Rare Archtop Acoustic Coming My Way

I'm not going to say what it is yet. What I'll do is drop a few hints!

Archtop with holes that may/may not be "F" holes :hmm

Made in Germany.

Very rare hand made in a small shop.

Elvis played one while he was stationed there.

It should be here in a couple of days. I'm pretty fired up as these hardly ever show up for sale. la

Isana?

ourmaninthenorth said:

Isana?

Click to expand...

You know it!

Looks in fantastic condition, very handsome guitar. :salude

Pleased with it Wilko?

The condition is stunning in person. It has the patina of age in that the finish is hardened and the wood is settled but it has only one or two scratches and that's it. It came with a light cloth "bag" with a draw string closure!

The sound is amazing as expected. Feels twice as loud as my 1962 Gibson L-4c. Very lively with the pronounced midrange voice of an archtop.

Nice body size and very light weight. Neck is the fattest neck I've ever owned (excluding classical) with a very square-ish profile.

1.01" at 1st fret
1.13" at 11th fret

1 5/8" nut width


The only issue is the neck with no trussrod and a bit too much relief as the guitar came with what were apparently the original strings. Very heavy flatwound with a replaced "G" string that looked like a period correct "D" string so tension was real high. It plays great over most of the neck but gets unplayable starting right around the 12thwhich is a real drag. I may attempt to heat and "slip" the fretboard/neck glue to fix it. I'm confident I can do that without too much damage.

Wow, that's some neck. I guess they figured that there's that much mass in the bugger, it'd never move!!

Shame about the playability issue, but in all honesty I get a little dizzy going further than the 9th on these big buggers, so it wouldn't bother me too much.

Good luck with the repair if you attempt it. :salude

Well I did swap out the tailpiece for a fancier one from OEM!