Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Oct 23 - 04:36 PM

I own 3 of them and they're all nice, well made stylish guitars. Necks are quite narrow. I have a Sonor, a Studio and a beautiful old Regent.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Oct 23 - 04:36 PM

I own 3 of them and they're all nice, well made stylish guitars. Necks are quite narrow. I have a Sonor, a Studio and a beautiful old Regent.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Jonas
Date: 23 Dec 21 - 02:54 PM

Got an Otwin Type No. 72.
III/23/3 Kr-G-013-61.
Can anyone here discern some info from the serial number? It's an acoustic with side-mounted open machine heads.
Very delightful sound and easy to play. Bought in Norway some uncertain year between 1955-1965.

Having a tough time with finding info about Otwins.

Cheers!

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Pete
Date: 03 Jul 21 - 04:16 AM

I have an Otwin electric bass guitar.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,John
Date: 10 Jan 20 - 06:16 AM

I have a Otwin Cabinet from 1959 I am from Norway.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Eric
Date: 04 Jan 17 - 03:07 PM

I have an Otwin Type30/5 acoustic.
It looks old, serial number 1194.
Small and very playable and in pretty good condition.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Artifrank
Date: 30 Dec 16 - 07:26 PM

I had a 12 string Otwin bought in 1962. Had it for years and gave it away in 1972 as I could never play bar chords on it, but it was a pretty looking instrument with lots of inlay.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Dennis
Date: 29 Oct 16 - 02:30 AM

Hello!

I have a otwin super, i got it from my grandpa but i dont know anything about IT. Is it anyone who knows anything about that guitar? How do you know wich year its from?

Cheers

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Dick Green
Date: 31 Mar 16 - 09:13 AM

I have one from about 1963. Nice box, hard on the fingers.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,BongoPedro
Date: 14 Mar 16 - 03:51 PM

I have 3 Otwins; a Sonor, a Studio and a Regent. All are very nice, well made archtops although the Sonor neck is a bit chunky by modern standards.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Nick
Date: 27 Oct 15 - 01:52 PM

I was given an Otwin Rhythm in the year of 1960 as a replacement guitar for the one given to me for my 9th birthday. That first guitar was a nightmare but I persevered with playing hence I was relieved and detighted when I was handed this big cello bodied single cutaway 'f' holed Otwin.

I was small, it was big but we got along fine and my playing improved no end.

This marque does seem to be a bit of a mystery though, not a huge amount of info available from what I've seen.

I still have it, all these years later as indeed I still have my old Hofner Super 3 which did me such good service in the four years I was in a band in the early/mid 60's

At the moment the Otwin Rhythm is strung for Nadhvill. Records pretty well although not very loud due to the weird string arrangements.

It's best claim to fame was that it was loaned to Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe but am not sure whether he actually used it for recording.

If anyone has info on this model I'd be really interested.

Cheers

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Mikos Landouse
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 11:06 AM

Otto Windisch guitars investigations by myself have revealed names such as FRANZ STARKE (STAERKE) and brands such as JOHANNES ADLER, ESTE, OTWIN, and OWOPHONE.
I have an old Johannes Adler Archtop, possibly pre WWII, which is very light and has carved back and top. It is quite loud with a mid range "bark" similar to the recorded sound of a guitarist called Django Reinhardt! It appears to be a mid range instrument. When I bought it I tried a similar (1930's) Gibson which actually sounded no better or played no better, it did however, have some benefits in build quality. I paid a fraction of the price of the Gibson to obtain it and fitted it with lighter tension strings and lowered the action to help reduce the relief in the neck, which has no truss rod. The guitar could do with a visit to the Samois Gypsy Jazz festival wher I,n sure it will feel nearly at home.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Johnny Riff
Date: 20 Nov 13 - 04:52 PM

hello, i have also an Otwin guitar, type "Jumbo ". code 25 3 65 and 111/23/3 krg 013/63. If there is any picture of this guitar, specialy the bridge. Please let me know or send me one. greetings from Holland, Johnny Riff.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Jun 13 - 08:58 PM

i have a 67 otwin jumbo in need of big job neck body refuRb and machine heads looks nice well made got to reset neck glue job to body etc look forward to it when i get on with it payed 2.50 for it a car boot very collectable german guitar gainin rarity and know it will sound good when i done it up mine has date in 1967 . 15 . 8 to be precise nice unusual shape chunky body scratch plate etc dot finger board but beaten a bit which is ashame

