YOU are looking at a very old guitar, probably one of the rarest of its brand, which drifted into obscurity after World War I.
I have owned it for just 30 years since I bought it from a secondhand shop in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.
Thanks to the web I have been able to get an insight into its history. It carries a brand plate on the back of the headstock, and when the internet came on stream in the late 1990s I searched for clues but found none.
The penetration of the internet into the cultural crevices improved. It was just two years ago that I tried again and found references to some who could help - the Estonian jazz musician Joh Mitt, and his email address. Here is the story as it unfolded.
My email to Mr Mitt:
"INQUIRY FROM AUSTRALIA:
For about 30 years I have had a seven-string guitar with a brand plate saying:
JOH. MITT
MUUSIKARIISTAD & NOODID
TALLINN
TEL. 26-64
It seems to be very old as the phone number has only four digits. I am wondering if you are
related to this Joh. Mitt and if you may be able to say when the guitar was made, or tell me anything about it or the maker. "
HOPE had all but faded when ...
"Dear Mr Rumney,
I received your very interesting inquiry about the old guitar you own. My apologies for not being able to reply sooner.
I am a retired musician, trumpet player, music arranger, conductor from Tartu, Estonia. The Joh. Mitt you mention is indeed a relative from my father's side of the family but I have never met him. In 1940 (I was born in 1948), when the communists took power, any trace of him was lost, probably to Siberia.
To my knowledge, he traded musical instruments, mainly selling wind instruments (I have played a trumpet originating from him), pianos, other keyboard instruments as well as musical scores, and, as it now turns out, guitars as well - this is a very interesting find since I wasn't previously aware that he dealt in guitars as well.
He started his business already before the First World War in Imperial Russia, in Tallinn, Estonia, ordering instruments from all over the world and reselling them.
As a quality assurance, he marked the instruments with Joh. Mitt (which is also my signature, I was named Johannes in his memory).
I think the instrument might be up to 100 years old. It probably came to Australia with an Estonian refugee or migrant.
You might also find a signature of the instrument maker somewhere inside the guitar. I presume that the instrument was probably ordered from Russia and sold in Estonia.
I also read about you from your blog profile with great interest, since I’m a devoted fan and interpreter of jazz music myself. I have been playing jazz from an early age, beginning with dixieland, followed by swing, cool jazz, and, at the present I also play funky style. We also have an orchestra called 'Swing' together with other retired music professionals.
Johannes Mitt ."
My post script to Mr Mitt:
"Dear Mr Mitt,
"Thank you very much for your detailed response. I searched the internet several tiimes since the late 1990s for references to the brand as the guitar has been a much cherished possession, even in its current damaged form.
About 1986, just as I was coming to terms with the seven-string design I hid it in a basement when I went on holidays from Sydney. It rained for all the four weeks and, when I came back, the basement had been flooded.
I don't think the water actually reached the guitar but the glue softened in the extreme humidity, verging on steamy, and dampness. When I picked it up, the soundbox fell into pieces. It broke my heart.
Although I attempt some guitar repairs this one was too big for me but in the 1990s a luthier friend [Kent of Kent Guitars, Maroochydore, Queensland] glued the soundboard, back and sides together for me to get it playable again.
Delighted, I sat down to string it - but when I brought just two strings to concert pitch, the bridge broke off. The second heartbreak was just as agonising.
Since then I have simply hung the guitar as a display piece on my wall, stopping from time to time to enjoy the experience of its heritage as I always knew it must be very old. I do value it very much and now I have the motivation to knuckle down and restore it.
I have a long and deep love of guitars and have managed to repair quite a few over the years, although I have no trade qualification.
The 'Joh Mitt' has a nice timber inlay as a small feature at the centre of the soundboard below the bridge (which has now been kept inside the guitar, where I put it almost 20 years ago!). The mother-of-pearl and more timber inlay around the soundhole is also very nice.
A very interesting feature of the guitar is the adjustable action. The neck is hinged inside the body and adjustable with a key-type screw mechanism that is similar to the old wind-up clocks so it can be tightened or loosened. I would presume this design allows the adjustment of the intonation, rather than just a set-up to suit the player's preference for higher or lower action. But I did not get the chance to use this possibly unique feature. I have not seen another guitar with anything like it.
Several years ago I found one of your records listed on a South African jazz club's website and several other references to you in other languages but this was the first time I was able to track down your address. Or maybe have the courage to jump the language barrier. Perhaps the translation program in the search engine works better now ...
Just dreaming now: When I get this guitar in action, I should get across there and have a play with you ... It is so delightful to make contact with you like this and I hope to meet you one day. "
So that's the story behind my Joh Mitt guitar, still awaiting that restoration. :)
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