spoox
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- Joined
- Dec 3, 2014
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So another one of those "this will no doubt be bid up but what the heck, I'll throw the minimum bid on the thing" which I saw an hour before the end of the auction. And of course nobody else bothered. I could tell it had been refinished, and normally a Model 45 whether from L.A., or Regal made, would have a bound fretboard. The body is laminated mahogany as they usually were (although a very few had rosewood veneer) but the swirling ribbon figuring I'd never seen on any other Model 45. The price I paid was a fraction of what these usually fetch. It was supposed to arrive last Tuesday between the hours of 2-6. So at 1, I was doing dishes only to find the UPS guy had already been there and took off even though the front door was open and a radio could clearly been heard. So I had to wait around the next day for the thing. No case, just a TKL gig bag and after tuning it up--
WOW! The neck had been reset, it had a spun cone of unknown origin (the original would have had a stamped cone) and even with the standard thick "vee" neck, the action and intonation was spot on. I had been planning to "re-refinish" the guitar with the proper brown shading but I like the color and figure of the mahogany so much I don't think I'll bother. I won't put a nut riser on it to play it lap style, nor will I play it with a bottleneck. It's a perfect rhythm guitar! As to the fretboard--it has the correct period frets and similar side dots to my Model 76 so if not original, someone went to a bit of trouble. I did see one other Model 45 with an unbound ebony fretboard on Pinterest. Model 45s have rosewood veneer on the headstock and a laminated spruce top. I've ordered a period correct Dobro decal for it. Oh, and I had an extra one of those NOS Guild CO1 cases and it fits perfectly--synchronicity!
WOW! The neck had been reset, it had a spun cone of unknown origin (the original would have had a stamped cone) and even with the standard thick "vee" neck, the action and intonation was spot on. I had been planning to "re-refinish" the guitar with the proper brown shading but I like the color and figure of the mahogany so much I don't think I'll bother. I won't put a nut riser on it to play it lap style, nor will I play it with a bottleneck. It's a perfect rhythm guitar! As to the fretboard--it has the correct period frets and similar side dots to my Model 76 so if not original, someone went to a bit of trouble. I did see one other Model 45 with an unbound ebony fretboard on Pinterest. Model 45s have rosewood veneer on the headstock and a laminated spruce top. I've ordered a period correct Dobro decal for it. Oh, and I had an extra one of those NOS Guild CO1 cases and it fits perfectly--synchronicity!
