by VintAxe » Sun Nov 14, 2010 11:28 am
toseikai,
I am far from an expert on old archtop guitars but I do have a couple of thoughts on your instrument to pass along.
When I started scrolling through your pictures my first hunch was that the guitar was a Harmony. The tailpiece, the non-continuous, unbound f holes and decorative top binding all reminded me of early Harmonys.
However, I got stopped cold when I saw that open-book headstock. To my knowledge, Harmony never mimicked the Gibson headstock style on their archtops.
Clearly, someone has set out to mimic a Gibson archtop at a budget price. If you can get a mirror inside you might check to see if the top is actually carved or pressed. If it is carved you should see tool marks, if it is pressed it should be smooth. My guess is that the top is pressed but if it is carved it would be a better quality instrument than I anticipate.