Framus Zenith Josh White 1957 skiffle jazz blues 4/4 folk large parlor guitar new set-up

The success of the 1956 book "The Josh White Guitar Method" prompted Ivor Mairants to commission a Zenith "Josh White" signature guitar based on White's Martin 0021 from the German guitar maker Oscar Teller. The Scottish guitarist Bert Jansch  (Pentangle) owned one of these models in his early playing years. On the last page of Josh White Guitar Method (printed in 1956) is a photo of this Zenith Josh White signature guitar. 

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Year 1957 
Made in Germany (by Framus)
Singed Ivor Mairants
solid   spruce  top 
mahogany back & sides 
Length 102cm 
scale 660mm, *concert
hand shaped nut 50mm (slimmer than 52mm standard classical)

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Length 102cm 
Shoulders 24.5cm
Waist 21.5cm 
Lower Bout 36cm
20 frets 
Inlay fret dots  5, 7,9,12, 14  
rosewood  tipped fine luthier heel
wooden strap button 

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Neck is flamed maple (3-piece  center stripe) 
Rosewood fret board 
Thick rosewood Martin 0021 styled bridge
wooden bridge pins/pegs *one peg is an ebony replacement at treble E 
Very good,   strait neck, accurate intonation
Good action measuring 3.7mm at the 12th (saddle still showing but I think the set-up balance it just right and it's important not to leave a guitar with a  too low  saddle appearance.  
  
All frets leveled, beveled and polished using diamond files and specialist luthier tools. 

High quality all original flamenco style tuners, hand pinned barrels, hammered  steel pin keys (small button), large brass machine cogs, very nice tuners that  you don't see on low end stuff.

*The D and G key tuner stems are a little  bent but this doesn't  effect the tuning or aesthetic.  no cracks in the barrels and keys are all working nicely and holding great tune for a classical. 

Flat soundboard, secure bridge, great fret board and frets, no warping or fret board tilt/wonk just nominal 1mm relief, no soundboard or side cracks and the guitar is structurally sound and set-up  playing and sounding beautifully.

The guitar is an old soul and is coming to life the more I play. 
    
Clean vintage guitar bag included, I also have a bunch  60s music books that I will include if of interest  that came with this. 

U.S/CAN/EUR shipping takes 5 working days, and the guitar will be very well packed in a strong box -  Please see my feedback for guitars sold internationally, you are in good hands : )

This is an interesting and quite rare guitar with some music  history in  that these were sold only briefly &  with Josh White's name crossed out  and  "Spanish Concert Guitar" written next to where the model number once occupied.   

I have attached a label of another one of these with "Spanish  Concert " written  and Josh Whites name also  crossed  out, mine says "Spanish Concert Style" which is not really accurate  as these are very much German styled Framus,  Hofner, Oscar Teller etc  but either Boosey & Hawkes  needed to get ,rid of these and just wrote that on them or they were not supposed to sell them anymore and new labels were never made so  a  collaboration that was short lived. 

I am starting to think, that only a short test run was made and something fell through in the deal so these could be very thin on the ground. 

These guitars were never mass produced and I have only seen a handful over the years. I doubt many have crossed the pond. 

I attached a fantastic  picture of Josh White playing is Martin 0021  and as you can see it has the same shape, bridge type, and fret board dot config, so this is a rare  well made affordable vintage  guitar  that incredibly has a solid top. 

Mairants commissioned German guitar manufacturer  to make  Zenith Guitars, with Boosey & Hawkes the sole distributor and each guitar signed by him.

These included the Zenith Model 17 acoustic which became  paul McCartney first guitar and on which he wrote most of his early songs.

In an interview, McCartney relates how he was surprised to see a 'chit' in Abbey Road Studios that Mairants had signed as a session musician - Paul went on to say "he was a God to us."

Interestingly,aside from a more Parlor influenced shape with very petite shoulders  and waist, the scale  is actually concert measurement (660mm)  so a  concert scale larger classical size folk guitar with  a skiffle-Jazz intention (Hybrid)  although the tone is just beautiful and very deep.

I  have had contact from a U.K musician (thanks Matt) that is an owner of a steel string variant of the Josh White model since 1961 that his father purchased for him (last pic)  I think there are more of the steel strings.  

I play more classical and folk crossover and this is a fantastic player and fortunate  enough to have a great neck so the action is set at a very respectable 3.7mm on the 12th which you just don't see often on guitars this old.

The guitar has perfect intonation and plays beautifully with no buzz or dead  spots and the frets are all excellent as well.. none  flat, sharp  or  sunken. 