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 04 Jun 13 - 12:56 PM

Ooh, it ain't 'arf Otwin, Mum...

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 04 Jun 13 - 10:01 AM

Otwin its hot
Coldwin its cold

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Dick Green
Date: 04 Jun 13 - 07:43 AM

I have a B&H Otwin Jumbo from about 1962.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,R. T Lydestad Canada
Date: 08 Feb 13 - 12:31 PM

Mine is a otwin studio with what appears to have a pickup made by otwin. It was got from a old man who bout it new in the early 50s . he buoght it when it was new and l wont sell it . its got a cutway and a nice straight neck it has a carved top and back which is book matched. theres a picture on europeon guitars forum .

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Dr-Phil
Date: 11 Nov 12 - 06:34 AM

I have an Otwin 12-string.The label says 'Western Guitar.' It's reasonably good. Spruce top, truss rod. 615 scale length 12 fret. Any one know what its worth?
It's not a patch on my Hoyer 12-string, which is as good a sound as any Stella 12 that I've heard.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 14 Feb 12 - 12:55 PM

well, I posted on Nov 22 last year that I'd bought the same 1960 model Otwin as I had in 1965 on eBay. I got the pickup and pickguard fitted and gave it a whirl today. Here's the little devil in action:

How High The Moon

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,peter
Date: 05 Feb 12 - 12:25 AM

Here in USA I have a Jumbo by Otwin (1968), still quite playable. It had a neck reset, and the luthier connected neck heel to neckblock by the use of Taylor-style hex bolts, so future adjustments should be precise and simple. Great mids, and the ladder braced sound, copied from Harmony Sovereign H-1260 is really distinctive. Am currently selling it on Ebay, though because of other guitar interests.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Martin Day, Tennessee
Date: 03 Feb 12 - 09:46 AM

When I was 16 (in 1964), I bought an Otwin Jumbo acoustic at Frank Hessey's Music Shop in Liverpool. I believe it cost 40 quid - a fortune in those days. I had to buy it on hire-purchase! I remember running my fingers across the strings and being wowed by the warm but sharp sound. I still have it.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,lee
Date: 02 Feb 12 - 09:41 PM

l have otwin its from 1950 according to the original owner. he bought it in 1950 brand new. it looks to have been the first electrified. its a studio model. the back and sides are heavily flamed the back is two piece and book matched the top is figured and all is solid hand carved to order.its in its original case its a 17 inch cutaway jazz . it sounds great l have been a collector for a long time and one time gibson dealer and this one l have kept. every guitar maker has made something that was not satisfactery this is not one of them.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 22 Nov 11 - 09:04 AM

Well, I started this thread on September 1st 2008. Just three years and seven weeks on I've bought exactly the same model, f-hole archtop Otwin that I had s/h in 1965! The first one cost me £10 and this latest one - spotted on eBay - went in auction for £120 and arrived with me today.

The guitar had been in an attic, in a soft case, for 30 years, and had been left with 5 nylon strings on it. I fitted a starter set of .010-.046 this morning - just to get it cranked up after all that time - adjusted the bridge placement and height, and had a play. The frets are completely unworn, and the neck is as true as the day it was made. There are some dings and scratches, which is what you'd expect in a guitar that's just over 50 years old (1960), and it's needs a general clean and polish.

