2021 Gary Southwell "1940 'Augustine' Hauser, ex-Bream" No. 355 SP/MP

This 2021 Gary Southwell No. 355 is a spruce and maple copy of the 1940 Hermann Hauser I ex Rose Augustine, built with a spruce top that Julian Bream gave to Gary.

Gary, Bream and the Augustine Hauser

During his years working with Bream, Gary regularly did maintenance and restoration work on Rose Augustine’s 1940 Hauser, which had been on loan to Bream and was indeed his main guitar at the end of his career (this guitar is now housed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum). This allowed Gary to develop an exact and detailed copy of this famous guitar, which is what we have here. Built with a spruce top that was gifted to Gary by Bream, this is a “maple” version of this iconic 1940 Hauser. The label is signed and numbered 355.

Sound and Condition

The guitar is surprisingly lightweight and has an impressive bottom end, perfect balance and Hauser-like clarity. With the exception of the wood for the back and sides (maple instead of rosewood) and the tuning machines (Rodgers instead of Landstorfer), it is a very exacting and detailed copy of the original. It is in pristine, almost like-new condition. Max Brenner (Brahms) and Carlos Bedoya (Weiss) play it in the videos above.

In Orfeo Magazine

Gary Southwell is featured in Orfeo Magazine No. 11 – England (cover above, read it online), also available in print in the collected edition:

Orfeo Magazine 11–15 (print edition)

Gary Southwell: Historical Guitars from England

Gary Southwell is regarded today as one of the most established of the British builders. He trained in the early 1980s, primarily in furniture making and in historical (pre-Torres) instruments, and in 1983 set up his own workshop in Nottingham, specializing in – and becoming a leading expert in – 19th-century guitars, copying and restoring guitars by Lacote, Stauffer, Pagés and Panormo. Alongside his Hauser model he builds historical copies (Torres, Panormo, Stauffer, Lacote, Scherzer) and a modern model of his own design, the “A-Series”, first developed in the 1990s with David Starobin.

Julian Bream and the 1940 Hauser

Since 1995 Gary has become well known for his Hauser model, many of them built for Julian Bream – to quote Gary directly: “I have worked closely with Julian Bream on this Hauser design since 1995, experimenting and refining certain aspects. We have been particularly interested in the tuning of the front, back and body chamber; examining their relationship to each other and how that affects the tonal quality of the finished guitar. This has enabled me to successfully produce a sound reminiscent of the original Hauser guitar.” In addition to Julian Bream, Gary’s impressive list of clients includes the likes of Paul Simon, David Starobin, Sting, David Tanenbaum, Scott Tennant and John Williams, to name just a few.