Although they never once put their own name on their instruments, the Larson brothers have left us an extraordinary legacy with a different kind of signature: superb craftsmanship, powerful tone, and an astonishing number of different designs. This 1935 Larson Brothers Prairies State 15″ is an excellent example of their forward-thinking: the braces are actually Ebony and Spruce laminates, making them much more rigid than the purely Spruce equivalent, there’s a metal reinforcement rod that runs from the heelblock to the tailblock to help preserve the guitar’s shape, and finally the Larsons implemented an early neck angle adjustment system with a thin bar of metal that travels from the bottom of the guitar at the end pin, through the interior of the body and heel, and wraps around the outside of the heel of the neck: one twist of a flathead screwdriver, and the theory goes, you can tighten the tension on the heel, pulling it back and into the body of the guitar, thereby achieving a lower neck angle. Add to that a rare “Chocolate Top” finish and a period reproduction pickguard added by Tony Klassen (of New Era guitars fame), and you’ve got a legend of living wood in your hands!
The voice is warm, yet articulate, with rich overtones from the crisp bass register. Now that our repair staff have cleated and stabilized all cracks and restored the original bridge (which was suffering from the string slots tearing into the saddle slot) to full functionality, this Prairie State 15″ is in peak playing condition.