1960s Supro Coronado II Res-O-Glas Semihollow Electric Guitar (Update)

Update/repost -- this guitar was setup for baritone in the past but now that it's for sale, I've swapped the saddle for a 3-plain/3-wound setup and strung it up for standard tuning...

These old National/Valco-made Supro Res-O-Glas beasts are stupidly-cool, have style for days, and have their own, peculiar, lovely thing going on. When played clean they respond a little like a '40s jazz box, but the pickups really come into their own when hit with a bunch of dirt. With the dirt you can conjure up one of my favorite electric guitar sounds -- "radial airplane engine" tone! Rawrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

A local customer owns this and he just wasn't happy about the way it played. I completely understood that, though, as when it arrived the neck was in a bit of an upbow and it had wonky, somewhat loose, frets. This is really common to period National/Valco makes -- the neck has a good feel but the playability is off. 

Thankfully, if you get the necks planed and refretted with something that has a long fret tang (for compression in the board), that solves the issues and stiffens the neck -- which is why Ancel did it on this guitar. Add to that some glorified setup work and it's now a nice, stable, modern-feeling instrument and it's playing spot-on and "boutiquey."

Repairs included: a board plane and refret, much cleaning of the pots and wiring, and setup-side work.

• Weight: 7 lbs 5 oz
• Scale length: 24 5/8"
• Nut width: 1 11/16"
• Neck shape: medium C
• Board radius: 10"
• Body width: 15 1/4"
• Body depth: 1 7/8"
• Body wood: poplar center block
• Bridge: archtop-style, wound-G compensated
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: poplar (headstock spliced)
• Pickups: 2x original single coils
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 64w-13 or similar (baritone tuning at the moment)
• Truss rod: non-adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: jumbo/pyramid

Condition notes: this is a fairly clean example of one of these old Res-O-Glas guitars. They're usually quite beat-up by the time I see them, but this one must have been somewhat of a closet-bound beaut. The three-way switch tip is a replacement and the bridge is, too. The frets are also fresh. It's also missing the "bolt plugs" that cover the neck bolts up at the joint on the back. Otherwise, however, it appears original throughout. There's minor usewear in the board, neck, and edges of the body, but overall it's nice and tidy. The hardware shows wear and oxidation, too. The bridge pickup is weak-sounding compared to the neck but due to the way National made their pickups and mounts for them and the way they're wired inside, this is often unavoidable.

It comes with: a gigbag.

Consignor tag: WH