1930s Harmony-made "The Prep" Tailpiece Parlor Guitar

This guitar belongs to the same fellow who brought in his Kay archtop for work. Apparently, it's owned by his mother-in-law and it's the only piece of her mother's life left to her. It came to me in "quite a state," but after work it's ready-to-go and playing on-the-dot.

Like the '70 Harmony I just worked on, this is yet another version of the classic Harmony tailpiece flattop parlor made since the mid-late '30s. This one happens to be from that first generation of them, though, and as a result its all-birch body uses thinner wood and thus yields a warmer, fuller tone from the guitar.

Work included a neck reset, seam repairs, a fret level/dress, new nut and bridge, replacement tailpiece, tuner cobbling, brace repairs, and a good setup.

This instrument was obviously loved -- and then neglected.

This has a new bone nut, flat-profile board, and a bigger V-shaped neck profile. There's a hair of backbow in frets 1-5 which makes them buzz a bit when dug-into with a flatpick, but for fingerpicking (which this is best at), it's no trouble at all. I have a feeling that the set of 54w-12 strings I have on it will pull that backbow out in the soontime.

I added side dots -- and how do you like that contrast stencil job on the board?

I made a new compensated, rosewood bridge for it -- but did not put any finish on it to keep it in line with the "washed-out" looks of the guitar itself.

I didn't have any vintage guitar tailpieces on hand, so a period mandolin tail was the best I could offer for "old parts." I took the ball-ends out of the strings and hooked them on the mandolin tabs. The leather strip is to mute overtones somewhat.

Some old repairs meant a few of the back seams aren't perfectly flush, but the ones I did repair went back to where they should be alright.