1957 Harmony H8333 Roy Smeck Jumbo Guitar (X-Brace Conversion)

Shop friend Paul brought this cool old Roy Smeck jumbo in and Ancel convinced him to let him rebrace it to an x-pattern using carbon-fiber-reinforced bracing. Paul won-out, though, because after conversion and all the rest of the work (neck reset, level/dress, new bridge+saddle+nut, etc) it's not only a great player but it sounds terrific, too.

When these are braced as-normal, they've got a woody, midsy, archtop-like tone that's very fun but a little one-dimensional. The rebrace has made this guitar sound more Gibson-like but with some barky authority that's a lot of fun. I like! Good job, Ancel.

We used some stripey ebony for the bridge as the original, ebonized maple bridge was garbage. We left the option open to "ebonized" this one as well, but Paul liked the look so we kept it natural. It fits with the tuxedo theme, methinks.

Also -- who doesn't love the aluminum trim? I need to make guitars with the stuff on it. Too fun...