NEIL RECK’S WEYMANN 870 Guitar

Continuing with featuring another readers’ Weymann guitar, I present this instrument owned by Neil Reck, Weymann aficionado and a collector of Weymann quality guitars. The latest addition to his stable is this Weymann guitar style 870:

In the words of Neil, it is as “exactly as described in the catalogue and is a powerhouse of a OM guitar.”

Style 870 is the Auditorium size, 15 fret guitar (15 frets from nut to the body), in the Style 860 Orchestra guitar range, and was manufactured in the last days of the Weymann workshop. The 860 and 870 models appear in the c.1931 Weymann catalogue, but not the c.1928 catalogue.

Style 870 Description (from Catalogue):

AUDITORIUM SIZE No.870 (14 ½” widest part, length of body 19 1/2″). –  Rosewood back and sides. Spruce sounding board. Top and back edges bound with ivory celluloid. Top edge bound with purfling. Purfling through center of back. Mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard with pearl position dots. Rosewood veneered head-piece and heel. Rosewood bridge. “Four-to-one” Pegs with centered gears. Inlaid celluloid guard plate. Price…………………………………………………$85.00

By December 1933 the Weymann factory had closed, as evidenced by this newspaper article advertising an auction of stock and machinery from the defunct factory:

These styles 860 and 870 were produced between 1928 and 1933.  The serial number of Neil’s guitar, #47425, is one of the highest serial numbers I have recorded out of 165 instruments in my WEYMANN SERIAL NUMBER REGISTRY.  This leads me to believe this guitar would date to 1932 or 1933.

Going by the instruments recorded in this Registry, during the final years of production, Weymann concentrated on making only their best quality instruments, whilst buying in and reselling budget models from other manufacturers such as Harmony.

Some more photos of Neil Reck’s Style 870 Weymann Guitar:

 

Another amazing Weymann guitar, thanks for sharing your photos Neil.

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UPDATE February 2021: I want to add another Weymann Style 870 to this Post.  It is a guitar that was offered for sale by Bucks Country Folk Music store in New Britain, Pennsylvania, some years ago. The serial number of this guitar is only 4 less than Neil Recks guitar. This guitar now owned by Joe Kodner:

From Bucks Music description: “This very rare Weymann Style/Model No. 870 has been in Karl’s personal collection for decades and is in very good condition. Originally made by H.A. Weymann & Son, Inc. Philadelphia in the early 1930s as a guitar for banjo players (hence the 15 frets to the body). The Style/Model 870 was an upgrade to Weymann’s Style/Model No. 860 and includes solid Brazilian rosewood sides and back, ivoroid binding, purfling, and back center strip.

Many consider this guitar to be on-par with Martin’s 14-fret OM models from that same pre-war 1930s era (thank you Perry Bechtel), many of which are known to sell for over $50,000.

In our 52+ year history, this is one of the best-sounding guitars we have ever had and Karl would have absolutely no qualms putting it head-to-head against a 1930s pre-war Martin OM. A recent re-fret and refinish by Karl, and a few minor top cracks that were professionally repaired and have remained stable for over 40 years have done nothing to diminish the incredible sound this guitar produces. From what we can tell, everything else on this guitar is completely original.”

Namaste…. Charles