The guitar was originally fitted with a floating pickup and pickguard - the tiny screw holes are still there - and I shall probably fit it with a Kent Armstrong p/up and a new guard. Great for jazz playing - and nice to be able to breathe some new life into an old but worthy instrument.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,theyellow008
Date: 15 Nov 11 - 05:04 PM

i've got one OTWIN type30/5 1967 done many shows with her she now retired until i get her restored a sweet guitar..

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Burnett. Pembrokeshire.
Date: 19 May 10 - 10:46 AM

My Otwin Rythm was bought for me for £17 new at a music shop in Leamington Spa in 1959. I still have it, but compaired with a modern instrument it was a pig to play. I have set it up for slide. In open "G", it now has a new lease of life.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Don, Chelmsford, Essex, UK
Date: 25 Nov 09 - 07:28 PM

I have an Otwin Jumbo, bought in 1964 from a music/guitar shop in Snow Hill Birmingham, UK. Think it then cost £64, and they would not include a case?

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Andrew from MA, USA
Date: 11 Nov 09 - 08:28 PM

I have a beautiful Otwin Sonor, arch top, no cut-a-way, curved slash f-holes. Solid thick spruce top, strong straight grain. black curved oickguard, very narrow waist, and a very round lower body, harp shaped hammered metal tail piece. I got it on ebay for $193. It needed to go to my luthier to get the neck reset, and now it's a dream. Wonderful tone. Almost Maceffari. I'm guessing 1950's. I don't think I'd sell it, even if offered $1000. I believe that up to the installation of the Berlin Wall, these were high quality guitars, run by a venerable luthier family, and, unfortunately their reputation lessened in the 60's.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST, lee from b.c. canada
Date: 10 Nov 09 - 10:27 AM

l have a otwin jazz guitar one of the first probably he electrified . the old owner had two he bought and one smaller body and the 15 inch l have. my info is he had it made its a solid top sides and back. the back is book matched and heavily flamed, workmanship is 10 out of 10 it rings like a bell .

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Chris Locke
Date: 28 Sep 09 - 07:04 AM

I bought an Otwin type 30/5 acoustic guitar in Yeovil, somerset Uk. in 1994 for 10 pounds. Still have it, not a bad sound at all.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,mattias
Date: 15 Jul 09 - 06:20 AM

i have a 1964 otwin in pretty god nick and i have not seen meny of them

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Bingo
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 01:14 PM

I have an Otwin mandolin Type 150/0 in a very good condition still with original strings,dated 1886.Was just wondering if any body has any info on this specific mandolin.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Rachel
Date: 29 Apr 09 - 06:55 PM

I have an Otwin mandolin & I'm just underway searching information. Most internet sites are German. Understanable, but I can't read German. I did come across a museum with photos of the same model I have. I was ready to sell the mandolin at an upcoming fiddlefest as a good student/beginner's mandolin, but will probably hold off due to more research.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Apr 09 - 12:01 PM

l have just traded for a otwin jazz guitar a studio model from ther original owner who bought two in 1949-50 . single pickup under the neck and as a blues guitar its great. l live in british columbia canada .

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 09 - 08:03 AM

my dad owns an old acoustic Otwin, i dont know what make it is or how it is but it looks at least 1920's

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 07:43 AM

Last year I got me an Otwin Jumbo from 1965. It is built as a copy of the Harmony Sovereign Jumbo (H1260 I believe). A beautiful guitar in a remarkable state, totally playable, solid woods all around (spruce and mahogony). I had a luthier make a new zero fret and had the Rubner Co. in Markneukirchen, home of Otwin in Saxony, make new machine heads from my photographs and description. It feels like a almost new guitar and the good thing is you're the only person in around a few hundred kilometers or more who owns one! The guitar sounds very particular, lot of mids; amplified with K&K Pure Western Mini on a Roland AC90 I wouldn't want to loose this one.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Grumpyjohn
Date: 30 Dec 08 - 06:38 AM

