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It has been a long journey to bring this beauty back, a year and a half. I never thought that it would be playable or sound like anything, but it absolutely stomps my '44 L7 with respect to volume. It has a huge voice that came a surprise to both me and the luthier yesterday when we finally put strings (elixir .13's) on it. It is entirely playable. I don't like the 'V' neck profile, but I'm leaving it alone. Neck set, new frets, new tuners, some finish work.
This is an extremely rare guitar. Made by Mandolin maker Calace in Naples, Italy, one of probably a dozen ever built by him. It's the epitome of art deco from the art deco period. Check it out:
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06-24-2015 02:58 PM
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Fantastic, wow. Guessing it's parallel braced and 16"? Congrats!
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The luthier, Lem, said it was lattice bracing? I wasn't familiar with that. He was concerned about whether .13's might put too much stress on the top but decided it was working fine. The thing is made of very light woods, sycamore back (I think), and he thought the neck was poplar. He routed a channel in the neck under the fretboard and put in some (2) Kevlar? carbon fiber sticks and filled it with epoxy. He did some other things to make sure there was good bonding of the neck to the body. He called the braces pretty chuncky.
Originally Posted by rpguitar
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Oh wow, I'd love to bang some rhythm chords on that. Poplar is what Ken Parker used for Fly necks.
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Some great details. I love the signature in the top. I don't think I've ever seen that before but I think it's really appropriate when you consider that this is obvious a piece of art.
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17" lower bout. Slightly skinnier than the L7 at the top bout, say 12+". Originally Posted by rpguitar
It's a real cannon.
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Lovely indeed! You may find the vee growing on you. I have a couple of instruments with big chunky vee-necks, and I find it has encouraged me to improve my left-hand approach. And the simplicity of the circle-burst complements the more ornate aspects of the overall design. Quite a find. Play it in good health with great joy!
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Superb!! I've been a fan of Calace mandolins for many years, but this is the first time I've seen one of his guitars. Original Calace mandolins demand big prices, so I wonder how much this beauty would get you.
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Having seen the before restoration condition of this guitar in person I'm certain the photos don't do the guitar justice for the guitar looked like a dream to behold before restoration. Lem does it again! Little wonder why Joe V. depends on him for so many restorations of vintage archtops in his inventory. Congrats Steve...I admire your patience!
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Mate, what a piece. Nice.
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Thanks Greg. I bought the guitar from an old gal down near Olympia who said it belonged to her Dad (original owner) who was a photographer for the US military during WWII, apparently he bought it while on tour, and she said he had it in Okinawah (sp?) and other places in the South Pacific. I saw it on Craig's list one winter, looked horrible in the pics, then I recalled I had seen it a year earlier, same listing. Met the gal in a Starbucks parking lot, freezing outside, she pulled it out of her car, no case, and sat it on the hood. I thought, holy shit. She had taken it to the guy on TV that does antique appraisals when he was in the area, and he told her what it was worth. That's what I paid. I took some cell phone pics and texted them to Lem, then called him to discuss what I was seeing in real time before I did the deal. He assured me he could do a restore. The neck and fretboard looked like an Olympic ski jump, the strings rusted, but the bindings and wood looked solid and good. I really had no idea what I was getting into, but, I did it. Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
Having seen the before restoration condition of this guitar in person I'm certain the photos don't do the guitar justice for the guitar looked like a dream to behold before restoration. Lem does it again! Little wonder why Joe V. depends on him for so many restorations of vintage archtops in his inventory. Congrats Steve...I admire your patience!
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You now are more than an owner to that guitar. More than a caretaker, too. You were its savior! Without you, it would be a beat up, silent shell of an instrument. You'll take that one to the grave as a result, I'm sure. I have a relationship like that with a certain Gibson L-12, so I know...
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Roger, that's funny! That's one of the things we talked about when I was with Lem the luthier last night at his shop, i.e., what guitar to have thrown in our grave to take to the other side. Like the ancients. Excellent comment! Certainly puts it into perspective. Originally Posted by rpguitar
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Finally, we've some great story telling competition for Patrick. Who doesn't feel the hair stand up on the back of their neck as a cringe sets while you describe the Calice being placed atop the cold hood. I wonder what she'd have done if there was some classic Seattle style rain coming down that day...perhaps she'd have stayed in the car and done a display for you as you stood out in the rain getting soaked...you know you can't trust those craigslist buyers ! Originally Posted by skykomishone
Little did she know that you were one of the nicest guys she could ever meet. Still, you're a craigslist buyer, so you get mentally thrown into the can't trust you muck like the rest of 'em!
