1832 Louis Panormo Guitar
After Louis Panormo began building guitars in the"Spanish Style" in London in the 1820's, his son-in-law, A.F. Huerta, performed with his Panormo-built guitar in the United States, spreading awareness of the Spanish Style to C.F. Martin.
Soon Martin began to abandon the Viennese Style guitar in favor of the Spanish Style.
This Panormo has the distinctive slotted headstock style which replaced the earlier European solid "paddle" headstock with ivory pegs.
This higher grade Panormo used high quality "Baker" tuners with bone rollers and fancy pearl buttons.
In the 1840's, Martin moved from primarily using the imported Viennese Style headstock with all six tuners on one side,
...to using a slotted headstock with three machines on either side.
Martin occasionally used fine French "Jerome" tuners with bone rollers and fancy pearl buttons on his higher grade guitars.
In the 1840's, Martin also moved from the round body shape of the Viennese guitar to the Spanish influenced shape of the Panormo.
The Early Stauffer Style Martins bore the hourglass shape of the Viennese Style guitars of his mentor.
Notice how the shape of the Spanish Style Panormo on the left has influenced the later, small, narrower Martin "Spanish Style" parlor guitar of the 1840's, with a relatively smaller upper bout and square ended lower bout.
The higher end Panormo has a rosette inlaid with pearl diamonds and squares.
In the 1840's, Martin echoed the Panormo's rosette pattern of alternating pearl diamonds and squares.
Even the type styles and fancy filigree pattern of the label affixed to the back of the Panormo was seen as well on mid-Nineteenth Century Martin & Coupa labels.
The Panormo has a cedar neck with a "Spanish heel", and a simple straight line back strip extending to the heel cap.
By the 1840's, Martin's Spanish Style guitars had followed the lead and replaced the ebonized neck with ice cream cone heel...
...with a cedar neck with "Spanish Heel", and also borrowed the austere, simple straight line holly wood back strip extending onto the heel.
This Panormo also has side filets, or simple light wood lines on the sides adjacent to the bindings.
These side filets were borrowed by Martin's Style 23 and 24 guitars.
Perhaps most importantly, Martin replaced the straight ladder bracing of the Stuffer influenced Viennese Style guitars...
...with the fan bracing employed by the Spanish guitar.
Here we see a five blade example of Martin's version of fan bracing.
The Panormo was constructed with a "Spanish Foot" joining the neck to the body.
Martin also copied the "Spanish Foot" used by Panormo, implementing a "false" foot on his Spanish Style guitars.
And early Spanish Style Martin & Coupa Guitars employed the solid kerfing seen in the interior of the Panormo joining the rims to the back and sides.
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