1930s Oscar Schmidt-made Collegiate Parlor Guitar

Update 2019: This has come back for consignment so I've updated its info, pics, and video clip. It came back in the same state it left (save older strings), so that was easy!

This guitar was made a bit late in the game for Oscar Schmidt as it, presumably, dates from the mid-1930s. In form, it's the same as the company's better-known lower-grade Stella guitars -- all birch, slightly-under-0-size, 12-fret, and ladder braced. Like other OS builds, it's got a thicker top and more stout bracing and neck compared to many parlors of the day and that means that one gets a woodier, thumpier tone out of it and a build that holds-up just fine with "regular" modern strings (12s) and enjoys them rather than screams mercy at them.

All these attributes make a great "blues" fingerpicker that doubles as a darn-good old-timey flatpicker, too, for a little guitar. Most of its contemporaries along the same lines are zippy-sounding under an average flatpicker's attack and one really has to be careful about technique, whereas these can be plunked-on like an x-braced guitar and driven without losing warmth.

Work included: a fret level/dress, replacement bridge and saddle, cleats for two already-sealed back cracks, some back brace reglue jobs, side dots, and a "safety" bolt hidden at the neck block. The angle and fit of the neck was good, tight, and "right" on the guitar, so I left it as-is -- but I don't like taking chances with non-reset necks down the line, so that bolt is just for peace of mind. Action is spot-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret. The neck is straight and string gauges are 54w, 40w, 30w, 22w, 16, 12.

Scale length: 25"

Nut width: 1 7/8"

String spacing at nut: 1 5/8"

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/8"

Body length: 17 3/4"

Lower bout width: 13 3/8"

Waist width: 7 5/8"

Upper bout width: 9 1/2"

Side depth at endpin: 3 1/2"

Top wood: solid birch

Back/sides wood: solid birch

Neck wood: poplar

Bracing type: ladder

Fretboard: ebonized maple, wood nut

Bridge: Indian rosewood, bone saddle

Neck feel: medium-to-big V, flat board

Condition notes: it's fairly clean for its age but it does have a couple of repaired cracks on the back and general usewear throughout. The bridge and saddle are non-original.

I love the 30s stencil look to this guitar -- the red rosette in particular is pretty cool. The sunburst is a "tobacco" style one, fading from dark, dirty brown to a medium, almost-natural color in the center. The "binding" is painted-on.

Amazingly, the original nut survives. This thing has a 1 7/8" nut width and a big old V-shaped neck profile with a flat fretboard, so it's not for everyone.

I'm pretty sure the neck is poplar and the fretboard is probably stained maple.

The original brass frets still have good height and the neck is straight. Like all old OS frets, however, they're not as smooth-feeling as anything made in the last 50 years even after a level/dress job, so "neck squeezers" might not like the feel. If you have a light/medium touch, however, their peculiarity makes no difference.

The wood pins are original but the new rosewood bridge and its compensated saddle are not. I always find these instruments really perk up when the old, mealy, fret-saddle-equipped, dyed-maple or dyed-birch bridges are swapped-out.

The bridge is about the same height as the original, and while the saddle is on the lower side, there's still room for a little adjustment and I made generous string-ramps behind the saddle to keep back-angle on it healthy.