1930s Oscar Schmidt Spruce/Maple Parlor Guitar

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to shoot a video of this guitar before it was picked-up. It had a woody, direct, bluesy quality and a sort-of midsy "bark" that snapped-out at you.

I've worked on instruments of this style before and they seem to be late-'30s builds from the Oscar Schmidt factory right before the company went belly-up. This particular one is solid spruce over solid flamed maple, has a comfortable neck with a wider-than-average (1 13/16") nut width, and a longer-than-average (for a parlor or 0-size from the time) 25" scale. The fretboard, headstock veneer, and bridge are all rosewood and the neck is mahogany.

This guy got a neck reset, fret level/dress, crack repairs, brace repairs, a bridge reglue, new saddle-slot cut, new bone saddle, side dots, and setup. It's "the works" as usual.

Post-repairs it's as I noted above -- something suited very much to bluesy fingerpicking with bare fingers. It's got snap! However... it's not as warm or flatpicking-friendly as something like a '20s spruce-topped Oscar Schmidt... which sound more like mellower '50s LG-1s than your "average ladder-braced parlor guitar" for the time.










Comments

Nick R said…
Great little box! Those tuners units are interesting- I presume they were made by Waverly but do not have the usual "saw tooth" ends. I reckon this guitar must have been the prototype of multiple screws fixing the scratchplate to the top and Kay took this to the limit. I have one of their guitars- a Kay 6175 with a rather elaborate guard that needs six screws to keep it down! Sadly, screw holes can lead to cracks.
Jake Wildwood said…
Yes, the screws almost always lead to cracks... this one has 'em... :D