1920s Washburn X-Braced Tenor Guitar

Overview: This is a lovely example of Tonk-era Washburn at its best -- it's a copycat, in a sense, of the longer-bodied, narrower-bouted, Martin plectrum and tenor models made in the late '20s. It's x-braced, spruce over mahogany, and sounds fantastic -- warm, sweet, and sustained with a nice, lingering ring. We have it setup for the "Celtic" GDAE tuning as the body has plenty of warm to suit it. This one arrived with a bunch of work done to it already, but it did need glorified setup work to make it live up to itself.

I'm pretty certain that this is another one of the "Regal custom shop" models built for Washburn at the time. It has Martin-nod features like herringbone purfling at the top edge, back, and soundhole and its tonal palette, response, and general build are Martin-style copycat as well. I think that, perhaps, it has a little better mids and punch than the (sometimes overly-warm) Martins of the same style from the time.

One interesting note is that the last guy to work on it also radiused the fretboard which gives it a much more modern feel.

Repairs included: Molly gave it a level/dress of the frets and setup. She also re-repaired (added cleats) to a cluster of hairline cracks at the top, lower-bout. Previously, this got a neck reset and a full overspray of the finish. The board was also radiused and refretted at the time, too, and a replacement saddle made and geared, guitar-style tuners fit. It's currently playing spot-on and ready to go.

• Weight: 2 lbs 7 oz
• Scale length: 23 1/16"
• Nut width: 1 9/32"
• Neck shape: medium V
• Board radius: 10"
• Depth at first fret: 27/32"
• Depth at seventh fret: 61/64"
• Body width: 12 1/8"
• Body depth: 3 7/8"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
• Bracing type: x
• Bridge: ebony
• Fretboard: ebony
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: hair-above 1/16" bass to 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 38w, 30w, 22w, 11 for GDAE tuning
• Truss rod: non-adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-lower

Condition notes: The worst of it is that the whole instrument has a shot of overspray that has, in-turn, weather-checked and weather-cracked as evidenced in long lines in the back, neck, and sides. It has replacement tuners and newer frets. The saddle is likely new. There's a cluster of repaired hairline cracks at the treble-side top, lower-bout area. There are nicks, dings, and scratches throughout but I find it all charming. 

It comes with: This has a flight-style, lightweight case as I recall.

Consignor tag: IHRE