1930s Richter 00-Size Tenor Guitar

Overview: Richter-made instruments don't show-up too often and when they do they've often got necks that are warped and wonky. I have a few upstairs I've put-off on the repair-side of things specifically for that reason. This one, however, arrived nice and clean and with a good, straight neck. It just needed "the usual work" to get it going and now that it is, it's surprising how great it sounds. The body style is clearly a take-off on Martin 0-17T designs from the time but it has a tailpiece-style string load and is made of quite plain materials.

Tone: It's warm, octave-mandolin-like, and has good sustain and a good, up-front kick to it.

Feel: The neck is on the bigger side both front to back and side to side, but it plays nicely. As you can see in the video, I'm not struggling on it at all.

Interesting features: The decal rosette is kind-of garish and cute in its way. The sunburst top recalls Kalamazoo instruments. The bridge placement -- way up on the body near the soundhole -- also recalls Gibson-style tenor guitars.

Repairs included: I gave it a neck reset (both reglued and with bolts hidden at the neckblock) and repaired a few seams and Ancel leveled/dressed the frets, fit new tuners, reglued a few brace ends, made a new nut, adjusted the bridge, and set it all up. It's playing spot-on.

• Weight: 2 lbs 15 oz
• Scale length: 22 7/8"
• Nut width: 1 1/4"
• Neck shape: medium-deep soft V
• Board radius: flat
• Body width: 14 1/4"
• Body depth: 3 3/4"
• Top wood: solid birch
• Back & sides wood: solid birch
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: ebonized poplar
• Fretboard: ebonized maple
• Neck wood: poplar
• Action height at 12th fret: hair-under 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 40w, 30w, 20w, 12 for GDAE tuning
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-lower

Condition notes: It's all-original save the tuners. The tailpiece has to have the strings wrapped front-and-under so that the strings pull it off of the top -- a common issue with this tailpiece type when the intended bridge (the original, in this case) is meant to be low on the top. There's minor wear and tear throughout the finish via smaller scratches and handling-wear but it has no cracks and it's in overall good shape for its age.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: AXRB