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Pre-ordered for a returning customer in Sussex!

Update! - Restoration completed and collected....new completed photos now added!
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...not known whether Laurel Leaf design soundhole ring is associated with the 1936 Berlin Olympics, as similar design on some Harmony guitars are thought to be. All Solid Birch, Ladder Braced construction, with slotted headstock.

Note: the link between the Oscar Schmidt Company & P.M.I.Co. of New York "Collegiate" guitars is well known, but I don't believe they were all OS-made & need to do further research on mine....see following missive on '30s USA guitar-making!

These "Depression Era" & earlier guitars are always interesting....the old saying about 1930s USA guitars production, in Chicago & other centres...."Many makers, large & small, all making similar guitars, using similar materials & often the same parts, sometimes making guitars for each other, all making guitars for numerous distributors, usually using distributors own brand names....and nobody was taking notes!"

I am now finding that I "pre-sell" the majority of my guitars, certainly the vintage restoration Stellas and other guitars from the same era. Hence many, but not all of the guitars I have in stock are now listed on the website, in advance of restoration, or the stage where I am still working on them. This "Pre-Order" arrangement has now worked well for a good number of years....buyers reserving guitars coming through the workshop, in advance of them being fully ready, without any formal or binding commitment, and I welcome, and thankfully receive a steady stream of enquiries.

Stock Number: VTG1330.

The maker identification did not become any clearer when we took the back off the guitar in order to properly re-glue it, but what can be said is that it is an All Solid Birch, ladder braced parlor acoustic from the 1930s, with great period character, great condition, with more standard scale length of 25", rather than the 24.25" scale being used at that time by Harmony on it's '30s parlors, and continued with the Stella models post-1940. If not built by OS, my guess could be Regal? Typical full "C" '30s style neck, rather than "V" profile.

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**** DIMENSIONS ****
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13.25"/33.7cm. wide Lower Bout, 9.875"/25.1cm. Upper Bout, 3.25"/8.2cm. Body Depth at front, 3.5"/8.9cm. rear, and nut width is 1.75"/44.5mm., scale length approx. 635mm. or 25".

Brief restoration work schedule includes:

Restoration now completed. Schedule of work has included taking the back off as the seams were already separated in part, removing all four partly loose back braces, fully cleaning off all old glue, making good/gluing small splits in braces before re-fixing, again cleaning off back and side linings and re-gluing the back.

Following assessment, and re-assessment of the guitar jointly with the very experienced luthier I work with, it was concluded that the neck has been previously reset, is secure, that further re-setting was not required to adjust set-up, and that excess relief would be removed in order to correct fingerboard alignment by re-levelling...now completed.

Maple fingerboard then required re-colouring & re-fretting.....because it had been surface treated, not pressure dyed, as many 'boards of this age are, which invariably results in loss of strength of the timber, sometimes requiring replacement, the Maple timber of this original fingerboard remained very hard. This augers well fir it's future life & playability, now the 'board has been levelled, but presented some challenges in the re-colouring & re-fretting process, now happily completed. Again happily the original nut has been preserved, adjusted and re-fitted, the guitar set-up & fitting with new strings to choice.

After set-up adjustments the 12th. fret action 2.5mm./3mm. at the 12th. fret, as predicted.

The new set of strings fitted are Martin Retro Monel Light 12-54 gauge.

There is no original case with the guitar, but as requested by the buyer, it is being supplied in a Hiscox PRO-11 hardshell case.