OAHU MODEL 65K
This is a full size Hawaiian guitar. It has a solid, high quality, mahogany body, round sound hole, black and white checkerboard binding, square neck and a Sunburst finish. It was made sometime in the 1930s.
These are well made, solid mahogany instruments that are undervalued these days and getting harder to find. This one, as were most, is ladder braced. It has a square neck and would have been used to play Hawaiian music. These were made by a number of folks in the greater Chicago region, primarily Regal and Kay. They have a distinctive checkerboard binding that really shows off the mahogany and have a huge tone!
Being a large bodied instrument, the sound is big and clear with plenty of low end, but no ”honkiness” in the mid range. This one is a model 65K and has the scalloped headstock, the original tuners, frets, fingerboard. end pin and bridge. There has been one modification, the guitar came to me with a lowered bone nut (just above standard playing height) and a metal nut riser. I would not recommend trying to play this as a standard guitar (though you probably can in the lowest position), but it does play very well as a bottleneck slide guitar or, with the nut riser, as it was originally intended. It is in outstanding condition with just a small amount of finish wear.
From Wikipedia:
The Oahu Music Company was a music education program in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s to teach students to play the Hawaiian Guitar. Popular culture in America became fascinated with Hawaiian music during the first half of the twentieth century and in 1916, recordings of indigenous Hawaiian instruments outsold every other genre of music in the U.S. By 1920, sales of Hawaiian guitars and instruction had become well established and Oahu Music Company was the leading purveyor of these programs. The organization canvassed nearly every city in the United States, often door-to-door, selling both their Oahu-brand instruments and lessons for young people to join their weekly classes.
Oahu Music was founded in Flint, Michigan in 1926 by Harry G. Stanley and his half-brother George Bronson. The two men later parted ways and Stanley became sole owner. In the Great Depression of the 1930s, many Americans had little money to spend on extra items such as musical instruments, but acoustic steel guitars were available for the relatively low price of seven dollars, including case, bar, picks, nut adapter, and lessons. The company thrived even through the worst of the depression.
Work Done:
These bridges are both glued and bolted on and the glue had come loose on this one though the bolts held it in place. I removed and re-glued the bridge, and while it was off, I used the Stu Mac Bridge Saver tool to ream out the pin holes and inlay new wood in the bridge plate to repair the years of wear. Once the bridge was reattached, I re-drilled and sized the pin holes and gave it a new set of string pins. It is strung up with John Pearse light gauge Phosphor Bronze strings (12-53). There was a crack running the length of the fingerboard (which appears to be ebonized or dyed maple) which I filled in with superglue and ebony dust. The frets were polished, the original tuners were cleaned and lubricated.
There were no structural issues with this instrument.
I’m including the metal string riser that came with the guitar if someone want to use it for Hawaiian playing. This guitar would also be an excellent candidate for a conversion to a round neck guitar. IF A BUYER PURCHASES THIS INSTRUMENT AT FULL PRICE, I WILL BE GLAD TO REPLACE THE MODIFIED BONE NUT WITH A NEW BONE NUT OF THE CORRECT HEIGHT AT NO COST, IF THEY WISH.
It has no case, but will be securely packed and insured. It's a great opportunity to explore Hawaiian music on a fine vintage instrument on a working musician's budget! $450.00