1899 Vega 00-size Brazilian Rosewood Guitar

Update 2026: I originally worked on this in 2020 and it since switched hands. It's now back here for resale and everyone in the shop is as bowled-over by it now as they were then... and its setup has not budged at all. It's come back playing spot-on just like when it left. I'm going to borrow from my original 2020 post for the description, now, but will update where necessary...

Overview: Now that's a guitar, right? I know tons of people who would be tickled to have a 00-size, Brazilian-rosewood-backed, Boston-made Vega from the turn of the century.

It needed some work (the neck joint was damaged and the top under the bridge was damaged, among other things), but now that the work is done it's just lovely. The sound is lush, full, warm, and pretty deep for its size and time. It was made for gut strings and so classical strings are what a guitar like this needs to stay healthy. Luckily, Thomastik makes the hybrid KR116 set which is rope-core-steel but classical-string tension/intonation -- so you can get a fingerpicking steel-string sound/practicality without killing an old gut-strung guitar. That set is what's on it right now (update 2026 -- and a fresher set is still what's on it, though nylon would also sound great).

While Vega guitar serial numbers are often a little vague timeline-wise in the '20s, I believe that the serial on this matches their banjo serial numbers charts -- placing it at 1899 or perhaps 1900. It has the non-screwed-in gears for the tuners and the build style, trim, details, and gold/silver-black/shiny label all correlate to bowlback mandolins of theirs I've dated to the same time. So, yes, I think the timeframe is accurate to the serial on this guy.

What more to say? Despite finish flaws and the mentioned needed repairs from a century-plus of use, it's really otherwise in pretty good shape. I only had to cleat a couple of small hairline cracks below the bridge and all the bracing was tight and good to go -- something very surprising for a guitar of this age. These were not cheap guitars when they were built, either -- it would've been in the price range of a Martin, Washburn, Weymann, or the like. They're professional instruments and extremely well-made. The sound is full and elegant.

Repairs included: I gave it a neck reset and bolt reinforcement (it's a tenon joint), fret level/dress, bridge reglue and patch-up of damaged top under bridge, new ebony bridge pins, cleats for two hairline cracks, cleaning, side dots install, and setup. It's playing spot-on.

• Weight: 3 lbs 2 oz
• Scale length: 25"
• Nut width: 1 7/8"
• Neck shape: medium C/V
• Board radius: 14"
• Depth at first fret: 0.85"
• Depth at seventh fret: 0.92"
• Body width: 14 1/2"
• Body depth: 4 1/2"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid Brazilian rosewood
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: ebony
• Fretboard: ebony
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: Thomastik KR116 hybrid classical strings
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: lower/smaller

Condition notes: As noted above, there's a repaired hairline crack below the bridge on top and a couple small ones near the soundhole rosette. There's weather-checking to the finish throughout and a lot of aging/yellowing to the finish, too. There's an old tailpiece "ghost" on the top and some filled tailpiece holes at the endpin area. There's the usual amount of small nicks, dings, scratches, etc. throughout. The back of the neck has some weird indentations/deeper scratches that are presumably from badly-padded capo use (the old capos from the time look like horror devices). It's original save for the bridge pins.

It comes with: It has a good hard case.

Consignor tag: SNUR