1984 Giannini 3/4-Size Quart/Terz Nashville-Strung Guitar

Oh, my, I did got a bit overboard on this. It arrived as a needing-some-love kids' guitar but I adore Giannini products and this '84 pint-sized sucker (it's date-stamped at the neckblock) got its hold on me. At its heart it's an all-ply box with ladder-bracing, but the comfortable neck and fancy-looking trim told me I needed to make it back into a player.

Most Brazil-made Gianninis we see up here are of the classical persuasion but once in a while steel-stringers like this guy surface. It came here with a bridge pulling-off and with a desperate need for a neck reset. The tuners were also garbage. I completed that necessary work and then set it up and strung it as a Nashville-strung instrument rather than a "normal" guitar or "normal-tuned-up" guitar.

Regular practice for a guitar with this size and scale would be to tune it GCFBbDG or ADGCEA above normal EADGBE tuning (ie, like a capo at the 3rd or 5th frets) but in this case it's strung EADGBE but the EADG strings are an octave higher. This makes it a great tool for recording or filling-out a band sound as you can play "normal" guitar chords but it sounds like half of a 12-string instead. It puts the strings in a tight pocket a little bit like a ukulele. Of course, it can be restrung for "normal" tunings as well and should intonate just about the same for either, though I think little boxes like this shine a lot brighter in Nashville tuning/stringing like this.

Repairs included: neck reset, fret level/dress, bridge reglue, new maple saddle, new Gotoh tuners, setup.

Top wood: ply spruce

Back & sides wood: ply rosewood

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast)
String gauges: 24w, 18, 14, 10, 16, 12 low to high

Neck shape: slim-med C/D

Board radius: ~12-14"

Truss rod: none

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 20 1/4"

Nut width: 1 5/8"

Body width: 11 7/8"

Body depth: 3 1/2"

Weight: 2 lbs 15 oz

Condition notes: it's overall fairly clean but does show minor use and age here and there throughout. The tuners are (better!) Gotoh replacements and the saddle is new maple, but otherwise it's original. The bridge has a minor gap from the top at it's rear "swell" with a tiny amount of glue seen under it flush with its edge. The top had originally bellied a bunch under the bridge and this is common when regluing to ply tops. It's sturdy and solid but there's that imperfection and the top does show a little belly but it's stable. Also, there's a little dark-colored fill at the sides of the heel where it meets the body from the neck reset work. These have doweled joints so I just shimmed the joint up and filled the adjustment area after.

It comes with: an original chip case in decent order.