1925 Lyon & Healy? Washburn? Benson? 0 size PROJECT GUITAR Good, Soft, $750.00

1920s rosewood parlor guitar project

This is a cool little piece that needs some work to be playable but is well worth the effort. The guitar has no maker's mark of an kind but was definitely built by one of the Chicago or mid-western manufacturers (Lyon & Healy? Benson? Washburn?) but which one I can't say. What I can say is that it is a well made instrument of high grade materials. It has a 13 1/4" lower bout, making it roughly 0 size, with a 24 1/4" scale. The guitar is cosmetically in very good to excellent condition but will need a neck reset, bridge reglue and a couple of back cracks repaired. The back and sides are solid rosewood and the top solid spruce (appears to be red/adirondack). The neck is mahogany, the fret board and bridge are ebony. The top, back and neck are bound in white as is the inside edge of the soundhole. The rosette is a traditional three-ring pattern. The center ring, along with the top border, center strip on the back and back border are all a broad herringbone/block/line purfling arrangement. The tuners are likely Waverlys. The guitar is ladder braced top and back and has a hard wood bridge plate (the plate is in excellent shape). All of the bracing is secure, nothing loose. The guitar is 100% original inside and out, it has never been defaced by abuse or bad repair. The top and sides are crack free. The back has one old hairline crack repair that is well done, and there are three fine hairline cracks that currently require repair (3-4" each) but will be easy to fix as none are open or show significant gaps. The neck is very straight though the angle is marginal and due for a reset. The original bridge is off of the guitar currently, cleanly separated, it will be easy to reglue. The top binding is separated from the body at the waist on both sides and will need to be reglued. In addition, there's a strip of fret board binding loose (about 3-4") that will need to be glued and a short section (1/2") of binding and purfling at the bottom of the body that is beginning to come loose that should be glued. The back binding is loose at the waist on the treble side and should be reglued. The frets are in excellent condition, they appear to be original and free from any significant wear, and would likely require little if any work. The original finish is very clean. There are some strum marks in the finish on the top but basically the guitar presents very well. Though this is a 20s guitar and does not likely have metal neck reinforcement (a magnet does not stick to the neck) the neck seems very stiff and solid, as does the top. I'd speculate that you'd likely be able to get away with XL steel or Silk and Bronze strings on this when finished, and it'll likely sound great for finger picking. Comes with a proper size chip board case in good condition. It is offered AS IS for you to fix.