Vintage Rare 1930s SS Stewart Acoustic Archtop Guitar in excellent restored condition, made by Harmony in Chicago, USA!
Vintage Rare 1930s SS Stewart Acoustic Archtop Guitar in excellent restored condition, made by Harmony in Chicago, USA. Harmony made some very high end professional grade archtops in the mid-late ‘30s, such as this stunning SS Stewart. It has been completely restored with a beautiful transparent charcoal finish that looks amazing. The action is spot-on and it sounds absolutely wonderful. This one-of-a-kind guitar will arrive well packed and ready to tune up and play. This beauty features all solid wood construction, with a solid spruce top and solid maple back and sides, heavy multiple bindings on the top, bound back, bound Brazilian rosewood fretboard with small pearl dot markers, large maple V neck profile, gorgeous BRW adjustable bridge, shop-made pickguard and bracket, new handmade bone nut, excellent vintage 50s Kluson Deluxe tuners with new cream buttons and original ferrules, original tailpiece and endpin. The top is most likely carved from a thick chunk of spruce. Appears to have been refretted at some point, with slightly larger frets. Cobra headstock shape, as seen on the 30s Royal Crest, Fischer and Armstrong models. It’s got the standard Harmony 25” scale length, 1-3/4” nut width and 15-1/2” body width. No date/model stamps visible inside, although it displays many indicators that it was made in the 30s, such as the headstock shape, neck profile and build quality. The figuring and hue of the BRW fingerboard is amazing and the charcoal finish looks fantastic. Work performed included a complete neck reset, minor fretboard planing and fretwork to allow the action to be dialed in nicely at about 5/64” to 3/32” @ 12th fret with new D’Addario 11-52 brass strings. A shop-made 3-ply pickguard was fabricated and lightly relic’d, installed with a shop-made bracket. This was received with the cool transparent charcoal finish, which is in good shape with some minor dings and scratches and plenty of imperfections, including minor buckle rash on the back. One tiny fracture was repaired on the top near the bass F hole and one on the back with a small cleat added, even though neither went all the way through the wood. The guitar is in excellent structural condition with all binding, seams and bracing intact and no major cracks, warping or issues. There is some fretboard chips from previous fret job and recent fret removal/installation while planing fingerboard. The tone is outstanding with a brilliant attack and plenty of volume. It has a nice balance with great projection, tight bass response and sizzling highs. Very inspiring and fun to play with great action and tall frets. The cool finish and quality construction make this a truly wonderful and rare guitar. Packed and shipped with experience you can trust, insured with signature required for delivery. Be sure to check out my other guitars for sale and thanks for looking! For more info about my guitars and to see what’s on the bench, check me out at gaslampguitars dot com! All Vintage and used items are sold as-is with no returns or refunds. Please read entire description and review all pictures and be sure to ask any questions you may have before bidding or making an offer. I have a great deal of experience packing and shipping guitars, so rest assured that I will get your item to you safely. Please complete payment within 24 hours of sale and follow through with all bids and offers. This listing is only for the lower 48 states because it contains Brazilian Rosewood, which is illegal to export. I'm always happy to answer your questions and look forward to making your vintage guitar buying experience awesome. Thanks for stopping by Gaslamp Guitars!
