~1935 Oscar Schmidt Sovereign Jumbo Natural

Oscar Schmidt Sovereign Auditorium-size Guitar c 1935 | $3250 | (v1834) This is a pretty interesting guitar on a couple of levels. First, it's a Schmidt-made auditorium-size, or 'jumbo', six-string flattop, a quite rare guitar in its own right. But most intriguing is it shares most of the appointments found on the iconic Lead Belly 12-string. Lead Belly's jumbo-12 was made at the Schmidt factory in 1935, very likely under the supervision of shop foreman and master luthier Fulvio Pardini. The materials, dimensions, neck and heel shape and trim all match the Lead Belly twelve. Additionally, the fingerboard position dot is placed at the 9th fret, instead of the typical 10th fret placement, and the top braces have a more rounded top profile when compared to a Stella from earlier years. We currently have a 6-string-to-twelve-string conversion in our inventory with the exact same appointments as this Sovereign and Lead Belly's twelve. It doesn't take much of a mental leap to consider that these three guitars were all made in a very similar time frame, if not in the same batch, and very likely under the supervision of Pardini.

The back and sides are a nice grade of mahogany. The top is spruce, ladder braced. The top and sound hole are trimmed in the multi-colored 'Lead Belly' purfling, and bound in white celluloid. The neck is mahogany and carved in a 'C' shape which continues through to the heel, which is capped in white celluloid. The head stock has a Brazilian rosewood overlay with 'Sovereign' embossed in gold script. The fingerboard is 'ebonized' maple with pearl position dots.

The body measures 15 1/2" across at the lower bout. Scale length is 26 1/2". The finger board measures 1 7/8" across at the nut, and string spacing is 2 1/4" at the saddle.

The tuners and nut are original. The neck was recently reset. A replacement bridge was made from ebony, in the fancier style found on some Sovereign models. The guitar came to us with a pick guard that appeared to be a modern addition, but when removed, a finish-less footprint was left suggesting that this may be the original shape. However, we've not seen a Schmidt pick guard in this shape before. We added the faux-tortise guard to match the existing footprint. Two old and ugly cracks were routed and filled with spruce splints. One back crack was glued. There are two small screw holes filled, one at the heel and one on the back of the head stock, likely from a former strap attachment. The celluloid sound hole ring is missing. The ebony bridge pins with pearl dots are a cobbled together set, and appropriate for the guitar. The finish is original, although there was some touch-up along the top crack splints, and a good deal of playing wear on the neck, and scratches, nicks and dings from use and wear.

The sound of this guitar is exemplary .. with its jumbo size and aged woods, it's at once commanding with its bass response, but with plenty of room for the mids and trebles to resonate, one of the better sounding guitars we've had the pleasure to experience. Its woody and warm tone is perfect for strumming and finger picking.

Comes with an older hard case.

Check out the sound clip!