Smakula
Fretted
Instruments
PO Box 882, Elkins, West Virginia 26241
304-636-6710
Phone Hours; 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Eastern Time, Monday through Friday and occasionally on Saturday.
Guitars, contact us...
Page Updated 6-1-2023
Please Visit our Home Page for links to our banjos, fiddles, mandolins, and more.
Guitars
Just In;
1938 Gibson L- Century. Photos
1970's Classical Guitar. Made in Paracho, Mexico. Labeled J. Alvarez, Madrid Spain. $500 Details below. Photos
1900's Brazilian Rosewood Parlor Guitar. Details below. Photos
1938 Gibson L-Century, AKA Century Of Progress. Introduced in 1933 as a commemorative edition to celebrate Chicago's Century of Progress exhibition, a world's fair sort of extravaganza, celebrating Chicago's 100th year. This model guitar is distinctive for its pearloid fretboard with rectangular rosewood rectangles that have mother of pearl diamonds position markers. The neck is V-shaped mahogany with a rosewood peghead overlay inlaid with a mother-of-pearl Gibson logo and a large MOP "stickpin" shape. The celluloid fretboard has a 24-3/4" scale and a nut width of 1-23/32". The body size is the same as an L-00 of the 1930's, and per the catalog description, has curly maple back and sides with a spruce top. The entire guitar is finished with a sunburst lacquer that Gibson is famous for. The top has about 5 repaired top cracks and the back and sides have none. Plenty of lacquer checking and player wear to indicate this guitar has had lots of fun in its 85 years. Tone is full, precise, and loud! A welcome addition to any music style that is complemented by a vintage guitar. Cost is $5,500 and includes a modern hard case. Pictures coming soon.
1930's Gibson L-50. Do you like quilted maple? Do you like archtop guitars with f holes? Do you like slightly risqué decals on guitar tops? I knew it! You better order this one quick! Finished in the classic sunburst of the 1930s L-50 guitar is a player's dream. Solid spruce top with solid maple back and sides. Though the sides have minimal figure, the back is loaded with the blister looking figure commonly known as quilted. The mahogany neck features a Brazilian rosewood fretboard with a with a 24 3/8" scale, a trussrod, and the classic 1930's Gibson silk screened script on the peghead. As the guitar is about 85 years old, there are some nicks and finish scratches, but nothing scary. Well, maybe the beautiful redhead French maid with fishnet stockings decal on the top is scary, but it's a good scary! Excellent minus condition with a newer TKL hard case. $2,200. Photos
1968 Martin D-28 S. As of this writing, C.F. Martin and Company has manufactured about 2,700,000 guitars since 1833. When you consider that firm made less than 400 post war Martin D-28 S guitars with a 12-fret neck with Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, you are looking at a guitar far rarer than a Martin herringbone D-28 made before 1945. The neck is mahogany with a 25.4 scale length ebony fretboard. Being a 12-fret neck with a slotted headstock, the neck width at the nut is 1-7/8". The back and sides are Brazilian rosewood with grain as straight as you would ever see in that era guitar. There are a few minor hairline cracks on the back and sides. They are tight and have been glued, but not cleated. The top is Sitka spruce that has aged to a wonderful amber brown and retains the original ebony bridge. All the braces are Sitka spruce and the bridge plate is small rosewood. With a 55-year-old guitar, certain maintenance tasks have been performed. The neck has been reset with a small amount of wood added to the heel (and heel cap replaced) to lengthen the neck slightly. This corrects the minor intonation issue seen frequently on Martin guitars of this era. After the reset, we refretted the instrument. The original fussy Waverly tuners had been replaced by Schaller's when we received the guitar. The bright chrome and pearloid knobs looked inappropriate and we installed raw brass Waverly with grained ivoroid buttons to correct that visual offense. There is a strap button installed on the heel. As is common with most Martin guitars made before 1984, the pickguard was originally glued directly to the spruce top, then finished over. Over time those celluloid pickguards shrink and create top cracks along the edge of the pickguard, usually under the B-string. We have glued and cleated the crack and replaced the pickguard. And, finally, the bridge was reglued and the original saddle replaced with a compensated bone saddle. Overall, the instrument is in better than good physical condition. There are finish dings and finish cracks that one would expect on a guitar of this age that has been played regularly. The original green lined hard case is in very good condition with all latches working and even the hinge ribbons are in good shape. Price is $6,500 for this easy to play and big sounding guitar. Photos
