1934 Carson Robison Model 926 (Gibson Kalamazoo KG-11) 00-Size Guitar

While the headstock reads Carson Robison (the cowboy singer from the '30s) and this guitar was sold by Montgomery Wards as a Model 926, it's in actuality a Gibson-made, Kalamazoo KG-11 model in different livery. It's on the early side of production, too, with the "squared-off" headstock shape and smaller/medium-sized sunburst pattern.

It's in pretty dang-good condition, too, and just like all KG-11s, has a very particular sound -- woody, a bit on the dry side, punchy and snappy when dug-into, and very clean and pretty when fingerpicked. I like these a lot as "old-time backup" guitars or county-blues pickers. The rest of the world seems to agree, too. Compared to the more L-00-shaped KG-14 models, these KG-11s are a little mellower and sweeter-sounding.

Post-work it's playing spot-on and is ready to go. When I reset the neck, my aim was to keep the original saddle's unmodified height -- and we got it just-so to do that. The saddle you see there is the original, glued-in one, with its truncated "wings." All we did to it was add compensation and radius its top to match the fretboard's curve. I did the reset and my guy Jose did the rest.

Repairs included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, side dots added, bridge pins added, original saddle adjusted (added compensation, polished-up).

• Weight: 3 lbs 3 oz
• Scale length: 24 7/8"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• Neck shape: medium V
• Board radius: 12"
• Body width: 14 3/4"
• Body depth: 4 1/8"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: rosewood
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 52w, 40w, 30w, 22w, 16, 12
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: low/small

Condition notes: this is an extremely clean example of one of these guitars. I'm used to seeing these with a variety of repaired cracks and lots of scuffs and scrapes, but this one just has light playwear via scratches and usewear throughout. It's also completely original save for the side dots and bridge pins.

It comes with: sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: MM