1900s Bauer X-Braced 0/00-Size Flattop Guitar

Update 2020: The owner started using 46w-10 gauge steel strings on it so recently I recut the saddle slot and set it up for steel. I've added a second video and here's how the bridge looks, now:

...back to the original post:

At 13 5/8" on the lower bout, this guitar is sized somewhere between 0 and 00 Martin sizes and, actually, the closest comparable builds would be Martin 0-28 models from the same period. This is super-lightly x-braced, has Brazilian rosewood on the back and sides, and a comfortable, soft-V neck profile. It plays and sounds a lot like a period Martin (these were gut-strung guitars when built), though it has perhaps a hair more boom on the bottom.

A customer sent this beaut in for work. It'd already seen a bit of that, but it clearly hadn't been done by anyone who works on instruments regularly as the replacement bridge was glued in entirely the wrong place for intonation needs and the fretboard extension dipped-down so severely after the neck joint that it was hard to play even the 14th fret.

Work included: a fret level/dress, shimming-up of the fretboard extension (it's still not perfect as the board itself curves downward, but it plays smoothly to the 16th fret), fill/recut of the saddle slot and bridge pin holes, cleaning-up of the bridge, a new bone saddle, one cleat to a crack on the center part of the top, re-spacing of strings at the original nut, a new ebony endpin, and general cleaning. It has a straight neck and plays spot-on with hair-over 1/16" action at the 12th fret. The owner has Thomastik-made John Pearse "fingerpicking" classical strings on it which feature rope-wound-steel trebles (these have gut/nylon tension) and boutique-feeling nylon-core classical basses. They make a great set for steel-string players wanting more of a steely sound out of classical/gut-strung guitars.

Scale length: 25 13/16"
Nut width: 1 25/32"
String spacing at nut: 1 9/16
String spacing at saddle: 2 1/4"

Body length: 19 1/4"
Lower bout width: 13 5/8"
Upper bout width: 9 7/8"

Side depth at endpin: 4 1/8"

Top wood: solid spruce
Back/sides wood: solid Brazilian rosewood
Neck wood: mahogany
Fretboard: ebony

Neck shape: flat board, mild-medium soft-V rear profile

Bridge: rosewood replacement (oversize)

Nut: original bone

Saddle: new bone

Weight: 2 lb 15 oz

Condition notes: there's overspray on the fretboard but the finish is original, otherwise. Everything on the guitar is also original save the bridge, saddle, and pins. There are 3 hairline cracks (repaired) on the top and a number of dryness hairline cracks in the fretboard.

Nice, right? I love the prufling around the top edges and soundhole.

The pearl inlay in the headstock's rosewood veneer is just plain pretty.

I love the moon-n-star that gets reversed at the 10th fret.

Unfortunately, the original ebony bridge had been replaced in recent memory with an oversize, Chinese-sourced pyramid bridge. I know they're Chinese because I used to buy them up for use on old Oscar Schmidt guitars where the size, shape, and general roughness of the cut (these come CNCed without final sanding) fit the aesthetic of those catalog instruments. On this one it looked a little silly as-is and it had a compensated saddle (not needed for gut/nylon) and said saddle was more than 1/4" in the wrong location.

To get this right, I filled the old saddle slot with rosewood and the pinholes with rosewood filler. I then fine-sanded the bridge and gave it a little faux-wear to make it fit a little better with the period's soft-pyramid look. I then cut a new saddle slot in the right place and cut new pinholes farther aft. A new saddle (with a slot deep-enough to shim-up/down as setup commands) finished the job.

The Brazilian on the back and sides looks grand.

...that backstrip! It's nice to see one without the colors faded like mad. Many period guitars actually had binding and purfling that was a riot of color, but by the time we see them now, many of the colors are leached-out.

...and those tuners!