It has been almost three years now since  this guitar came into my shop.  I had never heard of this maker but the quality of the construction, the aesthetics and the “modern” features intrigued me.  The owner was interested in having the guitar repaired as it had belonged to his father and he wanted to pass it on to his granddaughter.  There was a small crack next to the fingerboard and some deformation below the strings, otherwise the top was in good shape.  The bridge had been over-stressed by using metal strings and this had broken the front lip.  As is so common in these situations, someone had used white glue and had glued saddle and bridge all together in a big mess.  The carved back had sunken and had also shrunk to the point that the sides had a larger outline than the back and had opened up.  In the end the owner chose not to have the restoration done and I refused to do the simple repairs that he had originally intended.  As you will see this guitar is quite a treasure and the only option is to restore it properly or leave it as it is.

My first step was to contact Sinier de Ridder who are the foremost experts on French guitars and excellent restorers.  I learned that Etienne Laprévotte was a violin maker, a contemporary of Lacôte, who turned to guitar making.  The violin heritage is present in this guitar in the carved back, the neck dovetailed into the body and the special bracing of the top.  The bracing consists of four longitudinal bars like the bass bar of a violin.  The book by Sinier de Ridder on the French guitar (Volume 1) was extremely helpful and includes x-rays of the instruments including a Laprevotte. 

Next post will include more details of this guitar.