Claescaster

Category: Made in Sweden

Levin LS/LT-18

Levin LS/LT-18, Made in Sweden in 1965

It’s been fairly quiet here for 2-3 years and I’m terrible sorry for that, I’ve been busy trying to raise two kids and get through a pandemic. In August 2020 I turned 40-years old and bought a lovely old guitar for myself, as I sometimes do when it’s my birthday. It’s a 1965 Levin LS/LT-18 and I wished I would have had time to take pictures, record a video and write about it earlier but I just never got around to do it. This guitar is a bit odd, but as they say, anything can happen in a guitar factory. It has a LT-18 neck on a what appears to be a LS-18 body and it looks like it left the factory that way. The body has an old LS-18 label inside, just like the 1960 Levin LS-18 that I got, but the body is stamped inside with a Goya serial number for 1965, 227210, while the head is stamped with a Levin serial number from 1965, 450431. So if we move away from the fact that the body is Goya stamped and the head is Levin stamped, I have a couple of those guitars at home so that seems to have happened now and then, the big mystery is the LS-18 label. According to Vintage Guitars Sweden the Levin LS-18 was discontinued in 1963 even though the latest known example is from 1965, 451584. Did one of the old men who built the Levin guitars refuse to start building the new Levin LT-18 and just continued to build Levin LS-18 in secret for two more years? Did they have a lot of bodies and necks lying around and released a Levin LS-18 once in a while as a treat? They did open the new factory in Lessebo in 1965 so perhaps everything was a bit of a mess around that time because of the move? Either way I really like my 1965 Levin LS/LT-18, it has a lot of bass and bottom and reminds me in sound of my 1960 Levin LS-18 but with the feel of playing my 1968 Levin LT-18 which I love and use as my main guitar. I’ve always felt that my two late 1950’s Levin LM-26 sounds in one way, they are very light and airy, and my LS-18 is very bassy and woody, and my four mid-1960’s Levin LT-18 are very punchy in the mid-register and loud. The specifications are the same from year to year but it feels like they all have their differences. The best part of this Levin LS/LT-18 for me is the neck, it’s really fat and perfectly cut so it feels like this guitar was built by one of the older builders that liked things how they were in the past, no modern nonsense like thin and easily playable necks.

Levin LT-18 / Goya T-18
Goliath size: Body width: 400 mm, body length: 505 mm, body depth: 95/120 mm
Fingerboard width: 43 mm, scale length: 630 mm
Spruce top, flame maple back and sides, 4-ply bound top, single-bound back
Mahogany bolt-on neck with adjustable truss rod
Single-bound ebony fingerboard with bass side pearloid block inlay
Nickel plated individual Van Gent tuners with metal buttons
Ebony bridge, natural finish and ten year warranty

Marketed by U.K. distributors as Super Goliath Model 1855

Claes Anderson

The Claes Anderson EP is now up on Spotify and all other digital platforms.

Claes Anderson

Claes Anderson’s first single Your day will surely come from their upcoming EP was officially released this past Friday.

Levin W-30

Levin W-30 Made in Sweden 1979
Levin W-30, Made in Sweden in 1979

Sometimes I feel like a recovering Levin-oholic who keeps falling off the wagon time after time. I promised myself, and my wife to stop buying Levin guitars but just seems to be unable to. I recently found this beautiful and very unique Levin W-30 in Sweden that I couldn’t resist and had to buy. Now I’ve realised that I probably shouldn’t have. I’m running out of wall space for guitars and I could do with the money for other more pressing family related things, apparently guitars is not a high priority in the joint family account. Therefore I’ve decided to put it up for sale. I believe this guitar to be a rare one off, most likely built by one of the Levin builders for himself and outside of the normal production. They stopped making the Levin W-30 in 1975 so that’s the first sign that this is a unique one. The previous owner bought a lot of parts, material and finished guitars when the Levin factory closed down in 1979, well actually an old man called Friis did, who had a music shop in the north of Sweden and when he died and closed his shop the previous owner bought parts of his left-over Levin stock and this guitar was one of them. He claims that it was built in 1979, otherwise it wouldn’t have been around when the factory closed, which makes perfect sense. The original Levin W-30 came with block inlays while this has beautiful snowflake inlays in the bound ebony fingerboard instead. The alpine spruce top and the rosewood back and sides are bound with a five layer wood binding which looks really classy. It’s also treated with a thin layer of lacquer instead of the heavy clear coat that the mid 1970’s Levin W-30 came with. That gives a really open and beautiful sound, very Martin like. The guitar is in very good state but has some small marks around the body. The neck is in perfect condition and so is the frets. The spruce top has had a dry crack professionally repaired, these type of cracks are very common on Levin guitars because of the dry winters in Sweden. The guitar is equipped with an under saddle pickup and ready to play with live. This is a unique 40 years old hand built Swedish guitar for a third of what a vintage Martin would cost.

