1930's Supertone Terz Style Acoustic Guitar

The temps have finally risen well above zero here in upstate NY for what seems like the first time this winter.  This allowed for a very hasty photo shoot and a suitable follow up to the Orpheum Terz Guitar we saw in the last post. 

This little Supertone is tuned Terz style or G to G.  These little guitars really shine when they get that little bit of extra tension on them.  Of course you want to use an extra light gauge string on a little guitar like this, unless you have a thing for bowing the necks on your instruments.  I really enjoy playing these guitars with the extra tension on the strings.  I hate the feeling of floppy strings under your fingers, and that is kind of what you get if you don't tune these guitars up a few steps.

Playing this Supertone alongside the Orpheum in the previous post is a good study in tone.  The Supertone has that bright Birch body sound associated with many ladder braced instruments.  Because of its size it almost gets a mandolin like tone, especially if you start messing around with a capo.  The Orpheum has a different tonal quality because of the mahogany body which knocks down the brightness and warms up the tone just a bit.  The fact that this Supertone has a floating bridge and the Orpheum has a fixed bridge is also a tone factor.  I love both of these guitars for different reasons.  As I said in the last post, you might be hard pressed to make either one of these instruments your number one guitar, but they are great additions to any studio and can provide inspiration for songwriters and pickers due to the fact that they put you into a different tonal range.

I actually own three of these small bodied, half size guitars.  The third is another Supertone that is a flat top with F-holes instead of a round hole.  It looks like a mini archtop without the arch and was the subject of a previous post.  All three of these guitars project differently and have different tonal qualities.  These guitars are pretty rare.  I have never seen another like this Supertone or another like the Orpheum.  In terms of value, who knows.  With guitars like these, value is measured in the heart and in the hands not in the wallet.  I can't tell you how many of these catalog guitars i've picked up for $100 and wouldn't sell for a $1000.

fretboard was painted on and crumbling off because of its age.  James Ralston did a great job recreating the color and repainting the board.  He sealed it all with a shot of lacquer.

headstock says harmony made

super old school style floating bridge with fret wire saddle