Help identifying very old odd guitar.

[quillpen]

This guitar came from the farm my dad grew up on. He was born in 1938, and if I remember correctly this guitar had been there before he came along.
Even though I've played for a living for the better part of 20 years, and know quite a bit about guitars, this one is really proving elusive......originally thinking it was probably some kind of old Kay, or Harmony, or something of that nature, I'm just not so sure now as I can find NOTHING else that's made quite like this one. I've found images, and info about guitars that are pretty similar, and really close, but not quite the same thing.
This guitar is small, taken together with the oddities of it's structure lead me to even think it possibly was a baritone Ukulele that someone had converted into a six string at one point, but I don't think that's the case really. The tuning peg assembly has been replaced at some point with the current one being a bit to big for the head stock sticking up further than the head stock about 3 mm......It appears to have been re-finished early in it's life, and there appears to have been a binding (possibly painted on) around the face of the guitar, and it originally sported a pickguard, as the screw/nail holes are still there. The nut, and bridge is completely made of wood, although it looks like the original bridge actually reached from F-Hole to F-Hole. There's not even a hint of a sticker, stamp, or any other identifying feature left, and possible the oddest part of the guitar is the placement of the f-holes lower on the face of the guitar than anything I've ever seen with the bottom of the face being rounder, and the guitar more dumpy looking than anything I can find.
I don't care about, or even expect that it's worth any kind of money, as it's really a sentimental issue. This guitar was the first guitar I ever layed eyes on, and played around with as a kid when it still had all the strings on it, and being a guitar player as well as a big history buff, this guitar has seriously peeked my interest..............any kind of info, or help, or images of guitars that are similarly constructed would be GREATLY appreciated. It really means a LOT to me.

http://s1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag51/Michael_Ramey/

[opotable]

that's a very interesting thing you have there.

spontaneously i could think it was maybe made for a circus act with dwarfs or maybe somebody's attempt at building a bass violin.

it's certainly a lot more interesting than a lot of the enquiries that get posted on here.

[VintAxe]

Hi quillpen.

The guitar looks twenties or earlier to me. Unfortunately I'm swamped for the next 2 weeks and won't have time to dig through my early guitar literature in search of a match. You might want to consider spending 10 bucks to look through the literature yourself. If you like history and old acoustics I think you'll be sufficiently entertained for your $10 investment. No guarantees, but I've seen guitars like this before. You can determine the old literature I have by going to the bottom of the main menu and searching catalogs by year.

Good luck

[quillpen]

Hey thanks for the info man. I really appreciate it.

When you get time maybe you could tell me more about where I go to read the literature, and where I pay for it etc, etc, ...........is it affiliated with this site? Because I can't seem to find it anywhere. And of course if you ever run across any more info, or an image of a guitar made like this one, try to keep me in mind........you're the first person I've talked to that says they've seen others like this one before.

Ever since I was a kid, I always wondered what kind of guitar this was, and where it came from.

Thanks again for taking the time.......

[spirithawk]

Looks like an early Harmony or one of Harmony's offsprings like Silvertone, ect. A thing to concider regarding the size is that it might be a salesman's sample.

[Phizix]

Here is our catalog page, click on "subscription options" for further info.

http://www.vintaxe.com/menu_catalogs_electric.htm

[quillpen]

Thanks spirithawk..........I had never even thought about it possibly being a salesman sample guitar. That puts it in a whole different light, and is a very real possibility.....I appreciate that.

I have suspected that maybe it is a really early, possibly even a prototype of a Harmony, Kay, Silvertone, etc, etc, since it is similar to some of their later designs, though quite different in various ways. This guitar seems to be VERY old, the way it feels, smells, looks, etc, etc.......It has that unmistakable "feel" of being around for a long, long time.

Phizix.......thanks for the link man. After I posted that, I realized where it was, but I appreciate the quick link.