~1937 Slingerland May-Bell Style 0 Sunburst

Slingerland 'May-Bell' Style 0 c 1937 | $625 | (v1241) The 'May-Bell' branded guitars were a line of the Slingerland company in Chicago, which first began mail-order guitar lessons and a 'free' instrument on which to practice in the early 1920s. Slingerland became pretty well known for their drums and banjos, but marketed a full line of guitars in the decades preceeding WWII.

This example is typical of the 'catalog' guitars of the era: birch body; ladder bracing (brace below sound hole in on a bias); fret wire saddle; modest appointments. In spite of its humble status, it's a pretty good looking guitar. The pearloid MOTS finger board and head stock veneer are set off by an attractive sunburst and white celluloid top binding. The neck is poplar. The bridge is maple, painted black.

The body measures 13" across at the lower bout. Scale length is a short 24". The fingerboard measures 1 3/4" across at the nut, and string spacing is 2 5/16" across at the saddle. The neck is carved in a comfortable 'C' shape.

Overall, the guitar is in solid, original condition (missing two bridge pins), crack-free, original finish. We recently reset the neck, routed the saddle slot for bone (replacing the original fret wire saddle), glued a 2" section of fingerboard under the first fret area, dressed and leveled the frets.

The action is a comfortable 6/64" with a straight neck and the guitar plays smoothly. The birch box produces a nice tone, with plenty of volume and sustain, and is great for finger picking blues or old-time music.

No case.

Check out the sound clip!