~1920 Oscar Schmidt Stella koa

Oscar Schmidt 'Stella' Koa c 1920 | $1975 | (v2121) A rare and exciting version of a Stella standard-size guitar made by Oscar Schmidt in Jersey City, NJ sometime in the first quarter of the Twentieth Century. The Stella line of guitars was aimed at the mid-price to inexpensive sector of the guitar market. But this example exhibits features usually reserved for the high-end Sovereign models. The body is made from Hawaiian koa wood, and features an inlaid faux tortoise pickguard and multiple w/b/w binding and purfling rings on the top, back and the sides! The neck is mahogany and the 'ebonized' fingerboard sports the fancy positions markers and white celluloid binding. The head stock is overlaid with koa veneer, bound in white celluloid and stamped with the Stella name. Four of the original bridge pins remain and are bone with abalone dots inset into the top. All these features add up to a quite attractive and rare guitar!

The body measures 12 3/8" across at the lower bout. Scale length is 24 7/8", which makes it a comfortable short scale. The fingerboard measures 1 13/16" across at the nut, with string spacing 2 1/4" across at the saddle. The neck is carved in a 'V', common to the era.

There is an old crack repair that runs along the upper bout that we resealed and cleated. Several old repaired top cracks were cleated. The original pyramid bridge was split beyond repair and a new replica was made from ebony. The neck was reset. The frets were leveled and dressed. A new bone nut and saddle were installed. The original tuners were disassembled, cleaned, lubed and reinstalled (low E tuner shaft a bit bent). The end pin appears original (forgot to install it for the photos). Four of the bone bridge pins are original, and two more were crafted in our shop to match. Overall, the guitar is in really nice shape and shows some nicks and dings from use and age. There is some small areas of finish loss on the sides at the heel where it appears that a non-water soluable glue used to re-fasten the neck at one time.

The action is set at 7/64" and the guitar plays easily. It is a very light weight guitar and very responsive to the touch. The sound is a bit more refined than its birch-bodied brethren, and produces a pleasant blending of the individual strings ..not much getting lost in the mix.

Comes with a soft case.

Check out the sound clip!