1900s Vega-Like X-Braced Conversion Parlor Guitar

I am humbled to admit it but I have no real idea who built this guitar. It has a shallow tenon neck joint which tends to indicate Bay State/Haynes, Vega, or Bauer as a builder when you consider the appointments, but it doesn't really match-up well with anything but the trim on some 1890s and 1900s-era Vegas. I think the build quality is similar but there are too many dissimilar features (not to mention a lacking serial stamped at the top of the headstock) for me to put much weight towards that attribution.

At any rate, it's a nicely-built old sub-0-size guitar (approximately similar to Martin Size 2) that was originally ladder-braced (and lightly) and probably intended for gut (modern: nylon/classical) strings when it was made. It's solid spruce in the top and solid flamed maple in the back and sides. It has a ton of wear and tear (and a cracked/repaired/re-repaired heel) throughout the body but it's a comfortable, old-friend sort of wear.

This arrived here needing a lot of help and Ancel gave it that help and then went above and beyond and converted it into an x-braced guitar. It has a very simple x-pattern in the lower bout with an oversized bridge plate and ladder brace in the upper bout. We use laminated braces with carbon-fiber reinforcement and that allows us to get our braces really thin and light when rebracing guitars and, as a result, they sound  much fuller than you would otherwise expect from a guitar of this size.

Repairs included: top rebracing, a neck reset, many crack repairs, a board plane and refret, new ebony bridge, new saddle and nut, new pins, new heel cap, cleaning, and setup work.

• Weight: 2 lbs 7 oz
• Scale length: 24 1/8"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• Neck shape: medium-full V
• Board radius: 20"
• Body width: 12"
• Body depth: 3 1/2"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
• Bracing type: simple X
• Bridge: ebony
• Fretboard: ebony
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 52w-11 extra lights
• Truss rod: non-adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium modern

Condition notes: the bridge, nut, saddle, heel cap, and pins are all replaced. The top has been rebraced. The top is crack-free. The sides have only two tiny hairlines at the endpin (they're over the block and stable). The back has a few "crunch-up" cracks that were all sloppily-repaired but ameliorated and/or re-repaired by Ancel or myself. The worst offender is a broken heel which was sloppily-repaired but during the neck reset I glued it all back up and then reinforced the whole thing with an internal bolt (hence why there's a central added pearl dot covering said bolt at the 12th fret). It's good to go! After that, condition issues are really just limited to the finish -- which is really distressed via lots of small scratches, nicks, and dings, and blem to the finish just from wear/environment -- but it still has a nice "glow" to it.

It comes with: sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: FN