Supertone vintage square neck

[Fred Kinbom]

Hi all,

Does anyone know anything about "Supertone" square necks (from the 30s/40s by the looks of it)?

I'm curious about this one on eBay.

The bridge is cracked apparently...

I'm looking for a "poor man's dobro", to be tuned GBDGBD or FACFAC - do you think this one could to the job?

Many thanks,

Fred.

[Matt Lange]

a lap acoustic with a pick guard...interesting...
I've never heard of or seen a supertone, but if the price stays that low it'd be hard to go wrong.
Another option would bo the old Oahu acoustics that pop up on e-bay quite a lot. There's a new post about them right now actually. I've never played on one, but have heard very positve and very negative things.
If you have an old acoustic lying around, a good thing for a poor man's dobro would be to put an extender nut on it. I have an acoustic set up like that, and it's quickly becoming my favorite guitar. It was about a 10 minute installation if you include putting on a new set of strings. If you don't have an acoustic around, that one you're looking at might be a good bet.

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my music: www.myspace.com/mattlangemusic

[Fred Kinbom]

Thanks Matt! I do have a 1930s Oahu roundneck, which sounds great, but I keep it tuned to low C (CGCEGC) as I don't think it could handle the tension of a dobro tuning. I'm a bit suspicious about the cracked bridge on this Supertone that otherwise looks OK...

[Steinar Gregertsen]

I have the Chris Knutsen book that the eBay ad refer to, and it's a beautiful guitar. If I had been in the market for another acoustic now I'd definitely kept an eye on this one, hoping it doesn't go too high.

I hope you don't plan to string it with regular squareneck dobro strings and tune it to highbass G, I don't think that's a good idea for any flattop guitar, you'll need to adjust the gauges.

Steinar

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"Play to express, not to impress"
www.gregertsen.com
Southern Moon Northern Lights

[Tom Baylis]

I believe that Regal also built at least some of the higher end non-reso square necks during this era...for Oahu and others, as well as marketing under their own name.

To me, this Supertone looks a lot like a Regal of that era (guessing late 30's) with that checkered binding and soundhole.

Adding a pickguard seems odd, but one of my student (all mahogany) model Oahu's came with one too, original by all indications.

I wouldn't let the cracked bridge scare me too much (depending on the final auction price, of course), but more detailed photos of the top surface and some side shots to check for bulging on the top would be helpful. Depending on the bridge stability, it might actually be more cost-effective to have a new bridge installed vs. fixing and re-glueing the old one (most old bridges need a re-glue).

If a new bridge is installed, I recommend a straight non-slanted saddle. It doesn't seem like a lot, but that slant angle changes intonation on the low strings in higher registers.

Also, a photo of the neck joint can help you determine how much of a repair budget you might be looking at.

You might ask the seller about the scale length too. I'm guessing it's 25 1/2", which I really like on a full-size acoustic.

I love my old acoustic square necks - seem to play 'em more than anything else. But I also agree that some are junk and some are superb, each one must be viewed on their own merit. This one looks "interesting" to me...

Tom

[Michael Lee Allen]

REMOVED

[Fred Kinbom]

Thanks for the input everyone! Apparently this seller will only ship to the US. I have a shipping address in the US (my uncle), but it's not worth paying $50 shipping in the US, and then the same again to get it over here. Unless the guitar goes for peanuts of course. We'll see.