Levin W-30 Made in Sweden 1979 Levin W-30 Made in Sweden 1979

Levin W-30
Goliath size: Body width: 400 mm, body length: 505 mm, body depth: 95/120 mm
Fingerboard width: 43 mm, scale length: 630 mm
Spruce top with 5-ply bound wood binding and 4-ply bound three-piece rosewood back. Mahogany neck with adjustable truss rod. Bound ebony fingerboard with snowflake inlays. Bone nut and saddle. Nickel plated individual Levin stamped tuners. Ebony bridge, natural finish and ten year warranty

Bring It Home Music

Claes Anderson Home Tour | Bring It Home Music

I was invited to be a part of Bring It Home Music and did a tour of my home.

LR Baggs Lyrics

Levin LT-18 Made in Sweden 1968Levin LT-18, Made in Sweden in 1968

I recently installed a LR Baggs Lyrics in my 1968 Levin LT-18 and I’m well pleased with the result. This has been my main guitar for the past year and I’ve already tried a LR Baggs M1A, M80 and now a Lyrics. I’ve had a LR Baggs Lyrics installed in my Japan made Sigma DR-41 for about two years but I never really use that guitar since I have so nice Levin guitars to play on. The Sigma sounds fantastic with the Lyrics so I decided to leave it there and buy a brand new one for the LT-18 instead. The LR Baggs Lyrics sounds similar to the LR Baggs M80 but better, more natural and woody. I’ve also had a lot less feedback issues with the Lyrics, the M80 has been a nightmare with a full band on stage. Here you can compare the LR Baggs M1A, M80 and Lyrics fitted in the same guitar, a 1968 Levin LT-18.

Levin guitars for sale

I need to clear some space so I’ve decided to part with the following Levin guitars, there are some other guitars for sale too. If you are not familiar with the Swedish guitar maker Levin then please click on the link. All guitars were hand built in Gothenburg Sweden and made with the finest solid tone woods. Their alpine spruce tops were one of the reasonw why C. F. Martin & Co. bought Levin in June 1973.

