Our Discount Price is $25,775.00 and Our Cash Discount Price is $25,000.00

#58997, abalone inlaid fancy face, made of Brazilian rosewood and Adirondack spruce, converted to regular 6-string, in very good plus condition with original hard shell case.

The original case, whose insides are purple, shows normal wear; the inside pocket lid is lightly loose but it has a snap attachment to keep it closed, and it has a replacement leather handle. Inside the case pocket is a very old green cloth strap from its Hawaiian days, a more modern slide and 2 picks. This guitar shows normal signs of use and wear including scratches, dings, finish checking (especially below the bridge but in other places as well), chips overall including in the finish of the Brazilian rosewood headplate, nicks, light buckle marks, scratches and scores on the top as might have been intentionally made by an unsupervised child, scuffs and scrapes. In addition there is a 7 ½” long semi-repaired crack on the bass side, lower bout, near the face, which was amateurishly repaired with, um, nail polish or something. (Remember, we tend to overstate the negatives.)

This storied Grand Concert (14.25” wide) model, having snowflake, etched diamond and cats-eye fingerboard inlays in 5 positions, resplendent in abalone trim around both the face and the soundhole) was originally made to be played horizontally, on the lap or on a strap, with a slide on one’s side in a most Hawaiian way. Since most players today don’t play Hawaiian, it is increasingly common to find examples that have been converted to regular action. This is done by way of a neck reset, and the bar frets are leveled, rounded and dressed so that they can be played with the fingers on the neck in the normal, comfortable fashion. Unfortunately, who so ever did this conversion in the distant past made the mistake of removing the original bar frets and installing tang frets (What was he thinking? Tang is for Astronauts!) into those wider fret slots, using glue. That didn’t work. The same shameless person shaved the ebony bridge, which later cracked between the pins. 

Our head of repair, Leroy Aiello, restored the best possible karma to this fine instrument by providing it C F Martin-sourced bar frets, and making and installing a perfect replica bridge, a new nut, and a new “through” saddle.  You will have a guitar that enjoys a flawless geometry, an acoustic that plays like Mercury himself, and sings with the lungs of the Valkyries. Since these were built to be played slide style, they have considerable volume – far exceeding what most people feel a Grand Concert is capable. The combination of the Brazilian, and the Adirondack, the diaphragmatic enhanced response that comes from being shallowly routed for pearl around its perimeter, its 74 years of maturity, plus the uncompromised craft of Leroy Aiello, restorer to the stars, resulted in an instrument whose capabilities will leave those of us who love the six-string experience breathless, stupefied and even, dare we say, gobsmacked.