Hey there, Blues Bo.
Ever wonder why that fancy schmancy guitar you bought from a boutique guitar company doesn\'t sound like the ones you hear on the recordings of the blues masters? By that I mean Blind Blake, Blind Willy McTell and Mississippi John Hurt. I can tell you why it doesn\'t and why it never will.All those bluesmen and many more started out playing guitars made of American birch. Some played guitars that were all birch; some played ones with spruce tops and birch back and sides. They played those guitars because they were cheap, yes, but also because of how they sounded.
Birch guitars are loud. Notes played on a birch guitar decay almost as fast as notes on a classical guitar or an archtop. Birch guitars typically have loud basses and the early Country and Delta blues players used their guitars as drums--literally. The backbeat and the walking bass are the heart of the blues.Birch guitars also have keening trebles and that makes them great for slide. That sound is the soul of the blues and is often used in call and response interplay between the singer and his instrument (listen to some Charlie Patton) to simulate the human voice.
Nowadays nobody makes birch body guitars like these old Stellas. Not that most of us can afford anyway.True you might see a few for sale on but most of those guitars have action so high you could drop your wallet between the strings and the body. And it will cost you real money to get them playable.The guitar I offeris a rare 1920sOscar SchmidtFirst Hawaiian Conservatory guitarrestored to excellent playing condition by Jake Wildwood of Antebellum Instruments. Jake\'s work included resetting the neck, replacing the bridge and nut, leveling and dressing the brass frets, and general setup. Guitar is now in tiptop playing condition.
The First Hawaiian Conservatory of Music was a marketing tool of the Oscar Schmidt Company started around 1919 and continued until the late 1930′s. They would sell a guitar and 12 months of correspondence guitar lessons for a nominal down payment and monthly repayments. They would advertise these courses in Popular Mechanics and other magazines of the period. The guitars they supplied with this course are now widely regarded, along with the Oscar Schmidt Stellas, as the cream of old blues guitars.
The body dimensions are a tad larger than many Stella concert size guitars of the day. The lower bout measures just a hair under 13 1/2\", the beefy C-neck is 1 7/8\" at the nut.This guitar has good projection and nice woody tones you can only get with these old birch body ladder braced guitars. No cracks or loose braces. Action is low, tuners work fine, frets are good, neck plays well up and down the board. The weird board coloration on the fretboard is due to this having had those position stickers plastered all over it when it was built. I added the fret dots at the 10th and 12th. They can be easily removed if you don\'t like them. Includes original chipboard case in very good condition.
Thanks for looking and please email or call me @ [phone removed by ] with any questions.
