1930s Baker Carved-Top Archtop Tenor Guitar

This is a fascinating tenor guitar that a whole number of my customers linked me to on Reverb, wondering if they should take the plunge. One of them did, however, and sent it in for repair. I don't know anything of the maker, but it's clearly a high-grade instrument -- fully-carved, lightly-made, and with a ton of projection and warmth to spare. It's also easy on the eyes and has a Gibson-esuqe, "fiddle" headstock shape. The carve of both the top and the back is rather extreme, though both have "flattish" middles which is why there's more warmth than I'd otherwise expect with such steep arching at the edges.

It has a solid spruce top and solid, figured maple on the back and sides. The headstock has a rosewood veneer and the board is rosewood as well. There's nice binding all-over and it has original, geared pegs. The deco-style "dot and bar" inlay in the fretboard is a slick look as well.

This arrived at the shop with a good neck set and action spot-on. The issues, however, were a ginormous, pseudo-repaired crack on the top, a large section of loose/crept/missing binding seam on the back, and frets needing leveling and dressing. The top crack was the worst of that, as it had been "glued" but with the faces not matched. Tim figured-out an ingenious solution to repair it and get cleats on (the f-holes precluded using clamps as we'd normally do) and he also fixed the bad seam on the back. Jose or Jacobi did the fretwork and setup, as I recall, and at some point it got a scrubbing-down. It plays like an absolute champ.

It's missing its original pickguard and the tailpiece, while period, is definitely not original. Considering the outsized endpin, I almost wonder if a violin-style tailpiece was used when it was made.