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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2016 14:43:43 GMT
I just purchased this guitar from the owner in California. It has not yet arrived here in NJ. I communicated with the owner who says he is a Schireson relative. It is his photograph. There is not much info online, and i have seen nothing about a metal body...maybe it is a one off or frankenstein...been a theme in my collection recently. Looks very much like triolian colors. The headstock is actually peaked and veneer overlay with 3 digit serial stamped national style top headstock edge. Dont know what i will find inside when it arrives. If anyone has a hint it will be you folks. Thanks. Here is the photo.  |
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Post by Michael Messer on Nov 13, 2016 11:39:12 GMT
I look forward to seeing more pics and hearing about it.
Shine On
Michael
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2016 15:30:06 GMT
It is travelling by ground so should arrive mid week. It has a flat back so thinking its likely not a stock National body, though thinking it could have been made on specs from Schireson by Adolph Richenbacher...all these shops were in Los Angeles at the time. As you could guess it is branded Hollywood which seems to be the name Schireson used on many instruments.
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Post by Mark Makin on Nov 14, 2016 11:44:20 GMT
Hi Fred
Looks to be a standard Hollywood Schireson construction with (I should imagine) upturned bowl resonator with long stick bridge in the middle.
It is, however, metal - certainly the only one I've seen!!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2016 20:43:43 GMT
Well it arrived. Very nicely made. Metal body with neat square edges. Possibly gum or rosewood fretboard. Veneer headstock overlay. Nice soft v neck. Seems to have a baffle partially over the cone. Mellow subdued tone with brass slide...strings old and light gauge. Some forward bow, but playable up to 5 fret or so. Will try to find time to take the coverplate off in a few days.... been playing it a lot and find the tone very nice and mellow with a just enough of the typical biscuit quack. Not sure i want to change even the strings just yet. A neck reset retweak will make it better for finger playing but right now can do enough fingering on the top 7 for my repertoire...i think this would have an excellent tone for recording...almost a tricone flavor. Not sure how much is due to the old thin bronze strings or the fiber baffle over the cone...someday may make a nice personalized reso for someone named Harry Heath... |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2016 1:59:10 GMT
Been away for the Holiday researching via google the Schireson Brothers...found a few interesting tidbits...the brothers empire is surely a book waiting to be written... Well here are the innards...nothing stamped or written as far as i can see so far...no patent stamp on the cone...body soldered on the inside will try to get a few shots when i get a better setup. But they seem to have devised a wooden spider of sorts that sits on the cone with padded feet...maybe will call it the king biscuit... dust is all removed now hope is sounds as good when reassembled. Re the contact point between the spider and cone...looks like felt presently. The tone coming durectly out of the coverplate iwas very sweet as is. The neck assembly attached with machine screws and nuts, however since it developed a noticeable deflection at body joint will have to consider it a flawed design. Finished inspecting the insides w mirror...nothing written or stamped inside for posterity... I say is reasonable to assume this is pre-1932 based on no stamps or labels, Stella type tailpiece, 12 fret to body. Probably a prototype then abandoned the metal body idea probably due to cost, national dobro prices adjusting down...     |
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Post by snakehips on Nov 28, 2016 22:00:42 GMT
OMG !!!
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Post by rbe on Nov 28, 2016 23:50:08 GMT
I rebuilt a Kay Deluxe with the original Schireson cone in it. Mine had the tall, massive wood bridge and saddle, not the big disk like this one. I replaced the wood bridge with a cut down cast spider-bridge. Worked pretty well. That thing in your guitar looks massive! Very cool guitar, though.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2016 0:21:48 GMT
Yes the crud inside was pretty authentic...tried not to breath any in... Got a few more photos of the inside with my iphone...gets into tight spots. Here is the neck block. Note part of the H hole soldered in. Clearly a crude implementation...  Reassembled the gizmo and as I might expect, lost some of the exceptional sweet tone...maybe after it settles-in a decade or so will come back... But actually plan to disassemble it again after Christmas and get the neck angle shimmed and improved. It is an inflection at the point of the neck block and fingerboard extension...with some minor neck bow/relief...can move it a bit so should be tweakable. All told, pretty happy with the find that cost roughly the price of a generic asian reso. Along with the National hawaiian electric prototype found by the other geezer on ebay, goes to show there is still some interesting stuff out there. |
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Post by bryanbradfield on Nov 29, 2016 1:08:44 GMT
Too bad about the missing 20th fret. That would limit my playing considerably (right!). Do you think it was salvaged to replace one closer to the nut?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2016 1:23:41 GMT
Bryan considering there is minimal fretwear, .i think it may have been removed back then to avoid the strings frettiing-out when playing around 12 or 14...
But now cannot reasonably fret beyond 5 or 7 due to the afore-mentioned high action due to the body joint inflection. It goes into the guitar project queue...
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Post by Mark Makin on Dec 5, 2016 10:58:59 GMT
Hi Fred Here are some pictures of a wooden Schireson Tenor guitar with the same wooden spider construction Best Mark |
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