1800s C Bruno 1884-1/2 Natural

A brief history lesson, Charles Bruno was a German immigrant who moved to New York in 1834 and was briefly partnered with C.F. Martin. Bruno imported and resold anything music related up until his death in 1884 when his son took over the operation. Bruno instruments from this era are quite difficult to identify a manufacturer for as New York was a large hub for builders and Charles could've contracted with any number of them to build guitars for his firm.

This guitar appears to be a model 1884-1/2 where 1884 is the year the model was introduced and the -1/2 designation refers to the "patent Vienna Machine Head" headstock that makes this guitar truly unique. The headstock cover is nickel or aluminum and beautifully etched . The tuner buttons are plastic wheels which are surprisingly ergonomic and work great. The fingerboard is Brazilian rosewood with regular nickel frets and three pearl position dots. The neck is mahogany with a V profile and looks to have been reset though there is a small gap at the base of the heel. The action is 5/32" on the treble side and 11/64" on the bass side at the 12th fret.

The body is a solid spruce top over solid Brazilian rosewood and has been through the gauntlet of repairs over its lifetime. The top has a number of long cracks which appear to have been filled with glue and then the top was over sprayed. The back is in great shape and the Brazilian looks fantastic with great figure and color variation. The sides are also in good shape and nicely colored but you can see a few drop fills and the original checkering in the shellac finish underneath the overspray. The pyramid bridge appears to be original with its fretwork saddle and mismatched bone bridge pin. It looks to have been shaved down slightly and the saddle slot deepened to improve the action.