1920s Oscar Schmidt Sovereign 000-Size Koa Guitar

Big Oscar Schmidts (this one's their Sovereign brand) are rare in the workshop for me. I've worked on two Schmidt guitars of this style but in the smaller, parlor-sized body type. This one has a 000-size, 12-fret body with an almost-baritone, 26 1/2" scale length. The bigger Schmidts tend to have the longer scale lengths and that's both their strength and their undoing, as the long scale tuned-up E-to-E standard will inevitably warp the neck and put strain on the top over time using an average set of strings.

The longer you get the scale length, the more tension there is per the same gauge of string at the same pitch. A set of regular 54w-12 gauges is around 160 lbs tension at an average 25" Schmidt scale. Bumping the scale to 26 1/2" sets the tension around 180 lbs. That's like adding a 7th string, so it makes sense to detune a bit to bring the tension down if you want to keep the string gauges heavier. You also get to enjoy that baritone-like voice a bit more, too.

Anyhow, this one arrived via a local customer for some sprucing-up. It'd had some iffy work done on it in the past -- a neck reset and replacement bridge -- but it was essentially unplayable due to a heavily-warped neck and terrible frets. Like many celluloid-veneered fretboards, its surface had become quite concave instead of flat over time. Combine that with a warp and light twist in the neck and you've got a recipe for frets popping-out and cheese-slicer action.

Because it's an absolute chore to solve this issue in the best possible way (remove the fretboard, remove the celluloid veneer, fit reinforcement rods in the neck, install a new rosewood fretboard, fit the old veneer to the new board, refret, etc.), I've come-up with a way to make wonky boards like this useful by refretting them with giant fretstock, anchoring them with a bit of wicked-in glue and wood dust, and then leveling-the-heck out of them to make a flat surface across all of the frets, even if the frets themselves are different heights in different places on the board. This guitar's work was the Hail Mary version of this sort-of job because the neck was so tweaked, but the result is that it plays great post-repairs and didn't burn down the bank to get it there.

All that beating-around-the-bush aside, this guitar is really pretty dang neat. It's gorgeous, orange-colored solid koa throughout and has faux-pearl purfling and creamy-celluloid binding. It's ladder-braced, as usual, and all-original save frets and bridge. The original celluloid nut is actually still in place.

Repairs included: refret and heavy-handed level/dress job, bridge saddle slot fill/recut, new bone saddle, pin-holes relocation, touch-up to some uglier old repairs, and setup.

Made by: Oscar Schmidt

Made in: Jersey City, NJ, USA

Top wood: solid koa

Back & sides wood: solid koa

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: ebony

Fretboard: maple with celluloid veneer

Neck wood: mahogany

Tone: woody, rumbly, clean, articulate, mellow

Suitable for: country-blues, folk, old-time, fingerpicking, blues

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w-12 lights

Neck shape: medium-big VC

Board radius: flat

Neck relief: warped but ameliorated

Fret style: jumbo

Scale length: 26 1/2"

Nut width: 1 13/16"

Condition notes: while the finish shows weather-check and mild scratching here and there throughout, it's overall in great shape for its age and the koa glows. I see no cracks, too. The neck, as mentioned above, is wonky but it still plays on-the-dot. Bridge is replacement and it has an old, somewhat-sloppy, neck reset job.