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Topic: Slingerland May Bell |
Richard Sevigny
From:
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
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Posted 6 Oct 2007 6:45 am |
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About 15 minutes drive from my house, there's a (loosely called) "antique shop" that is full to the rafters of all sorts of junk. (As an aside, I'm afraid to look through their dollar vinyl collection because I'd be there all day looking...)
I found this little guitar there...
He admitted he didn't know much about it other than he was aware of the Slingerland name (and that it was usually associated with drums) and that he thought it was from the '40s (I'm pretty sure the strings hadn't been changed since then  ). We haggled briefly and I walked out of the store with my wallet $60 lighter.
I brought it home, cleaned it up (there were traces of masking tape on the fretboard and a strip of masking tape on the lower bout) and gave it a fresh set of strings. I wouldn't ordinarily buy one of these small guitars, but I was amazed at the tone it produced (even with the old black oxidized strings), and of course, the price was right.
It has a soundboard crack on the lower bout just below beside the tailpiece, and I see traces of glue around the (round) neck joint. I'm tempted to just run a bit of glue into the crack to stabilize it (the diagonal brace under the soundboard appears in place an intact). Any advice on how to deal with the crack appreciated.
I've tuned it to open D. It's a fun little guitar.
Does anyone know anything about these guitars?
_________________
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If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
-Albert Einstein |
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Stephan Miller
From:
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
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Posted 6 Oct 2007 7:48 am
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Richard, I have one of these, almost identical. Mine has "May-Bell" in gold script on the headstock, and bridge pins-- no sign of ever having had a tailpiece. Other than that it looks the same. Roundneck, sweet tone, & surprisingly loud. Got it in low bass G. Steinar G. had great things to say on this forum about his. Picked up mine on eBay about 3 yrs ago for about twice what you paid. Nice score!!
The guy who knows almost everything about the old Slingerlands is forumite Dave Kolars. He owns a bunch and has as much info as anyone about the various models, styles, history & how to approach repairs. He told me mine was an entry-level Style 1.
Great old super-affordable acoustic steel.
--Steve |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 6 Oct 2007 8:54 am
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I love my May Bell -
David Kolars' website has a lot of info about Slingerland produced guitars, click here for the May Bell site.
Steinar
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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Gary Stevenson
From:
Northern New York,USA
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Posted 6 Oct 2007 8:34 pm Hey thats my guitar
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I just had one very similier to yours given to me. It has a different bridge but it also has a nice tone.There was no stickers inside and no name on head stock, but it sure looks a lot like yours.
even has the same type of detail around the sound hole.I had to reglue the bridge and the first attempt started to pull off, so I need to have another go at it. It sure is fun to see what sound they will have!! |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 7 Oct 2007 1:13 pm
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| I've got an old May Bell guitar that was my Dad's when he was little boy, and he was born in 1924. It's kind of a sunburst and the fretboard and headstock are covered in some type of "mother of toilet seat" material. |
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