The Besson Aristone 1950s/60s - vintage classical guitar Oscar Teller *fine cracks

Very beautiful and rare The Besson Artisone classical guitar.

4/4

Made in the late 50s (possibly early  60s the Besson Jazz guitars linked  to Framus but  for the classical Artisone  the build looks to be almost identical to the  luthier Oscar Teller workshop with the same fine wooden figured inlay rosette, bridge design, headstock shape, flamed (Tiger)  maple book matched  back & sides and overall construction.

I've had a near identical Oscar Teller 1967 /6P with the same high end tuners & sizing and other details.

Framus builds are far more robust, these have  finer scalloped bracing a  smaller heel similar to Hofner in that desig but again  more elegant and more of a classical guitar than Hofner and Framus who I find more cross over folk instruments.   

I've had a lot of experience playing classical guitars from this period in Germany.

Neck is a 3-piece maple.

Quite a small ebony tipped heel, top is thin but solid spruce, you know it's solid when you have  fine cracks showing strait through. Solid woods are thinner & more fragile. So  they sound great but take extra care.

A very high end classical guitar that people overlook being exclusive to Besson in London.

Besson Ltd.. being a very respected maker of originally brass  & horn instruments but also made quite a famous Gypsy jazz guitar under the same "Artisone" moniker.

The guitar sounds as good as anything I've played, action  at the 12th  is as a very reasonable  3.75mm  but the the saddle has already been lowered so it's perfectly balanced but you'll want to keep this in a insulated case away from cold or direct heat source to keep it playing nicely as it does. 

It's so sad once  you see old guitars at 4.5mm+ at the 12th  so this is rare for a guitar this old to be  so playable without strain.

I guess people don't understand that wood contracts & expands *warps it's the fretboard that invariably shift, tilt or twists not the neck!.

Soundboard is flat, no bridge lifting, no back or side cracks.

There are 3 x fine linear cracks that on a guitar of this calibre & quality could do with a seal.

The frets are in  very good condition , nicely crowned with good profiling. All level & polished, none sharp or flat so great news there 

The guitar had  been French polished , varnished by a previous owner along it's 60-odd years of musical life.so that's not factory sheen or perfect.

I've sanded back to a very thin velocity finish so natural but not open porous .

It's still protected from the elements.  The guitar is very elegant & made from very attractive high quality woods & nicely carved internally with scalloped thin bracing & all very neat.

I'll add dimensions & more in the coming days.

I'm just getting up up my stream-of-consciousness draft.

Plays great, decent low to medium action, great neck plays in tune, intonation accurate. very lively sound as well with great projection and sustain.  

Top is solid spruce back & sides are Flamed/tiger maple very beautiful book matched grain & golden yellow colour .

Worldwide shipping please ask for a quote.

Newly set up with Pro Arte EJ43s so relaxed set up.

I  will post in a new guitar bag well-packed via  DPD or UPS  courier in very solid box.

Really nice  frets & neck as well.

Open to a close offer but put many hours into  the fret work & getting this play & sound  beautiful.

Expect some  scratches and wear for a guitar  60 + years old! but she's structurally sound & ready to inspire some music.

100% positive in 19 years so you are in good hands : ) 

Some info I found on the 50s Gypsy Artisone.

Framus: The name being an Acronym of FRAnconian MUSical Instruments. Framus originated in the Town of Schönbach, today called Luby (Cheb District) in the Czech Republic.

The City at the foot of the Erzgebirge was shaped by the Music. Violins & other String Instruments have been manufactured & exported from Schönbach Worldwide.

There, in the Bohemian area, the Founder of Framus, Fred Wilfer was born in 1917. After WW2, when he heard about plans to expel Sudeten Germans from post-War Czechoslovakia, he decided to build up a new basis for his Countryman & the Busic Industry in the West.

Besson Guitars were also later produced in the 1950s. These Guitars were imported and often rebranded.

Many of them were made by Framus. In the 50s; Jack Duarte, as a British Jazz Guitarist, designed the Aristone Guitars for Besson that were made by Framus. They were Badged as Besson Aristone Model.

The Aristone Guitar was Sponsored by John Duarte, alias Jack Duarte, a Classical & Jazz Guitarist. This Instrument was probably made in the very early  60s.

The Link with Hofner Guitars: The German Brand Höfner Founded in 1887 in Schönbach (present Czech Republic) by Karl Hofner. Already before the WW1 the Company had a good reputation, even outside Germany’s Borders, because of the Artisans great skill & probably also because Karl Hofner was a clever Businessman. His sons Josef & Walter joined the Company in 1919 & 1921 & it gave further Impetus to Exports.

Immediately after WW2, the victorious Allies set about re-defining the Map of Europe & as part of this process, Schoenbach became part of Czechoslovakia. Hofner‘s Business was very quickly taken into State Control & those German-speaking people living in the Sudetenland, as the area where Schoenbach was now, were forced to re-locate into Germany. So it was that the Walter Hofner found himself in Moehrendorf, near Erlangen, (which lies just to the North of Nuremberg), in Bavaria. Here, in 1947, he began working with Fred Wilfer on a Joint Venture which developed into the Framus Company.

In 1948, Karl Hofner together with his elder son Joseph also arrived in Moehrendorf & so Walter broke away from Fred Wilfer & the 2 Hofner Brothers re-Established the Hofner Company, using a large number of their former Employees, in an old Labour Camp Barracks in Moehrendorf. With the help of their Export earnings, they could build a New Factory in Bubenreuth in 1950