~1930 Oscar Schmidt Stella Mahogany
Oscar Schmidt 'Stella' c 1930 | $1375 | (v 2116) Over the years we've owned many guitars made by the venerable Schmidt company, and viewed many others in the old catalogs and on the net. But this is the first all mahogany concert-size flat top we've seen. A number of years ago, we sold the auditorium-size version of this guitar. Likely made in the 1930s, it could have been a response to the all mahogany guitars made by Martin. That's a guess, but the sound hole rings look a lot more Martin than Stella! And note the lack of a celluloid sound hole ring, common on most of the Stella line. Regardless, it's surely an interesting guitar, and another example of the breadth of the OS line!
The body and neck are made from mahogany. The sound hole is adorned with a series of b/w purfling rings. The bridge and fingerboard are painted maple. The head stock is embossed with the gold 'Stella' brand, and a yellow 'Stella' label is inside the sound hole. The black celluloid pick guard appears original to the guitar. Although an atypical shape for a Schmidt instrument, our 'jumbo' mahogany guitar had the same guard, and the 1932 catalog offered a black celluloid pick guard as an accessory. The tuners are original, and are brass. The end pin and four of the bridge pins are original. The nut is a replacement. The finish is original, and shows a lot of nicks and dings from wear and use.
We recently reset the neck; glued a few braces; glued and cleated a few cracks; reglued the bridge; leveled and dressed the frets; installed a new bone saddle.
The body measures 13 1/2" across the lower bout. Scale length is 24 7/8". The fingerboard measures 1 13/16" at the nut, and string spacing is 2 3/32" across at the saddle.
The action is set at 5/64", and the guitar plays easily. It produces a focused, ladder-braced sound, but because of the mahogany, it's a bit warmer in tone than its birch-body brethren. A rare Stella and a really great all around guitar for old-time or blues fingerpicking.
Comes with a soft case.
Check out the sound clip!
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