Levin Model 2 Parlour Made in Sweden 1914
Levin Model 3
, Made in Sweden 1914 1100€ SOLD
A beautiful all original over 100 years old Levin parlour guitar. Spruce top with ladder bracing, birch back and sides. Pyramid bridge, bone machine head buttons and real mother-of-pearl dot inlays. It’s in great shape for it’s age and sounds amazing for it’s size. Neck, fretboard and frets are fine but the action is little bit high, it could improve with lighter strings. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Levin Goya F-11 Made in Sweden by Levin 1963
Levin Goya F-11, Made in Sweden 1963, 550€ SOLD
A typical folk guitar, fan braced and made for both nylon and steel string. It’s pretty worn but still very beautiful with it’s flamed birch back and spruce top. These type of guitars got really popular in the mid 1960’s during the folk boom in the US and Levin built quite a few under the Goya brand to compete with the Gibson F-25 and other Spanish guitar sized steel stringed folk guitars of the time. A great guitar for finger picking and very fun to play. It had a recent neck reset so the action is low. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Rondo Model 29 Made in Sweden by Levin in 1960
Rondo Model 29, Made in Sweden by Levin in 1960, 550€ SOLD
A lovely little Swedish made parlour guitar. Rondo was made by Levin for Musik AB Westin & Co, a music store and publishing company in Stockholm with a large mail order business. It looks pretty similar to a Levin 119 and was made for both steel and nylon strings, this was pretty common on smaller Levin guitars in the 1950-60’s. It’s a very nice little guitar to play and it has more volume and sounds sweeter than expected, perhaps because it’s fan braced instead of ladder braced. This guitar can’t be compared to a cheap machine made guitar like Harmony, Silvertone or Framus. The action is a bit high but would easily come down with lighter strings. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Levin Model 32 Made in Sweden 1946
Levin Model 32, Made in Sweden 1946, 650€ SOLD
A really cool Levin archtop from the 1940’s. Hand carved Romanian spruce top with mahogany back and sides. The Levin archtops are loud and sounds almost as good as a Levin flat top guitar acoustically, you can’t compare this to any of the machine made archtops like Harmony, Silvertone or Framus. It has some damage to the side which has been glued and is now solid, but can be seen. It’s all original but has an Artec MHFC93-CR pickup installed so it’s ready to be taken out and gigged with. If you are looking for a worn old archtop that sounds amazing, well here it is. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Levin LT-14 / Goya T-14 Made in Sweden 1965
Levin LT-14, Made in Sweden 1965, 850€ SOLD
An extremely rare Levin guitar, I’ve never seen another. It’s the smallest of the 1960’s high end Levin guitars and is roughly like a Martin 00 in size. It’s an awesome guitar, pretty much like a Levin LT-16 but smaller and with a bit less bass but with more clarity in the upper register instead. It’s ladder braced instead of X-braced which gives it a perfect sound for finger picking. It has a beautiful alpine spruce top with a bit of bear claw and mahogany back and sides. The guitar is all original and incredible well-kept for being over 50-years old. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Levin Goya 172 Made in Sweden 1970
Levin Goya Model GG-172, Made in Sweden 1970, 700€ SOLD
The Levin LT-16 if my favourite Levin shape and this is the late 1960’s Goya version with the large headstock and individual height adjustable saddles. These guitars are 38 cm wide just like a Martin 000, it’s a very nice size to play. Slightly smaller than a normal Dreadnought but with decent bass from the solid mahogany back and sides. The guitar has some wear but the neck is straight and fretboard and frets are fine. The original Van Gent machine heads are in good shape but the pickguard is a bit uneven from being badly glued in a previous life. Overall a great Levin guitar and very hard to find outside the US. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Goya Model 163 Made in Sweden 1968
Levin Goya Model 163, Made in Sweden 1968, 800€ SOLD
The classic Levin LM-26 in it’s late 1960’s Goya version with the large headstock and individual height adjustable saddles. It has a nice sunburst alpine spruce top with solid flame maple back and side. The guitar has some wear and there is a glued crack in the top but the neck is straight and fretboard and frets are fine. The original Van Gent machine heads are in good shape but the pickguard has been replaced. The sound of this Levin is very Gibson like, think Gibson J-45 from the 1960-70’s. Overall a great Levin guitar and very hard to find outside the US. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Levin Model 174 Made in Sweden 1972
Levin Model 174, Made in Sweden 1972, 900€ SOLD
In 1969 Levin replaced it’s flagship model the Levin LT-18 with the Levin Model 174, marketed in the UK as the Super Goliath Model 1855. The Levin Model 174 still had the characteristic bass side pearloid block inlays, ebony fretboard and bridge, alpine spruce top with flamed maple back and sides, but now came with the large headstock and individual height adjustable saddles. This example of the Levin Model 174 is quite unique since it has a dovetail neck-joint instead of the usual Levin bolt-on neck system. The guitar is in great shape and sounds amazing, really deep, warm and woody, like a good Levin dreadnought should.  The original Van Gent machine heads has been replaced at some point and now it has Wilkinson WJ-309 in gold on, for that Art Deco look.  Overall a great Levin guitar and very hard to find outside the US. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Levin W-30 Made in Sweden 1979Levin W-30, Made in Sweden 1979, 900€ SOLD
A beautiful and very rare Levin, most likely the only one. Since they stopped making the Levin W-30 in 1975 I believe this to built by one of the guitar builders for himself outside of the normal production. The previous owner bought a lot of parts, material and finished guitars when the factory closed down in 1979, this was one of them. He claims that it was built in 1979, otherwise it wouldn’t have been around when the factory closed, which makes perfect sense. The original Levin W-30 came with block inlays while this has beautiful snowflake inlays in the bound ebony fingerboard instead. The alpine spruce top and the rosewood back and sides are bound with a five layer wood binding which looks really classy. It’s also treated with a thin layer of lacquer instead of the heavy clear coat that the mid 1970’s Levin W-30 came with. That gives a really open and beautiful sound, very Martin like. The guitar is in very good state but has some small marks around the body. The neck is in perfect condition and so is the frets. The spruce top has had a dry crack professionally repaired so it’s stable for another 40 years. These type of cracks are very common on Levin guitars because of the dry winters in Sweden. The guitar is equipped with an under saddle pickup and ready to play with live. This is a unique 40 years old hand built Swedish guitar for a third of what a vintage Martin would cost. You can read more about the guitar here and listen to it in this Youtube clip.

