SS Maxwell Art Deco Parlor Guitar 1933-1938

Yowza! What a cool little guitar!  This is one you are likely never to see again, an SS Maxwell Parlor Guitar, made by Harmony for Targ and Dinner, a musical instrument retail supplier in Chicago, somewhere between 1933 and 1938.  It is in Very Good condition, has had a fresh neck reset, plays with a fast, smooth action, and is almost entirely original. 

When it came into the shop, it was in dire need of a neck reset, as the original joint had failed and the neck was pulling loose. We adjusted the neck angle and reset the neck, and then fine tuned the action by adjusting the height of the pinned bridge and making a new, unbleached bone nut.  The frets have been leveled and crowned, the guitar cleaned and polished, the tuners have been cleaned and lubricated (one set of three on a plate tuners is a replacement from some years back), and a new heel cap was added.  The Un-original aspects of the guitar are the heel cap, one set of tuners and the nut.

This is a loud, focused, and tonally well balanced little guitar!  Like most Harmony parlor guitars of the period, the body is made of Birch (all solid woods), with a wild, tiger striped faux finish, and the neck appears to possibly be Poplar.  The fretboard is flat, like a classical guitar, and painted to compliment the Art Deco designs on the body.  The bridge is a floating style, but it is pin registered through the top, and uses a brass bit of fretwire as a saddle. The neck itself has that wonderful Deep-V shape that sits so comfortably in the hand. This sweet little darlin’ is a joy to play!

Some other important specs:

Scale Length = 23 7/8”

Lower Bout Width = 14 1/4”

Body Depth = 3 3/4”

Total Length = 37”

Nut Width = 1 3/4”

Action = Low E - 6/64ths, High E - 5/64ths

The guitar is strung with D’Addario Phosphor Bronze Custom Light Gauge Strings.  The neck is straight with only a small amount of relief.

Ships in a newish padded Gig Bag, emblazoned with the Orangewood Guitar logo.

Please be sure to check out the accompanying photos of the guitar, as we have tried to capture it from all angles.

This SS Maxwell is a very distinctive and unusual guitar. We have searched the internet and can not find another example of an SS Maxwell with this particular finish (there are few SS Maxwells of any sort to be found).  It is doubtful that this would be a one-off, but it is certain that very few of these instruments have survived for some ninety years.  While it would certainly make for a great wall hanger, this little wonder deserves to be played!

This SS Maxwell parlor guitar is sold AS IS and is not returnable unless it arrives in a condition other than as shown our described, here.

Price: $950.00 plus $125 shipping (Lower 48 USA only)