Finally found it!

[willcall]

Hi all, I have been searching my parents place for this guitar for a while and have finally found it. Yet to find the tuners, nut & pins but they are out there somewhere.
History: This little parlour?? was purchased by my grandmother from a department store in Brisbane in the 50's for my uncle to use. It ended up at my parents house when I started to learn guitar.
I am the one who striped it down with the intention of repairing it. Never happened!
Hoping to do so this Christmas break.
I thought it was a nylon string but looking at the bridge it must have been steel.

What are people's opinions, should I sand it back and refinish it or just keep it looking the same?
The fretboard looks like ebony but it is actually just black paint.

What do you think about the damage? Should I remove the back & top and re-glue or just patch the timber separation & replace the nut & tuners?

Do you think I should replace the bridge as well?

Cheers, Will

[Bruce McC]

Will

From your photos the guitar appears to be made of plywood, is it worth the time and trouble?
My opinion is keep it as it is for sentimental value, hang it on the wall. Reassemble and repair
where the top and back are separting, but I wouldn't sand it back because if you do you will loose the
decals and that aged finish.

[ozziebluesman]

G'day Will,
If the guitar was originally made in the USA it could be Birch but more than likely ply with a black painted fingerboard. I have an old Oahu Lap Steel acoustic and it looks similar and is flat sawn birch and the fingerboard has been painted black. I'm with Bruce, just re-glue where she has separated.
Cheers
Alan

[willcall]

Thanks for the advice. I'll just glue it up then & find the old tuners & nut.
Cheers, Will

[willcall]

Will

From your photos the guitar appears to be made of plywood, is it worth the time and trouble?
My opinion is keep it as it is for sentimental value, hang it on the wall. Reassemble and repair
where the top and back are separting, but I wouldn't sand it back because if you do you will loose the
decals and that aged finish.

I finally got around to having another look at this one.
I sanded back the areas to be glued and noticed that it is NOT plywood but solid flat sawn back and top. Unsure about the sides ATM.

I am going to fix it up a little and re-string it for my daughter (2.5yr old) to play around with.
She quite likes to take the pick off me and strum my Maton when I am trying to play it.

Will

[Philstix]

Being in the USA I have seen a lot of guitars like this one. The sides are almost certainly solid and probably thinner than most guitars now. The kind of separation you see on the top and back is nearly universal on guitars which have been stored and not played. They can sound pretty good, especially for fingerstyle blues, but almost always have issues with the neck needing to be reset to get playable action above the 7th fret. I have seen a lot of them used for slide guitar with the only modification being to replace the nut with an oversized one.

[willcall]

Being in the USA I have seen a lot of guitars like this one. The sides are almost certainly solid and probably thinner than most guitars now. The kind of separation you see on the top and back is nearly universal on guitars which have been stored and not played. They can sound pretty good, especially for fingerstyle blues, but almost always have issues with the neck needing to be reset to get playable action above the 7th fret. I have seen a lot of them used for slide guitar with the only modification being to replace the nut with an oversized one.

Thanks Phil, yeah the neck needs resetting. The Fb angle almost points into the soundhole rather than the bridge.

Makes me think it would be best as a slide guitar.