1920s Marlboro (Harmony) Spruce/Birch Size 5 Tenor Guitar

This is a Harmony-made tenor guitar and, while it very much apes the concurrent Regal-made size 5 tenor guitars (the "original" tenor guitar), these originally had pin-bridge string loads. In the past, I have kept the pin bridges going despite their wanting to do themselves in, but this time around I gave it a tailpiece and floating bridge load like on the Regals they copycat. When under tension with the pin-bridge load, the tops on these distort so much that I really can't trust them -- but as a tailpiece-load instrument, with their extra-light build, they sound excellent and are far more stable.

Work on this one included a neck reset, level/dress of the frets, some fill to the old pinholes on the bridge, a replacement (period) tailpiece install, replacement (newer) tuners, and a banjo-style bridge fit at the front of the old bridge (another fun thing about Harmony tenor guitars -- for some reason, from the '20s right through to the '70s, the company almost always fit the saddles 1/8" to 1/4" too far to the rear and so the proper intonation point for the saddle slot is almost always in front of whatever bridge is on it). Then, of course, it got a new nut and setup work done and some loose bracing and a few hairline cracks repaired.

Post-repairs it plays quick and easy, has a sweet and loud sound that is almost identical to the Regal tenors it emulates, and it's ready to go. I especially love all of the playwear that this one has!