Here we have a very nice William Laskin Cedar Top and Indian Rosewood classical guitar, built during 1987 at Laskin’s shop in Toronto. One of the world’s premier guitar builders, William Laskin has been building since the early 1970s and early on, as is the case for many other now prominent builders, worked with Jean Larrivee. He is very well known for his spectacular engraved inlay work.
William
William Laskin is very well known for the creativity and quality of his inlay work. Here, a stag or buck – a male deer with antlers is depicted between frets 11 and 18, in a mixture of engraved woods and, it appears, ivory for the antlers. This guitar is old enough that small amounts of ivory were still used, and here appears in the nut, saddle, sliding nut components, and the inlaid antlers.
Here we have a William Laskin Cedar Top classical guitar, built during 1992 and featuring the Laskin Arm Rest, 655mm scale length and very nice Indian Rosewood sides and back.
Built in the traditional Spanish style with a slipper heel integrating the body and neck, this William Laskin Cedar Top classical is in good condition. It has some honest wear from its use in many performances and recording sessions, in both Classical and Latin genres. There are a few small pressure marks on the back and top, and a small mark behind the bridge from an errant string end.
This instrument has sold
MORE →Here we’re looking at a William Laskin Flamenco Blanca guitar, dating to 1987 and built at his Toronto workshop and recently set up by The Twelfth Fret Repair Shop. It is built in the traditional Spanish manner with a ‘slipper heel’. In this design, the neck is essentially one piece (aside from any scarf joint for the peghead) and the carved heel and neck block are separated by slots that the sides fit into. This construction method is quite different from the use of a dovetail or mortise and tenon joint, or any of the newer hybrid joints that may include a single bolt.
This instrument has sold
MORE →The Laskin Flamenco is built using a Sitka Spruce top paired with a Cypress back and side set, and Cedro or Spanish Cedar for the neck, linings, and back bracing. Construction is the traditional Spanish ‘slipper foot’ style – the neck, heel and neck block are one unit, with the sides slotting into the heel. This is in distinct contrast to other methods where the neck and body are built separately, often using a dovetail or mortise and tenon joint. The head plate and binding are Ebony, and the fingerboard is Ebony with Ebony binding. The bridge is Indian Rosewood.
This William Laskin Steel String was built at Laskin’s shop in Toronto, Ontario during 2005, and features a Red Cedar top and quite a dark set of Brazilian Rosewood for the back and sides. The body blocks and neck are Mahogany, with Ebony used for the head plate, fingerboard bridge and binding. The rosette has a ring of Abalone, but otherwise this guitar is quite simply but elegantly adorned; a line of purfling follows the complete top including around the arm-rest and around the fingerboard tag.
This instrument has sold
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