Hi, just found this forum ,I too have an Otwin 12 string I purchased 2nd hand about 1965.I used play a lot of Leadbelly numbers on it and found Labella C range strings were perfect for the job.My 12 string has the adjustable neck,trapezium tail piece and small body(not a Jumbo)

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Bluebabeloubass
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 06:32 AM

Hi,

Otwin made a lot of instruments - guitars, basses, mandolins, violins, cello's, harpguitars, lapsteels,.... If you have an Otwin, please send me as much pictures as you can, I'll start a public album if it gets a success. Please mail to: [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,strumian
Date: 26 Oct 08 - 04:53 PM

I recently bought an Otwin half size steel string acoustic at a flea market in Zurich, i had never heard of them either, i had to do some work on it, the bridge had to be removed and re-glued, also i had to try and lower the action but it has no truss rod, once these problems were solved i had the sweetest little acoustic that i've had for years, really great sound for such a small guitar and it serves fine for my camp fire instrument.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 12:58 PM

Hi GUEST,Maerijn - glad to hear your Otwins are still giving you pleasure. In a way, I regret giving my old f-hole Otwin anyway - many years ago - but it's the first of many regrets (Fender Mustang, Gibson SG, Hofner Verithin...).

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Merijn
Date: 10 Oct 08 - 10:38 AM

Hi, I also own an otwin guitar, a twelve string ('65), and mandola ('67). In my search in more info about Otwin I cam across this forum, as wel as this one: http://www.euroguitars.co.uk/index.php?board=7.0

It has some great foto's and info. I found out my 12 string ought to have an adjustable neck. But unfortunately my guitar has been treated very bad. But it plays and sound still beautifull (because of ladder bracing?).And what I 've seen from Otwin, the instruments are built very well and have a good sound in them.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,André
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 01:47 AM

Yes, I own an Otwin Jumbo of 1965. It is a copy of the Harmony Sovereign with all solid woods (spruce and mahogany). It's a beautiful and strong sounding guitar which I use frequently with K&K Pure Western Mini pick-up on a Roland AC90, a very strong combination. It has a totally different sound than my Larrivee D03 and Ayers ASO, with much more mid. I guess I will never quit from this piece of art!

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Fleggy
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 12:45 PM

Roland, you asked for info on Otwin guitars; this is what I found on the web; Otwin was an instrument brand name used by the Otto Windisch company in Germany after world war ii and lasting well into the 1960s.

The Otto Windisch company was founded in 1886 with Otto Widisch himself as the sole owner until 1903 when his brother, Paul Windisch, joined the company as a co-owner. Otto Windisch died in 1935.
By the mid 1920s the two brothers were still running the company, manufacturing violins under the OW trade mark and other stringed instruments under the Owi, Edelklang and Joachim Tielke brand names.
Windisch was one of the few German music houses that managed to survive ww ii.
Guitars branded Otwin included arch tops. Although the cheaper ranges seem to have been just cheap plywood guitars, there are examples of the high end models being very nice instruments made from good materials.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: breezy
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 07:42 AM

Fleggy is the one on the right of the picture, he hasnt changed much either, shoes, jacket, guitar but has written some lovely songs some of which can be heard in sesions, see guru

Even I sing a few , so they must be good.

things just might get better

I recommend 'old Ben' to any traddie style singers, bowt a retired sheep dog,

he has a treasure chest of original songs chaps

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Roland Dobbinga
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 03:03 PM

Yes, I own a Otwin gitar, but is't a bass gitar. A acoustic and it looks like a mexican gitar. Probalby build somewhere in the 1920. Do you have more information about Otwin???

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 02:17 PM

Great pic, Fleggie - thanks for making it available! I also remember Macari's - and I bought my 1904 Windsor tenor banjo from JAT's shop in New Oxford Street - for, I think, about £10! I'd also forgotten about La Bella strings - you're bringing it all back...

