IT DON'T REFLECT MUCH...AND THAT'S FINE!
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:15 am
This one was added to my collection a couple of weeks ago, courtesy of Stanroy Music in Petaluma (which has shut down and is unloading their stock...) and bandmate George B.
It's a classic KayKraft Type "A" parlor guitar, about 1935 vintage. I've always loved this shape; Washburn shows a line of modern guitars with this cutaway scheme.
This guitar has the most amazing tone for its size. There are a few Youtube videos demonstrating playing this fingerstyle blues and slide. None come close to capturing the sound of this instrument. I'm just messing with it right now--no time to really work it, you understand (jeez, I'm talking like Ry Cooder, now!)... good friend and accomplished acoustic player Richard turned up at the casa last week, and spent a half hour with it on my back porch. He played bare fingers and after a couple of minutes we noticed the sound, which had a "reverb" kind of bouncing effect inside the body it sounded like a Strat through a low-power tube amp, in the next room. It was spooky to get this sort of effect from an acoustic over 70 years old...
Anyway, laminated arched top and back, small soundhole, , 14 1/2" lower bout, average 3 1/2" body depth. The scale length is 26". Unlike most acoustic guitars of the pre-war era, the ebony fretboard has a 12" radius. The neck has a very interesting and unique scheme for adjustment; the heel slides along a curved track on the body (detail) , and the joint can be loosened and repositioned via a large wingnut in the interior.
The body is decorated with a lovely and very intricate water-transfer decalcomania (second detail)in a Beaux-arts theme, incorporating two Native American Indian heads (arrows). A lovely piece with a history I wish I knew; maybe someday it'll tell me, when it trusts me enough to whisper...
It's a classic KayKraft Type "A" parlor guitar, about 1935 vintage. I've always loved this shape; Washburn shows a line of modern guitars with this cutaway scheme.
This guitar has the most amazing tone for its size. There are a few Youtube videos demonstrating playing this fingerstyle blues and slide. None come close to capturing the sound of this instrument. I'm just messing with it right now--no time to really work it, you understand (jeez, I'm talking like Ry Cooder, now!)... good friend and accomplished acoustic player Richard turned up at the casa last week, and spent a half hour with it on my back porch. He played bare fingers and after a couple of minutes we noticed the sound, which had a "reverb" kind of bouncing effect inside the body it sounded like a Strat through a low-power tube amp, in the next room. It was spooky to get this sort of effect from an acoustic over 70 years old...
Anyway, laminated arched top and back, small soundhole, , 14 1/2" lower bout, average 3 1/2" body depth. The scale length is 26". Unlike most acoustic guitars of the pre-war era, the ebony fretboard has a 12" radius. The neck has a very interesting and unique scheme for adjustment; the heel slides along a curved track on the body (detail) , and the joint can be loosened and repositioned via a large wingnut in the interior.
The body is decorated with a lovely and very intricate water-transfer decalcomania (second detail)in a Beaux-arts theme, incorporating two Native American Indian heads (arrows). A lovely piece with a history I wish I knew; maybe someday it'll tell me, when it trusts me enough to whisper...
