vintage Sound

The guitar is very lightweight, and it sounds and plays a bit like a Hauser I from the same period. Its sound is best described as charming, woody, and old-world, with great clarity, projection, and separation. The loose, warm, and very open voice makes it hard to put down, as does the easy playability and soft action that only older, played-in vintage guitars offer. It also has plenty of power, even by today's standards.

Exceptional Vintage Condition

The guitar is in exceptional condition for being 75 years old. Apart from one well-repaired crack in the side near the foot, which has no effect on the sound, it is otherwise pristine for its age.

Three Generations of Provenance

This guitar has remained with the family of its original owner for three generations since it was first sold in 1951. It's a very rare opportunity to own an exceptional instrument that is coming to market for the first time in its life.

Edgar Mönch: Engineer, Violinist, Guitar Maker

Edgar Mönch (1907–1977) was born in Leipzig and trained first as an engineer, in Danzig, and as a violinist, in Prague. He came to guitar making only during World War II: as a prisoner of war in England from 1944 to 1947, he found his way into a camp workshop run by the Y.M.C.A. Back in Germany he began building in Munich in 1948, in little more than a rented room, putting well over a hundred hours of handwork into every guitar. In 1952 he traveled to Madrid and spent time in the workshop of Marcelo Barbero, studying his rosettes and his bracing.

Munich, Toronto and Freiburg

His Munich years, until the mid-1960s, produced some of the most important work of his career. In 1965 he moved to Toronto, where he built until 1971 and helped shape a new generation of Canadian makers, among them Jean-Claude Larrivée and his nephew Kolya Panhuyzen. He then returned to Germany and settled in Freiburg, where he worked until his death in 1977 – about 350 guitars in all, along with a handful of lutes. His labels name the city where each guitar was built.

Played by Segovia, Bream and John Williams

Lightweight, with a charming, woody, old-world voice, his guitars are often compared to those of Hermann Hauser I. Andrés Segovia kept a Mönch for his daily practice, John Williams played one as a boy and early in his career, and Julian Bream recorded his second album for RCA on a 1959 Mönch. Celedonio Romero and Vicente Gómez played his guitars too.

Books on Edgar Mönch

A 1954 Edgar Mönch is one of the guitars in Alberto Martínez's "34 Classical Guitars in Life Size", reproduced in photographs and full-size drawings:

34 Classical Guitars in Life Size