c.1945 Kay-made "Galiano" Hawaiian Guitar

What a killer guitar! Who needs a Dobro? This thing is loud, sweet, big, open, rich... yum. And it has bite to cut through guitars, banjos, mandolins, you name it. I know that sounds too good to be true but this guitar is a honey... for sure!

I reglued the bridge, cleaned it up, repaired a couple of hairline cracks & a seam separation... set it up... ready to roll. It's entirely original save for some well-meaning later MOP & bolt additions to the bridge and some 60s-style Japanese tuners (which replaced some open-back 3-on-a-plate tuners no doubt).

Materials are top notch: beautiful solid mahogany back, sides, and square Hawaiian-style neck. Rosewood fretboard with... frets... and MOP dots... good quality spruce top which is nice and flat! Rosewood headstock veneer and... the most obvious of all: super-cool "firestripe"-style tortoise binding top, back, fretboard, soundhole, and a firestripe pickguard to match. Also some nice white/black purfling.

The finish is in super shape except there's the usual bits of lap/belt/etc. wear on the back (hard to see any at all in the photos) and sides.

Love the tortoise everywhere...

Did I mention the neck joint is (atypical for Hawaiian guitars) at the 14th fret? That gives this the same bite that 14-fret guitars have and a nice long (25 3/4") scale length for good tension.

It's a looker for sure. The finish is nice and thin and glossy, too, so it really pops the beauty of the wood out.

Cool rosewood pyramid bridge with bone saddle. Nice MOP-dot rosewood pins.

Love that pickguard! I've raised it off the surface with washers & a rubber grommet to improve tone.

Here you can see that square neck...

Replacement 60s-style tuners work just fine.

Really cool heel cap, huh??

A beautiful slab of solid one-piece mahogany... heck yeah.

...you can see how nice the finish still is.

...such a beaut.

Plastic end pin. I'm not sure if it's original or not.