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VIDEO: Listen to a 100-year-old Washburn guitar being played
Collector Richard tunes in to another age of music
The mystery buyer who stepped in to buy a historical Washburn parlour guitar in Luton has been revealed.
He is Richard Camp, of Dunstable, who could not resist what was originally billed as a 1920s American-built Washburn when it went on sale at Coda Music in Guildford Street, Luton.
But after paying the equivalent of around 1,000 and trading one or two of his own guitars, he had a shock.
He said: "I realised it was made of Brazilian rosewood and managed to find a book that has just been published that pinpoints it to 1907, after I had looked up the serial number and label.
"I also have a 1906 Washburn of the same style, so now I have two Washburns built over a century ago to the same specification and within a year of each other. How much of a coincidence is that?"
Now Richard, 52, who plays guitar in Dunstable and Luton folk band Sons Of The Soil, is having his latest baby instrument professionally French polished.
"It's going to the equivalent of a guitar health farm," he explained. "I don't want it to look like a new model but I do want it to be in the best condition possible, so that it can be maintained for another 100 years and someone can say: 'Wow, look at that'."
And Richard is also taking steps to make the parlour model as authentic as possible, replacing the tuners with vintage Washburn ones that he tracked down from the States.
Other unusual guitars he owns include two Nationals, a 1960s Stella and a custom-made Brook.
Richard hosts an acoustic session at the Globe in Winfield Street, Dunstable, every Tuesday night from 9pm.
He says all comers are welcome to join in and play, or just sit and enjoy the music.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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