c.1940 Oahu Square Neck Hawaiian Guitar

Just finished this for a customer. This is a cute late 1930s, early 1940s Oahu Hawaiian guitar (with square neck) probably made by Kay or Harmony for the company. It's an all-birch instrument with a maple fretboard, painted on markers, and natural finish everywhere except the neck, which has been painted a cool cream color.

My work included a new (vintage) set of tuners, a replacement raised nut (period correct), a bit of a cleaning (frets needed a little polish), and of course some new strings. The bridges on these are big hunks of steel that are bolted on with a plate behind them... which means all they ever need is a tightening once in a while... which I've done.

I like that maple fretboard. This guitar almost feels like an acoustic counterpart to the electric lap steels that were becoming all the rage during this time.

Big old square neck means plenty of durability with the range of tunings a Hawaiian guitarist uses. The sound of this guitar is nice and full -- it's a wonder how well these all-birch budget models keep up with higher-end instruments and sound great doing it!