1925 Oscar Schmidt Oahu Oahu koa Natural koa, Near Mint, Original Soft, $1,075.00

Early in the Twentieth Century the Hawaiian music craze blew onto the mainland like a cool, tropical breeze, and many instrument manufacturers went with the flow. Even non-instrument manufacturers, like OAHU, joined in. OAHU was a publishing company, in Ohio of all places, who published tons of sheet music and instructional books of Hawaiian music, and sold the guitars to go along with the music, often offering the guitar with the lessons. This particular instrument was made for OAHU by the Oscar Schmidt Company in Jersey City, NJ, maker of the venerable Stella guitar. Some of the Schmidt attributes are the curving side profile of the body, the square kerfing along the inside top, neck/headstock shape, pearl dot at the 10th fret, and the ink-stamped numbers on the top brace just below the sound hole.
The guitar is concert-size and ladder-braced, measuring about 12 1/2" across at the lower bout. The body is made from solid Hawaiian koa, inlaid with 'rope' binding around the sound hole and down the center strip. The neck is mahogany with a dyed fingerboard. The bridge is Brazilian rosewood, and the head stock is sports a Brazilian overlay and the snazzy OAHU metal plate. The guitar is in a remarkable state of preservation and all parts are original, including the tuners, nut and saddle. As an added bonus, the bridge pins are either bone or ivory, inlaid with abalone, and stamped "Germany" (we've seen these on other Schmidt instruments).
There was never any work done to the guitar until we reset the neck angle, lowered the nut, and leveled and dressed the frets. The guitar was originally set up with a high nut for lap playing, so the fingerboard is pristine. There is a dryness crack (very common on these catalog guitars) that runs up the middle of the board, off and on, and at wider places was filled with glue and dust. It's difficult to see, and does not effect playing. The guitar has a minimum of nicks and dings, but could be called 'showroom' condition without any stretch of the imagination.
The action is set a 5/64" for comfortable playing. The koa produces a somewhat tighter sound than a spruce/birch box, and is a tad less warm, but the notes ring out clear with more of a nasal, 'boxy' sound with nice sustain. The guitar retains its original soft case, but some of the stitching has come loose, but it's very clean, just like the guitar. Be sure to check the mp3 sample, and other images on our website.