Edgar Mönch – 1968

Description

The Guitar Builder Edgar Mönch, born in Leipzig on the 29th October of 1907, descended from a family of musicians. His mother, Russian, was a pianist, and his father a violinist and kapellmeister. He spent his childhood in Russia, attended school there and afterwards studied engineering at the technical university of Danzig (translator’s note: today: Gdansk, Poland). He then worked as a technical interpreter at the Stoka Plant in Prague and studied the violin at the local conservatory. He got into guitar making in an English war camp where he met a violin maker from Breslau (TN: today: Wroclaw, Poland), who showed him, how to build a guitar.
From 1947 up to his death this was the profession he worked in. He brought his knowledge to perfection via studies with the befriended guitar maker Marcelo Barbero in Madrid, Spain. Edgar Mönch’s manual skilfulness and his perfectionism brought him global appreciation. He was fanatic in his work and self-critical as can be rarely seen. A Stradivari of the guitar making. He eagerly gave his knowledge forward to his pupils and some very good guitar builders such as John Larrivée, Kolya Panhuyzen, Ken Bowen and Joseph Kurek came out of his workshop. Edgar Mönch died two months after his son’s death on the 16th of February 1977. Segovia, Julian Bream, John Williams, Vincente Gomez and many more guitar players around the world played and play a Mönch Guitar.

This guitar built in Toronto in 1968 is in excellent condition with only one hair-line crack on the side. It is completely original, including the varnish and the Landstorfer mechanics. It has a sound of touching purity and a perfect separation of voices. The handling of this instrument is extremely pleasant, and one feels all the pleasure of playing on a half-century old instrument. The great balance of this guitar gives it a voice that goes beyond the simple projection of sound and provides it with intense musical power.