1935 Gibson Roy Smeck Radio Grande Natural, Excellent, Original Hard

FON 85A. SALE PENDING: Extremely rare early 1935 Roy Smeck Radio Grande with Brazilian rosewood back and sides expertly converted from Hawaiian to standard play by Mark Tossman. The earliest Radio Grande builds were Brazilian and by 1936 all were East Indian Rosewood. This one is most certainly BRW and it’s a thrilling guitar in both appearance and performance. The conversion on this model is tricky and IMHO this one was done absolutely correctly. The face plate and the fingerboard were saved and applied to a new neck which is 1 ¾” at the nut with nearly 2 ½” string spacing at the bridge. Frets replaced the Hawaiian position markers and fretboard binding is an ivoroid repro. The neck is a modified V in shape and appropriately hefty – much like a ’34 Jumbo or an early J-35. The tuners are new Waverly G-98 style and the bridge appears to be an exact replica from an old piece of Rosewood that matches the fingerboard. The top is otherwise original with a couple of case bites and a scratch but with a beautiful patina. There is a little finish missing around the bridge. The top shows no torque and is nicely crowned where it should be. The back and sides are crack free with age-appropriate dings and scratches. The original firestripe pickguard complete the incredible visuals. Inside all looks as it should with the original bridge plate and two tapered tone bars. The string spacing works well for fingerpicking but this monster is meant to be played loud. It’s explosive when played with a pick. It’s set up for medium strings with medium low action. The original case is still with it, fits like a glove and is in great shape. Consider this: what would an early 30’s C. F. Martin 12-fret dreadnought with Adi spruce top and Brazilian rosewood fetch in todays’ market? Take the price of this one and multiply by eight, by ten? Mind boggling. This fine example of a rare model is perhaps the pinnacle of a high end Gibson flattop collection.