zombywoof Posted April 24, 2013 Posted April 24, 2013 Knowing you were never one to shy away from the unwashed and ubused, take a gander at this poor little thang. A fried of mine snagged it at the Dallas Guitar Show probably on his way out the door. Said it had my name written all over it. Who made this instrument will probably remain one of those sweet mysteries of life. But then again, who really cares. Not a bottom of the food chain guitar though - the binding is the real deal on this one - not the painted on variety. Bizarre in that while the body is made of mahogany I would swear the top is made of birch. That just don't seem right though. Hard to tell with all that black lacquer. Over the weekend I will get inside with a mirror so I can get a look at the wood. Condition issues out the wazoo with this one. The top is imploding and there are a few small slivers of the bracing rattling around inside. That can't be good. But it is still in the playable range and has a ton of saddle left. I am afraid this one is beyond my meager abilities to fully bring it back. I am planning to take a stab at at least stabilizing the thing but other than that I figure I will just have some fun with it while it holds together. But it does does look cool!
j45nick Posted April 24, 2013 Posted April 24, 2013 That one actually looks like it was built with a bit of love.
zombywoof Posted April 24, 2013 Author Posted April 24, 2013 And quickly. The binding over the end of the frets feels like speed bumps. Interesting guitar in that it has the angled neck heel, square top kerfing and domed back of a Schmidt-made instrument but Oscar never laid a hand on this one.
onewilyfool Posted April 24, 2013 Posted April 24, 2013 Zomby, that is PERFECT for you.....lol....I'm sure you will bring this one back to life. Take the strings off IMMEDIATELY....lol....and get all those braces cleaned and re-glued. That could be a Kay, Regal, Stromberg-Voissinet, Washburn, who knows....BUT brought back to life, it may be a monster!!! Cool look, I like the headstock....is this baby ladder braced or "X" braced? keep us posted....maybe do a photo-journal of this one and the work you do....very interesting for all of us!!!
zombywoof Posted April 24, 2013 Author Posted April 24, 2013 Mr. Fool I was going to ask how far you would take the guitar. The guitar is ladder braced but fairly lightly built. The braces are tall and thin and have a very long taper - it starts just about where the soundhole ends. Very Oscar Schmidt-like. The guitar also has an angled neck heel, square top kerfing and domed back, all of which are Schmidt trademarks. But it ain't a Schmidt-made instrument. I plan to get inside the thing for a good look-see this weekend.
onewilyfool Posted April 25, 2013 Posted April 25, 2013 I wouldn't do anything cosmetic....but, I would re glue the braces and see about fixin' the sunken top at the same time. Is it sunken to the fretboard side or the bridge side of the sound hole??? Other than that, and a setup, I would PLAY THAT BABY TILL THE COWS COME HOME!!!
E-minor7 Posted April 26, 2013 Posted April 26, 2013 Looks like the ideal camp fire ax - never mind the sound as long as the action above that wide board is there. We'll something out it. . .
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