I have spent  many hours refurbishing and  setting up this lovely guitar . I have stripped, cleaned, hydrated the rosewood fret board and treated with lemon oil.

I also leveled the frets with a handmade diamond file, beveled the fret edges, crowned and polished  to look almost new in places and hardly a dimple in sight after a lot of hard work, no sharp frets, none need replacing and they are looking fantastic. 

The soundboard has a lot of scratches and dings to note  but is dead  flat with  no  cracks. 

Bridge pins appear original hand shaped rosewood  (please note the high E pin/peg is an ebony replacement and protrudes a little  higher  but all  fit very nicely holding down ball end medium  tension nylons which really  suite the guitar.

Tonally  the guitar exceeds  my old Hofner Flamenco model and these are solid tops, some play wear that a Martin scratch plate could cover and make the guitar even more beautiful. 

If you look at the video (skip 1 minute : / ) that's not a bad demo of one of these being played well and you can  see the original scratch plate it would of had.  

If I sell my all solid Spanish guitar, I'll be keeping this, so you have been politely  warned that as a musician or 25 years and someone that records folk and classical influenced music, I would love to afford to keep this as my main folk player but I have a very small living space  or this would be in my hands  for a very long time. 

I'm not valuing the guitar on rarity and am seeing this as a high quality Framus built Martin inspired guitar, but this is the Josh White signature  model  and should be  well  regarded , I feel sad that not so many  people know about  these and that his name was crossed out which was clearly  original  printed on the label.

£24 in 1956 is £560 in today's money using an inflation calculator not that  you wouldn't get a guitar this well made for under $1000 today so is a smart purchase and great investment guitar even without the Josh White affiliation, it's a bloody good Framus and I have played 100s  of classical guitars to know a very good one.     

All the hard work has been done to get this playable and restored, There is one crack that fades to nothing at the back, there is no movement and imagine the back piece is laminate  given that it's quite a heavy guitar for a  classical so you could get that sealed for peace of mind, there are no side cracks and the soundboard has a lot or play marks and scratches but  those could be sanded out and you would have one beautiful guitar and   piece or jazz, folk & blues history.   

I have read that the FBI made attempts to sabotage Josh Whites career, and I guess I find it a little odd that the guitars that  were sold had the labels amended in  pen, I presume the deal fell through as it appears the department Store that sold them amended or "corrupted" the labels.

At first I thought the original owner has stupidly written "Spanish Concert guitar" but then found another example written in the same writing and these were sold exclusively in  Boosey & Hawkes in London so  this tells is that most of these had the labels corrupted in order to disassociate with Josh White.

White and the blacklist

White had reached the "zenith" of his career when touring with Eleanor Roosevelt on a celebrated and triumphant Goodwill tour of Europe. He had been hosted by the continent's prime ministers and royal families, and had just performed before 50,000 cheering fans at Stockholm's soccer stadium. Amidst this tour, while in Paris in June 1950, White received a call from Mary Chase, his manager in New York, telling him that  (who had been sending newsletters to the media since 1947 about White and other artists who they warned were subversive) had just released and distributed a thick magazine with subversive details regarding 151 artists from the entertainment and media industries whom they labeled communist sympathizers. White's name was prominent on this list. There never had been an official blacklist—until now. White immediately went to discuss the situation with Mrs. Roosevelt—to ask her advice and help. With great empathy, she told him that her voice on his behalf would hinder his efforts to clear his name. She explained that if she wasn't the widow of the president they would also be crucifying her. She continued that the  press had been calling her a "", citing her social activism and friendships with non-whites. That night, White called his manager and alerted her that he would be flying back to America the next day so that he could clear his name. Upon arriving at New York's , the  met him, took him into a customs holding room, interrogated him, and held him for hours while waiting word from Washington as to whether White, who was born in the United States, would be deported to Europe.

For a decade, White had been a leading voice of black America and a voice that reminded Americans of social injustices, while also becoming a major pop star and sex symbol from his platform at the Cafe Society. However, when Barney Josephson's brother and attorney Leon, who was also a lawyer for the communist-created , was brought before the  () in 1947 and refused to testify, he was sent to prison. The right-wing media publicity centered on the Cafe Society as a hotbed of communists. By December of that year, the original downtown club had to close, and by 1949, the uptown club was forced to shut its doors. Virtually every artist who regularly worked at the club had contributed to left-leaning benefits and was suspected as being a communist sympathizer.

Josh White was not a communist and was not active in any political party.