1920s Oscar Schmidt FHCM Parlor Guitar

January 09, 2017

1920s Oscar Schmidt FHCM Parlor Guitar

At this point, the number of First Hawaiian Conservatory of Music parlors I've worked on is getting ridiculous. I worked on two in November of last year and then a smattering of others over the past few years. This one is owned by a customer of mine and when it arrived, it'd already seen some old work done to it -- a neck reset, a replacement or reprofiled (with a 12" radius!) fretboard, and a replacement bridge and tuners.

My work was simple -- I installed a new, rosewood (stained) bridge, new pins and bone saddle, gave the frets a level/dress, fit some proper 20s Oscar Schmidt-style tuners from my parts-bins, cleated old crack repairs where needed, and set it up with a regular set of 12s. It plays beautifully and has the typical, woody, warm, and folksy sound that these FHCM models always have. Unlike a lot of old ladder-braced parlors, the FHCM guitars take a flatpick or heavy fingerpicking quite easily and return a sweet (rather than brash) tone.

The black finish on this guitar was added later and one can see the red/brown finish found on most FHCM models peeking out from under the topcoat. The guitar is made entirely from solid birch in the body and sports a poplar neck with a maple fretboard.

This one has a 1 3/4" nut width, 25" scale, and just-over 13" lower bout.

A replacement, decent-quality bone nut was on the guitar when it got to me.

I also added side dots. Note the big, jumbo frets and the 12" radius to the board. The radius helps the left-hand feel, I think, over your average FHCM -- but it feels a little strange at first when one is expecting 100% flat.

I had to touch-up around the bridge where finish had been crackled to the bare wood in the past. While I usually use a pyramid bridge to replace damaged or missing original bridges, I thought this pointed, light-belly bridge suited the look -- especially with its coloration.