2007 Hermann Hauser III "Max Amberger CCJ 582" CD/IN

This 2007 Hermann Hauser III "Max Amberger CCJ 582" is a cedar and Indian rosewood cutaway "classic-jazz" guitar from Reisbach, built under the Max Amberger name – one of very few made, from the Russell Cleveland collection.

Max Amberger and the Hauser Workshop

19th-century instrument builder Max Amberger founded his firm in 1861 ("Est. 1861", as the label says), constructed the first concert zither and received various international awards and medals. The "Max Amberger" company was bought by Hermann Hauser I in 1921, and to this day Amberger zithers are made by the Hauser company. The label of this guitar reads "Max Amberger – CCJ 582 – Cutaway – Classic – Jazz – Guitar – 2007", with the note "Design registered by Hermann Hauser III – Reisbach".

A Cutaway "Classic-Jazz" Hauser

It features a cutaway, and the neck attaches to the body at the 14th fret, resulting in a bridge positioned closer to the soundhole – giving the guitar more of a Selmer/Maccaferri look dimensionally and proportionally, although the Hauser "Manuel Ramírez" head and dotted bridge betray its true origin. It plays and sounds fantastic: although a cedar, it is quite bright, and while not sounding like a steel-string guitar it does boast more brilliance in the trebles than a typical Hauser model.

From the Russell Cleveland Collection

Very few of these were made, and this one, from the Russell Cleveland collection, is in practically mint condition. A rare, unique and simply fun guitar from Hauser III.

Hermann Hauser III: Fourth Generation of the Hauser Dynasty

Hermann Hauser III (b. 1958) – grandson of Hermann Hauser I and son of Hermann Hauser II – has worked in the Hauser family workshop in Reisbach, Bavaria, since 1974: first alongside his father, and today with his daughter Kathrin, the fifth generation. He works in the same workshop as his father and grandfather, uses many of the same tools, and even uses woods that were acquired by both his paternal predecessors. The family's wood store, started by Hermann Hauser I, still holds woods more than 100 years old – and for every set taken out, two are bought to replenish it – while tools of Josef Hauser, Hermann I and Hermann II are still in daily use, among them a band saw from 1905. His label still reads "Hermann Hauser – Gitarren – Reisbach, früher München" (formerly Munich), with the year after "A.D.", the number and his signature. He attaches it at the start of a build, so there is often a year or more between the date on the label and the guitar's completion.

His guitars were described by Andrés Segovia as instruments with an indescribably beautiful sound, and Pepe Romero says his Hauser is an instrument with the purest sound. Hermann III cultivates good relations with his guitarists, makes guitars fitting the needs of particular players, and has received the highest awards from professional organizations and the international guitar community.

The "Teutonic" Hauser Sound

Hermann Hauser III has tirelessly built guitars that capture the sound and aesthetic of the "teutonic" style, as initially established by his grandfather and transmitted through his father. Its features are the extreme clarity and balance between voices, even sustain in all registers, and of course incomparable beauty of tone – a sound most famously immortalized by Julian Bream in countless recordings, who once said these guitars have an "aristocratic" tone. We believe Hermann Hauser III guitars to be more like a Hauser I than any other maker's in the world: in blind tests with Hauser I and Hauser II instruments we found them remarkably similar.

His standard model is the "Segovia", essentially the same design as Segovia's 1937 Hauser I; he also builds the "Llobet" (after the 1859 Torres of Miguel Llobet, as did his father and grandfather), a "Bream" model and special editions after early Hauser I designs.

Books on the Hauser Family

Orfeo Magazine No. 4 is devoted to the Hauser dynasty, with a feature on Hermann Hauser III, Edmund Blöchinger and Fritz Ober – read the issue online or find it in the Orfeo 1-5 collection:

Orfeo Magazine 1-5