What an honour it was to work on this fantastic old songbird!
The quintessential front porch country-blues instrument, this guitar tuned to open E with flatwound 11-52 electric strings. It may sound like an odd choice, but it absolutely bites into all the sound this guitar has to offer. With it's non-fixed bridge with no compensated saddles, proper intonation can be a challenge whenever re-stringing. I noticed each edge of the bridge wasn't even contacting the very slightly arched soundboard, so after some careful sanding it was sculpted to fit. Surprisingly, the saddle offered near perfect intonation after a set-up and fret dress, with the low B (it's in open E, remember) being a semi-tone flat and the high B a semi-tone sharp. Unfortunately the already tapered shape of the bridge wouldn't allow for further compensation, but that just compliments the vibe and sound of this guitar!
This guitar is completely original, including the wooden nut! The tuners and tailpiece were removed and treated, with every screw going back in to it's reinforced hole. Typically I would want to update these components with new tuners, a custom bone nut and new frets to replace the paper-thin originals, but with such sentimental value to it's owner I wouldn't dare suggest it!
You can tell by the wear that there is certainly no dust on this guitar -- but there sure is a lot of sweat! This has been one of the owner's closest friends for a very long time, and it shows!
There was also a significant crack in the back at the bottom of the lower bough, running up about seven inches with consistent separation. (seen above with wooden skewers to open it enough for gluing - a great, inexpensive tool because of their length, shape and long tapered point) It had been there for quite some time and originated with the back panel becoming separated from the side -- a common problem with high production guitars of this era. It took some creative clamping to coerce the separation to join evenly along the whole length, as the age of the wood and the crack itself had the two sides wanting to curl in different directions. The crack was sealed and the two sides joined creating a visible seam, but it is perfectly flat and accepted polishing very well after treating the area with micromesh.
It's not hard to find these models for very reasonable prices, often as low as $150. In certain areas, however, they are increasing in popularity because of the nostalgia associated with the music of the time, with so many renowned blues and country musicians having built their reputation using their unique sound. This one is no different, but as you know sentimental value far outweighs the monetary replacement value, which also makes such instruments so much easier to appreciate. Besides, they sound so damn good!
It's not often you see one of these guitars in such playable yet beautifully worn condition. This one is still gigged with regularly by it's owner and remains a workhorse to this day. A design originally pioneered by Oscar Schmidt, I'm sure he would be proud to know these once budget friendly instruments have stood the test of time!
