1920s Mendel's Hawaiian Tenor Guitar

Tone: It's got a sweet, woody, sing-song sound. Clearly, this is intended for slide (Hawaiian-style) play only.

Feel: The nut width is fairly narrow and that's the only drawback for me as a casual player. Spacing at the bridge is normal. As you might expect, it's a little guy so if you're not used to reduced scale lengths or the upper reaches of lap steel positions, accurate intonation may be harder for you.

Interesting features: It's got a solid mahogany body with a nice, glossy finish and simple but classy appointments. It's ladder-braced and while the top shows a little distortion tuned to pitch, it's holding-up just fine. I love the staggered bridge pin locations on the bridge! It's neat. The "learner's notes" on the fingerboard are useful and also dictate the "low bass D" open tuning it's strung-up with. That's like open G tuning for guitar but 7 frets up from normal pitch. I'm pretty sure that this instrument was made by Oscar Schmidt for the brand.

Repairs included: I reglued 3 braces on the top and a couple of loose brace ends on the back, filled a couple of very tight hairline cracks on the top and back, added bridge pins, and adjusted it a bit. It plays nicely and is ready to go.

• Maker: I'm pretty sure Oscar Schmidt built this
• Model: Mendel's Hawaiian "tenor" guitar (short scale, higher pitch)
• Body style: tenor ukulele size
• Weight: 1 lb 8 oz
• Scale length: 17 1/2"
• Nut width: 1 1/2" effective
• Neck shape: D
• Board radius: flat
• Body width: 9 1/8"
• Body depth: 2 1/8"
• Top wood: sold mahogany
• Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: rosewood
• Fretboard: unknown
• Neck wood: mahogany (or Spanish cedar)
• Action height at 12th fret: N/A
• String gauges: 48w, 36w, 26w, 17, 13, 10 or close to it
• Truss rod: none
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: none

Condition notes: It's quite clean and almost entirely original -- the bridge pins are the exception. There are a couple of repaired hairline cracks (one on top, one on back) but both are very tight and non-obvious (can't even photo them). The top distorts a little under tension (as you would expect for light ladder-bracing) but is holding steady. The finish shows minor scuffs and scratches from normal use but all are low-key. The finish also has light weather-checking throughout but is nice and glossy, still.

It comes with: It has its original gigbag but it's not in great shape.

Consignor tag: AR