Funny story....although I didn't comment on it, my first thought was, OMG, Steve has saved that guitar from the heap and given it a whole new life...it'll now out live the both of us combined...two thumbs up! Originally Posted by skykomishone
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Schlaggitarren.de – Diverses
gotta appreciate the restoration work:
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I do. What's nice is that mine wasn't in as sad a shape. Also, I do have some pics of the details, including the neckwork. It's one of these things where you don't want to be in the operating theater when the good doctor is wacking away at your cherished one. Or, like an expectant father waiting for the child to descend the birth canal! Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
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Mine is number A104. The one in the restore pics is A106, I think.
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Fast forward 77 years later and they're each appearing on guitar forums in some form of restored condition. That's just kewl. Originally Posted by skykomishone
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I'm just seeing these Calace archtop guitars for the first time. Truly lovely, showing highly skilled workmanship. And amazing restoration work as seen above. Bravo! I do love the way Italian artisans use celluloid(also thinking of accordions).
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I found what is being advertised as being a Calace guitar, with extensive work being done to conserve the instrument.
I'm wondering if you would be willing to offer information to identify whether it is an actual Calace.
Thank you in advance.
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I can try.
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So, here are some pictures of the guitar in question.
It does not have the bridge or tailpiece that yours does.
I've seen only a few of these archtops, and yours and another had the same tailpiece and bridge, this one and another had different tailpieces.
I know for a fact that this bridge is a replacement, because I found the shop that rebuilt the back (ouch, but he saved it), and he said the bridge was missing. He rebuilt the back, refretted and leveled the frets and did a setup. So, it's playable.
He felt it was not Japanese, based on the style of the internal construction and age of the wood. I mention Japan, because I've read where Calace guitars were made/copied in Japan in the 1950's. Not sure if they were copies of the flat tops, or if this could be a copy of an archtop, although I have no idea if archtops were copied.
As I see this guitar, the issues I question are:
1. The area above the nut is different than on other Calace guitars
2. There is no signature on the lower bout
3. The large and obvious reconstruction of the back side of the guitar, as well as some top cracks
4. The bridge and possibly the tailpiece are not original to the guitar.
Now, I would not consider this guitar to be much more than a conservation of a rare guitar, if it's real, simply because there's zero chance of finding the correct bridge and/or tailpiece.
Anyway, I'm just trying to assess authenticity and put a number on it, if I were to purchase it.
Thank you for your time!
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Wow!
Any video to hear how it sounds?
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That guitar is now hanging at Guitar Denter. In fact, it's been hanging so long that it was knocked down from $3000 to $2000. Originally Posted by jsrfo
IMO it will keep hanging. Sure, sometimes people will buy something special for thousands and invest thousands more but I don't think this is that one. There are so many nice archtops ready to play in the $4-6k range.
Good detective work, but pasting a big piece of mahogany onto a maple or poplar back and shooting it with a spray-can seems pretty distant from a 'save.' Originally Posted by jsrfo
A serious restoration effort would be to remove and replace the back cludge. While it's open a careful look at that 10" top crack is probably in order. But you'd only put time and effort into that if you also want to replace the neck, since it has been snapped at both ends. And that job would be more involved than "usual" because the whole point of that guitar is to transplant or replace all that Mother Of Plastic.
Realistically, a lot of people would just buy it for cheap and play it as-is until it gives up the ghost. Which could easily be the next time a stiff breeze blows on either end of the neck.
It's at Guitar Center. It sounds like six people playing different parts of Stairway to Heaven all at once. Originally Posted by mrwoland
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That guitar is interesting, but with the issues, it's not much more than a decorative wall hanger.
My reading on these is that there are about 10 or so legitimate archtops made by this family, but, it's hard to determine if this is one of them. A lot of discrepancies.
Still looking for information on them. Never hurts to learn.
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