Replica Louis Panormo, Build photo

[Scot Tremblay]

I'm well on the way to finishing a couple Luis Panormo replicas.The Early Romantic guitar world seems to have a merry-go-round feel to it (I just wish there were more carousel ponies involved...I love the real wooden ones). Lacotes are the most popular requests one year, Stauffers the next and Panormo the third. I guess Panormo is having his (their) turn in the spotlight as two requests in a row came in. It's always a pleasure to make these guys, they have much in common with modern Torres style guitars and a few destinctive differences that make it interesting. Here's a photo of one of them.

For you sticklers for details, there are a couple very small compromises I take with the design. In the original Panormos the rosewood patch under the fingerboard (if present) is usually a rough piece of spruce (and occassionally I've seen a scrap piece of mahogany or Spanish Cedar and one rosewood). I prefer the rosewood. It's very thin and adds a little support under the rosette. 

Secondly, as many of us with original instrument know,  a bridge patch is usually absent in 19th century guitars and if it is found, is invariably a later addition. The string knot often works it's way through the relatively soft soundboard material and can pull the bridge off if not attended to in a timely fashion....like Now! To repair that issue at a later date, a thin hardwood patch was often glued in. I prefer to circumvent that inevitability, place a thin hardwood patch to start with and not be concerned with a costly repair later on.

More photos to come soon....

[James Westbrook]

I guess the most important thing to do is make sure (unlike Torres, but like Lacote and Stauffer) that you make sure the soundboard is assymetrical. Either using their eight, or six and a half fan-brace pattern, if you can find a plan, or use the seven braces with a one piece assymetrical soundboard.

[Scot Tremblay]

Very true...