For sale is a beautiful, total original 1939 Vega Advance model C 56 acoustic Arch top Guitar. The Vega music instrument company of Boston, Mass., was famous for making high quality banjos from 1880’s through 1940’s. In the early 1930’s as banjos begin to slow, they decided to put their expertise to work building high end guitars to compete with Gibson and Epiphone who were having good success building quality guitars for the Big Band and Jazz that was the music of the day. Vega began building a class of guitars they called advanced. They were designated as the C series. These guitars were clearly built to compete in every way with the Big Bodied Guitars of Gibson and Epiphone who had already captured the market. These guitars were priced competitively and made to play better and sound equally as good or better than the Gibson L-7 or the Epiphone Triumph. And in the eyes of many, they succeeded. The most popular guitar in this group was the C 56. They started with a high quality carved solid Spruce, full 17” body with tuned, parallel braces. Beautiful Maple arched back and Maple sides. It is bound with multi ply cream binding. Dark Ebony fingerboard and adjustable bridge. BTW, you will note the Ebony adjustable bridge base is shorter on the treble side than the bass side. This is their original by design. I am told this was to help even out the tone balance. Any advantage their engineers could come up with, they used on this advanced model guitar. The guitars fingerboard is adorned with pearl Diamond and dot inlaid position markers and cream binding. The Peghead face has an Ebony veneer with Vega’s pearl Bursting Star logo. Tuners are original individual open back Kluson with metal buttons that work very smoothly with no bent shafts. The original black elevated pickguard is also bound with matching cream binding. Traditional nickel plated Trapeze tail piece. The original sunburst nitrocellulose lacquer is still bright and protective with minimal crazing relative to age. Of the three guitars, the Gibson L-7, Epiphone Triumph, and Vega Advanced C 56, it was generally concluded that the one piece Honduran Mahogany neck of the Vega provided the most comfortable playing with a slightly slimmer C shape neck profile and nut width. The neck of this guitar is as near perfect as you are apt to find. The frets look as though they have not been played and the neck is so straight the strings can practically lay down on the fingerboard with no buzzing or fretting out. It literally plays like butter for real. The structural integrity of this guitar has remained remarkably stable for nearly 90 years which indicates it lived its life in a very guitar friendly environment. The adjustable bridge has plenty room for adjustment to raise or lower the action according to preference. After careful inspection, I see no alterations, no repairs and no repairs needed. I believe it is total original (less the strings) down to the last screw. There is no sign of any loose seems, splits, cracks, the neck heel is solid with no lifting. There is only a few minimal surface scuffs and pick marks but no sign of buckle rash or anything else to keep this guitar from looking like the beautiful guitar it is cosmetically. And finally the tone of this guitar is nice and full with the mids cutting through with plenty volume. The highs are clear and do not get lost with volume. The response is quick. And lastly, it comes with the original deluxe Hard case that is in excellent condition. 

In summary, this is a very rare guitar as they were never produced in the numbers that Gibsons or Epiphones were. This one is a remarkable survivor of the height of the Jazz and Big Band era. Don’t sell it short when considering your next Jazz guitar. It will perform. 
I have described it as honestly and completely as I can. If you have any questions or require more pictures, don’t hesitate to ask. I will try my best to accommodate. Thank you. Southeast Missouri.