Lucien Gélas (1 January 1873Doppelresonanzgitarre by Angela Waltner or 12 January 1873Diccionario de Guitarristas (1934) by Domingo Prat – 5 June 1944) was a luthier, classical guitarist, and teacher.
Gélas was born in Menton, Alpes Maritimes. He composed for solo guitarLucien Gélas compositions (Oviatt Library; California State University) and as well as works for voice and guitar set to his own texts. Gélas owned the complete historic works of Sor as published by Meissonnier (Paris 1820–1836) and Pacini (1830–1836). The works are now a part of the Spencer Collection at the Royal Academy of Music in London.Spencer Collection
Gélas Guitar (double-top guitar) Gélas is well known for inventing and patenting a guitar design which uses a double top: It is often called a Gélas guitar, or a double-top guitar (or double-resonance-guitar) and was common in the first half of the 20th century.
Gélas was awarded a gold medal at the Bordeaux Exhibition in 1907 and a gold medal at the Brussels Exhibition in 1910 for his double-top instruments.Gélas Gold MedalLucien Gélas; Cité de la musique
The two tops of the instruments have a resonating space between them. The inner top is not parallel to the outer one, such that the guitar can be observed to have a particular tilt. Also, the strings run through the bridge (which is on the inner top) and are attached at the bottom, in such a way that the plucked part of the string before the bridge is at an angle to the part of the string after the bridge. This is achieved by having the plucked part of the string slightly angled to the inner top (in conventional guitar it would be parallel), resulting in a raised tension in the inner top.
The patent was first filed in Paris in 1905; and the patent text is downloadable in French and English.Gélas Guitar Patent
His guitars were played by numerous important artists, particularly in the first half of the 20th century. Heinrich Albert (1870–1950) obtained a Gélas guitar (from Gaudet in Paris) and ascribes his concert successes in a large part to the guitar, praising its carrying sound, ease of responsiveness, and tone-colour.Heinrich Albert and Gélas guitar Other players of Gélas guitars included Luise Walker (1910–1998) and Bruno Henze (1900–1978).
Gélas produced the instruments with the help of guitar-makers (following his patent), at first Théodore Gaudet and later Jean Roviès, Beuscher, Richard Jacob and others. The instruments included classical guitars, mandolins, jazz double-basses and Hawaiian guitars.
See also Classical guitar making
References
External links Gélas Patent Gélas instruments at the Cité de la musique Gélas Guitars (Classical guitar) Gélas guitar Restoration images of a Gélas guitar Gélas guitar Gélas Guitars (Hawaiian guitar) Gélas guitar Gélas guitar (ref) Gélas Mandolins Gélas Mandolin Gélas Mandolin