Rare & Collectable Emile Grimshaw Revelation (Banjo) Guitar (1930s)

Here we have a lovely, rare and unusual guitar, this is the Emile Grimshaw Banjo-backed Revelation Acoustic, circa 1933. The guitar is in great condition given that it is circa 90 years old. It is in all original condition, with no breaks or repairs & is totally playable, with a good action. It is fitted with flat-wound strings & plays like a charm. Hand signed by Emile Grimshaw and carries the Serial number 143 

History:

 was born in October 1880 at Accrington, to the north of Manchester. He was mainly a banjo player who performed at the turn of the 20th century with his quartet. Well-known for his methods of learning the instrument and his scores, he recorded many vinyls, among which “Darktown Dandies” (HisMaster’s Voice, 1930). His music is still played today. In 1930, he made with his son, also named Emile, a company producing banjos and guitars, the latter being inspired by the construction of banjos. The instrument, a very unusual acoustic one, was composed of two parts. A separated back, wider than the top, includes the latter with sides which overlap halfway down the proper sides. The system was conceived to amplify the sound before the electric instruments were invented. At that time, people were concerned about getting a more powerful sound out of guitars so that they become more audible in bands with brass or woodwind instruments. It is well-known that the concern gave birth to the National guitars, in metal, produced by John Dopyera and George Beauchamp in 1927. Grimshaw’s invention to the name of “Revelation”. In the first models, the separated back was detachable, but it had to be fixed afterwards, due to the vibrations that it produced, is only attached by two nuts. The instrument was proposed in two versions: an archtop with a curved sounding board, with F holes, or with a flat sounding board with a rosette. In 1935, an electrified version appeared, called “Premiervox”. In our model, the flat sounding board shows a splendid wood of dark colour, with a circle of rosette and a binding imitating ivory. The straight neck is supposed to be glued and the fretboard has 20 frets with mother-of-pearl dot markers. According to E. Sandiford, the world specialist of the brand, the headstock has an inlaid plaque bearing Emile’s initials, in a  logo in mother-of-pearl that would be used “on all the Grimshaw models before 1943”.