Levin

I made a post about my Levin guitars back in 2011 when I started to collect them but it feels like it’s time for an update. Here they are:

Levin Model 2 Parlour Made in Sweden 1914Levin Model 3 Made in Sweden 1914

Levin Goya F-11 Made in Sweden by Levin 1963Goya F-11 Made in Sweden by Levin in 1963

Rondo Model 29 Made in Sweden by Levin in 1960Rondo Model 29 Made in Sweden by Levin in 1960

Levin LT-14 / Goya T-14 Made in Sweden 1965Levin LT-14 Made in Sweden 1965

Levin LT-16 Made in Sweden 1966Levin LT-16 Made in Sweden 1966

Levin Goya T-16 Made in Sweden 1965
Goya T-16 Made in Sweden by Levin in 1965

Goya T-16, made in Sweden by Levin in 1966
Goya T-16 Made in Sweden by Levin in 1966

Levin LS-16 Made in Sweden 1963Levin LS-16 Made in Sweden in 1963

Levin LS-18 Made in Sweden 1960Levin LS-18 Made in Sweden 1960

Levin LT-18 Made in Sweden 1963Levin LT-18 Made in Sweden 1963

Levin LT-18 Made in Sweden 1966Levin LT-18 Made in Sweden 1966

Levin LT-18 Made in Sweden 1965

Levin LS/LT-18 Made in Sweden 1965

Levin LT-18 Made in Sweden 1968
Levin LT-18 Made in Sweden 1968

Levin Goya T-18 Made in Sweden 1966Goya T-18 Made in Sweden by Levin 1966

Levin Goya T-23 Made in Sweden 1966
Levin Goya T-23 Made in Sweden 1966

Levin LM-26 1959Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1959

Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1959Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1959

Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1963Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1963

Levin Goya 172 Made in Sweden 1970Goya GG-172 Made in Sweden by Levin 1970

Levin Goya 163 Made in Sweden 1968 #307008Goya Model 163 Made in Sweden by Levin 1968

Levin Model 174 Made in Sweden 1972Levin Model 174 Made in Sweden 1972

Levin Model 3 Royal Made in Sweden 1951Levin Model 3 Royal made in Sweden 1951

These Levin guitars used to be a part of my collection but I had to sell them to make space for other Levin guitars:

Levin Model 32 Made in Sweden 1946Levin Model 32 made in Sweden in 1946

Levin Model 65 parlour guitar Made in Sweden 1942Levin Model 65 parlour guitar Made in Sweden 1942

Levin Model 13 Ambassadör Made in Sweden 1950Levin Model 13 Ambassadör Made in Sweden 1950

Levin 315N / 320N

Levin 315N, 1959 Harriers Musikkatalog, Levin catalogLevin 315N without pickups from the 1959 Harriers catalogue, taken from Vintage Guitars Sweden

I would really like to find a Levin 315 or 320 in natural colour, ideally with two pickups. If you happen to have one that you would like to sell, please get in touch, claesgellerbrink@gmail.com. I’m only interested in the Levin 315N/M1 or M2 and Levin 320N/M1 or M2.

Levin 315N/M1 or M2, or Levin 320N/M1 or M2.So beautiful, I would love to find either a Levin 315N or Levin 320N with one (M1) or two (M2) DeArmond pickups.

Levin LM-26

Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1959Levin LM-26, Made in Sweden in 1959

In the end of March, about 2-3 weeks after I bought the 1963 Levin LM-26, I was offered a 1959 Levin LM-26 that I couldn’t resist, even though I already had one from that year. The seller Ian was quite persistent that I added his guitar, that he had owned since his 14th birthday in 1976, to my Levin collection so I of course complied. The guitar has been used playing anything from jazz, Mississippi blues to Celtic folk and now country, read Ian’s guitar history. Now I have one Levin LM-26 built in 1963 and two from 1959, well they actually both has a body stamped in 1958 but with a 1959 neck, not sure if they did a lot of bodies one year and necks the next. I have some Levin LT-18 that has a Goya serial number stamped inside and a completely different Levin serial number on the head, I guess these things happens at a guitar factory. This 1959 Levin LM-26 seems to be completely original, it even has the cheap looking machine heads that Levin used in the late 1950’s on the LM-series. On my other 1959 Levin LM-26 the machine heads were replaced by open back Grover’s by the second owner back in 1965 and I think I might have to do the same on this one. I like the ones they used on the Levin LS-18 at the time, they are rounder and look more Gibson like, these square ones look like something from an Egmond or a kids guitar. The guitar plays really nicely and sounds great, really full and warm as could be expected of an all solid Swedish built guitar from the late 1950’s.

Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1959
Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1959

Levin LM-26 / Goya M-26
Goliath size: Body width: 400 mm, body length: 505 mm, body depth: 95/120 mm
Fingerboard width: 43 mm, scale length: 630 mm
Spruce top, flame maple back and sides, 4-ply bound top, single-bound back
Mahogany bolt-on neck with adjustable truss rod
Metal truss rod cover with a star and “1900”, nickel plated tuners
Single-bound rosewood fingerboard with centred pearl dot inlay, rosewood bridge
Sunburst finish and ten year warranty

Marketed by U.K. distributors as Goliath Model 1795

Levin LM-26 Made in Sweden 1959