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The Larson Brothers' Guitars were popular in the Chicago area in the 1930s and 1940s for their rich sound and clean tones that were perfect for the radio. The Larson brothers were Carl Larson (1867-1946) and August Larson (1873-1944) who were born in Sweden and emigrated to Chicago in the late 1880s. They worked as craftsmen (luthiers) for various guitar makers before buying the Maurer & Company from the retiring Robert Maurer in 1900. They set up shop on Elm Street, selling guitars directly to the public.
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The Guitars
The Larson brothers patented many new techniques in guitar building such as laminated bracing, metal support rods and guitar top and back under tension. The guitars were sold under the original Maurer name in addition to Euphonon, Prairie State, Stetson and Stahl models. They also built mandolins and harp guitars. Their products started at a retail price of $25, and today vintage models may sell for up to $50,000.
The Euphonon and Prairie State models were particularly popular in the Midwest. After the transition of live radio broadcasts to recorded music in the 1950s, together with the prominence of the Fender and Gibson electric guitars, the Larson brothers guitars became passé, despite a brief resurgence in the Sixties. The harp guitar became essentially obsolete.
Les Paul
In 1934, Les Paul, then playing under the name of Rhubarb Red, was introduced to the Larson brothers by Doc Hopkins of the Cumberland Ridge Runners. Les claims that the brothers did not know that Paul was the same person as Rhubarb Red, insisting that Paul was the better guitarist.
Paul wanted the brothers to build him a maple guitar with a half-inch solid maple top, with no holes, but they argued that no sound would come out. But Paul was adamant and for $45 got his guitar which he added two pickups, becoming one of the first electric guitars.
WLS Radio
Larson brothers guitars were popular with the country-western stars singing on WLS-AM in Chicago and the National Barn Dance. In addition to Les Paul, radio stars Marjorie Lynn, the Prairie Ramblers, Arkie the Arkansas Woodchopper, Gene Autry, and Patsy Montana all played Larson brothers guitars. Apparently, Hank Williams, Sr., once borrowed Montana’s Euphonon guitar to play on the Louisiana Hayride. Later, in awe, Roy Clark also used her guitar for a show.
The Sixties
On 25 June 1965, Bob Dylan went on stage at the Newport Folk Festival with an electric guitar and the combination of bad audience reaction and acoustics caused him to limit his set to three songs. This performance permanently sealed Dylan’s demise a pure folk artist. Johnny Cash also appeared later on stage using a Euphonon guitar, which he gave to Dylan after the show as a tribute to a fellow musician. Cash can be seen with this guitar in Shelton and Goldblatt’s history of country music.
Jimi Hendrix also owned a Larson Stahl guitar that he eventually gave to Eric Clapton. The guitar was eventually obtained by Albert Romano, who displayed it in New York’s Hard Rock Cafe.
Resurgence of the Guitars
In 2007, the rights to the Larson brothers guitars were obtained by famed luthier, Maurice Dupont, and they are once again being produced for sale primarily in Germany, Belgium and France.