Oscar Schmidt 'Stella' c 1925 | HOLD | (v2318) This is among the cleanest and most original of the Schmidt guitars we've had the privilage of handling. All components original, including nut, saddle, bridge and end pins; no evident repair work in its history, and no cracks, not even a loose brace! The combination of spruce top and birch body is among our favorite couplings, and the 'rope' binding and 'mustache' bridge give it a touch of pizazz!
The top is red spruce, over slab-sawn birch, dyed a deep oxblood. The body and sound hole sport the classic 'rope' binding, and both are bound in celluloid. The back is adorned with a decalcomania strip down the middle (somewhat askew btw). The neck appears to be poplar, and stained in red mahogany. The fingerboard is maple, painted black with position markers at frets 5, 7, 10, and 12. The neck is carved in a soft 'V', typical of the era. It appears that a previous owner has scratched "Stella" into the head stock. There is an early, yellow Stella label pasted inside the body. The 'mustache' bridge is maple, painted black and retains its original fretwire saddle. The original bridge pins are the classic OS-style, black-painted maple with pearl dots. The tuners are original, function well, and show only a hint of oxidation. Overall, an amazing survivor!
The body measures 13 3/8" across at the lower bout, concert size. The scale length is a short-scale 25". The neck measutres 1 13/16" across at the nut, with string spacing 2 3/16" across at the saddle.
There are no evident prior repairs, although the neck may have been reset at one time, since every Stella we've seen has needed one. We repaired some chip out between bridge pin holes on the bridge plate, and capped it with a sliver of maple to avoid any damage in the future. The frets were leveled and dressed. The guitar looks to have been played a bit, evidenced by some wear to the paint on the fingerboard, but there is little wear on the back of the neck and top of the guitar.
With action set at 5-7/64", a comfortable neck and light weight, the guitar plays easily. The combination of birch and spruce give it the classic ladder-braced Stella 'bark', with just a hint of mellowness in the lower register from the spruce. This is a really great guitar for finger picking blues or old time music, and a fun slide machine!
Comes with a newer hard case.
Check out the sound clip!
The top is red spruce, over slab-sawn birch, dyed a deep oxblood. The body and sound hole sport the classic 'rope' binding, and both are bound in celluloid. The back is adorned with a decalcomania strip down the middle (somewhat askew btw). The neck appears to be poplar, and stained in red mahogany. The fingerboard is maple, painted black with position markers at frets 5, 7, 10, and 12. The neck is carved in a soft 'V', typical of the era. It appears that a previous owner has scratched "Stella" into the head stock. There is an early, yellow Stella label pasted inside the body. The 'mustache' bridge is maple, painted black and retains its original fretwire saddle. The original bridge pins are the classic OS-style, black-painted maple with pearl dots. The tuners are original, function well, and show only a hint of oxidation. Overall, an amazing survivor!
The body measures 13 3/8" across at the lower bout, concert size. The scale length is a short-scale 25". The neck measutres 1 13/16" across at the nut, with string spacing 2 3/16" across at the saddle.
There are no evident prior repairs, although the neck may have been reset at one time, since every Stella we've seen has needed one. We repaired some chip out between bridge pin holes on the bridge plate, and capped it with a sliver of maple to avoid any damage in the future. The frets were leveled and dressed. The guitar looks to have been played a bit, evidenced by some wear to the paint on the fingerboard, but there is little wear on the back of the neck and top of the guitar.
With action set at 5-7/64", a comfortable neck and light weight, the guitar plays easily. The combination of birch and spruce give it the classic ladder-braced Stella 'bark', with just a hint of mellowness in the lower register from the spruce. This is a really great guitar for finger picking blues or old time music, and a fun slide machine!
Comes with a newer hard case.
Check out the sound clip!