1910s Washburn 00-size Flattop Guitar (X-Brace Conversion)

This is an old, late 1910s or early 1920s Washburn, 0-size guitar. I'm not sure of the model designation (my Washburn book is still missing from my lend/lease shelf!) but it's got simple trim, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, a mahogany neck, and a spruce top. It's lived a very rough life and arrived here with split-damage (poorly repaired) to the entire length of the sides and endblock, lots of wear and tear to the finish, and need for various other repairs, a new bridge, a neck reset -- all the stuff.

Because it was going to be a back-off job already to get the sides fixed-up, Ancel took the plunge and also rebraced it at the same time to a very simple x-pattern with no tonebars and a slightly-enlarged bridge plate, instead. There are some pictures later-on in the post of the in-process action. The main braces are laminated with carbon fiber and are a low, rectangular shape with tapered ends. The carbon fiber adds so much stiffness to this design that the braces can be lightened-up quite a bit and as a result, post-work, this thing sounds like an absolute beast of a guitar. It has bass response, volume, and projection far larger and fuller than you would expect from this size of guitar.

Anyhow, this thing sold almost immediately after it went out on the racks, so I didn't get to snag the specs on it. Ancel changed the board from a flat radius to a curvy one (12" maybe?) and also fit a new, ebony bridge, saddle, and pins. The cracks in the sides all got reinforcement cleats/strips and so they won't be going anywhere.