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Fleggy
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 02:01 PM

this is a link to the pic showing two Otwins!
Matrix

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Fleggy
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 10:19 AM

The only other shops I remember from the early 70's are John Alvey Turner in New Oxford Street where I used to buy their own brand of all steel strings, much to the dissaproval of Ivor who said I should use La Bella bronze strings, and Macari's Musical Exchange in Charing Cross road where we bought second hand PA for Imperial College Folk Club where I was developing my folk skills when not at the Troubadour.
By the way, David Elliott and I played matching Otwins in the group Matrix, complete with Yagdish on tabla and Anne Shepherd on vocals, and there is a photo somewhere; must put it on my website. The Otwins were both modified to have Grover machine heads.
Denmark Street is now an easy walk from my office so Hank's acoustic shop gets a few regular visits.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 09:58 AM

Well I'll be damned. I used to go to Ivor's shop in the late 60s early 70s - often in my lunch hour. I believe the shop was actually run by his sons, but Ivor was often there, chatting to the customers and playing on the shop's stock. He was a great player and could make any guitar sound good. Yes - I believed he played with McDonough (right spelling?) and made a fat living from his dance band work before opening up the shop. He also did books of guitar arrangements which, I believe, are still available. Nearly bought a cherry-red Gibson SG from the shop but the s/n on the back of the headstock had been tampered with (not by the shop). Did you ever get to Rose-Morris - Adrian Legge's old stamping ground?

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Fleggy
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 09:51 AM

I bought an Otwin (round hole) from Ivor Mairants in about 1970 and still have it. Curiously the neck tapers so it is very slim for open chord shapes and gets slightly fatter as you go up the neck. I was very happy with it for several years. Incidentally. Ivor played it for me in his shop when I was trying out guitars; he was a great jazz player in his day and had recorded with Dick McDonagh ( not sure about spelling there), anyway, the Otwin is all right by me although I now use a Martin D41 and keep the Otwin stored away for sentimental reasons we need not go into here. The guitar I replaced the Otwin with was a Harmony Sovereign, another great guitar in it's day, and which is in the same cupboard as my Otwin.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 09:26 AM

Spotted the eBay one - shame it's not the f-hole model.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: GUEST,Warwick Slade
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 09:07 AM

There is one on e-bay as we speak. It's about 99p at present.
I nearly bought one in early 6os but got a Levin instead. A good move

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Harmonium Hero
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 01:00 PM

Hi Will. That's put a face to another Mudcat name! Cheers JK

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 03:21 AM

Hi John - thanks for that snippet. Otwins appear to have been as rare as hens' teeth over here! Nice to see you down at Arundel and Chiddingly recently, by the way - loved your singing of "The Lakes of Pontchartrain".

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Harmonium Hero
Date: 02 Sep 08 - 03:53 PM

I knew two people in Liverpool in the late 60s who had Otwin flat-top acoustics. I also saw a bloke - again in Liverpool at about the same time, although he was a visitor from Yorkshire somewhere, I think - who had a strange guitar with a circular body, which I seem to remember was an Otwin. I think he said they'd only made half a dozen of them.
John Kelly.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 01 Sep 08 - 08:53 AM

Thanks Murray - you beat me to it! But I'm still curious as to whether anyone here ever owned one and had opinions on them.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 01 Sep 08 - 08:52 AM

A quick Google search reveals that the original Otwins were made in East Germany by luthier Otmar Windish.

Subject: RE: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 01 Sep 08 - 08:51 AM

Otwin Guitars

Subject: Otwin guitars - anyone else owned one?
From: Will Fly
Date: 01 Sep 08 - 08:47 AM

My first guitar - bought in 1964 - was a cheap and useless instrument. A friend took pity on me and offered to sell me -for £10 - his f-hole guitar. The make was "Otwin". I played this for 3 or 4 years (before buying a s/h 1964 Epiphone Texan) and - though I may be wearing rose-coloured spectacles or angelic hearing-aids - it seemed a nice, basic instrument with a reasonable action and tone. I've never seen another Otwin, before or since. Anyone else ever come across this brand?