Parlor Guitar vs. Romantic Guitar

by Len Verrett

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You will see early romantic guitars listed as "Parlor" or "Parlour" Guitars, or "Early Romantic" / "Romantic" Guitars, or "19th Century" Guitars or "Antique Guitars". Early Romantic guitars are not parlor guitars.

The term "Parlor" guitar is frequently misused. A "Parlor" guitar is actually a guitar with a smaller body size, around the turn of the 20th century. Some true parlor guitars are gut/nylon, but many are steel-string. However, lots of 19th century classical guitars are mis-labeled as "Parlor" guitars, so keep that in mind as you look around using search engines and such. Be careful to make sure the guitar is nylon / gut strung, and not steel string, if you are buying sight unseen. The body shape gives them away, as the distance from the bridge to the bottom of the guitar gets greater after the 1850's. The "parlor" guitars are not worth as much generally as the early 19th century guitars. Use the term "parlor" when searching for these instruments because they are frequently referred to as such by shops who are not familiar with them.

"Antique" guitar is vague; since this can mean a guitar from 1920, as well as from 1820.. or even an electric guitar from 1970 can be considered "antique"! However, you will get a lot of search engine hits on "antique guitar" if you weed through them. On EBAY in particular, "antique guitar" is the best way to search.

"19th Century" guitar is also vague. The style of guitar we are talking about dates back actually to the late 1700's / 18th century, and ends around the middle of the 19th-century, only half of the century. Guitars with Torres design characteristics after around 1850 are technically 19th century, but a totally different breed of instrument. However, not all builders immediately adopted the Torres design; Panormo continued into 1860, and many guitars can be found from as late as the 1880's which were built in the earlier style. Again, the term is still useful when searching.

The most accurate depiction of these guitars, and the style of music, is probably "Early Romantic Guitar" because it best matches the generally accepted time period of music. It also recognizes the time span of circa 1770-1860. "Romantic" guitar, though useful to search, is also not accurate because the later music of say, Albeniz, Tarrega, and Granados is also considered "Romantic", but really a later era.
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Visit Len's site at http://www.earlyromanticguitar.com/.