1999 Taylor 810 Dreadnaught Guitar. At the end of 1982 Cleveland, Ohio's premier acoustic music shop was preparing to move up the street from the old pizza shop near Euclid Ave. to the newer, bigger location in Little Italy. As the owners were organizing and packing, Mr. Kurt Lustug happened to drop in to the micro music shop to show off the new guitars that he and Bob Taylor were building in San Diego, CA. Needless to say, Pete & Bob were quite impressed and placed an order for a batch of guitars to be delivered to the Little Italy location after the first og yhe year. From that day, until the day the shop closed on 12-31-2006, Goose Acres was an enthusiastic Taylor Guitar dealer, selling hundreds in the 23 year span. This example, made in 1999, is from the original owner who bought it new at 2175 Cornell Road. The 810 model is a dreadnaught guitar with a mahogany neck. The ebony fretboard has a 25.4" scale and tasteful mother of pearl inlays. The body has Indian rosewood back and sides, a Sitka spruce top, and abalone sound hole rosette. It looks great, but what about the sound? Boomy as any dreadnaught, with a clarity on the high end that allow you a cymbal crash tone if you choose when playing a bass-brush technique. The instrument is in excellent condition with the a few minor dings in the top that I suspect are "case bites" from the case lid latches. Look over the pictures and give a call for a hands-on description. Price with the original Taylor hard case is $2,400. Photos
1900's Parlor Guitar. I remember the day I first laid eyes on this guitar. About 1978 a fellow parked his mid 1970's T-Bird on the street in front of Goose Acres. He had a trunk load of instruments he wanted to sell. And those of you familiar with that model and vintage auto, you know that even though it was a 2-door, the trunk was huge. After us looking over everything and making him an acceptable offer, he brought in a parlor guitar with no bridge and threw it in on the deal. Being in my early 20's with plenty of time to be a craftsman, I did all the necessary repairs including making a new pyramid bridge and repairing a top crack. 45 years later this guitar is still holding up well and ready for a new home. The neck is V-shaped mahogany with a 24-1/2" scale ebony fretboard with "bar" frets. The original tuners were made by Waverly and have grained ivoroid buttons. The back and sides are Brazilian rosewood and the top is spruce with very attractive marquetry around the top's perimeter and soundhole. The lower bout measures at 12-3/4". As the original strings on this guitar would have been gut, we installed a set of D'Addario EJ-47 nylon strings and it sings quite nicely. The finish has significant checking making it look older than it really is, though it is a relic and not a wreck. So, who made it? Hard to say for sure. My impression is it is Chicago school construction. Maybe Lyon & Healy? We'll never know for sure. There is a stamp on the neck block that says "Stand". I have seen two other nearly identical instruments that had the "Stand" stamp, but also a paper label indicating the guitars were distributed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer company. $2,000 gets you this guitar and the custom made Harptone hard case. Photos
1892 Washburn style 201. The 1892 Washburn catalog describes this instrument as (Brazilian) "Rosewood with plain finished edges, handsome colored wood inlayings around the soundhole and inlaid stripe down the back, oval fingerboard with pearl position dots." (And) "any style can be furnished in mahogany if preferred." At $27 retail price (no discounts!) It was a modest priced guitar. In 2021 dollars the cost would be about $800, but for $800 you can not even purchase a raw set of Brazilian rosewood for a guitar's back and sides let alone a fully assembled instrument. Washburn described this guitar as a Concert Size guitar with a 13-1/8" lower bout. (close to Martin size 0). The back and side are Brazilian rosewood. Red spruce top with ladder bracing. 24-5/8" scale ebony fretboard. V-shaped Spanish cedar neck with a slotted headstock and a 1-13/16" nut width. Though the guitar was in basically good condition when it arrived, the craftsmen here at SFI accomplished a neck reset, new frets, gluing & reinforcing hairline cracks in the back & sides, a new maple bridge plate (to replace the worn out spruce) and ebony pyramid bridge. The finish is nearly all original. There is a little touchup around the bridge where an inappropriate bridge replacement had to be undone. We have it strung with GHS Silk and Bronze strings, but no doubt this guitar would respond well with nylon strings too. The instrument plays great and has a warm full tone you expect from a 130 year old guitar. And the 1892 Washburn company would like you to "Remember, The Washburn is fully guaranteed against checking and warping for 1 year and is absolutely correct in scale." Price is $2,500 with a modern hard case. Photos
1970's Paracho, Mexico Classical Guitar. Coming from the original owner who purchased it new in Paracho, we know the J. Alvarez label is a fake. But that is part of the charm of this slightly crude, yet great sounding classical guitar. Most of the woods are not easily identifiable by this writer, schooled in the American/European guitar construction traditions. But the neck looks like mahogany, the fretboard is a lighter colored wood, painted black with a 350mm scale. Back and sides are mahogany look-alikes and the top is spruce with some attractive bear claw figure. String height is lowish and there are fret buzzes when played vigorously. All in all, a cool nice sounding nylon string guitar. $500 with a hard case. Photos
2005 Alvarez Artist AD80SSB. While some dreadnaught guitars do fill us with dread and make us wonder if it's all for naught, we are perfectly content with this 2005 Alvarez offering. It's got a mahogany neck with 25-1/2" scale bound rosewood fretboard, laminated rosewood back and sides, laminated spruce top with mother of pearl border, and sunburst finish. This excellent condition instrument didn't need much of anything done to it, but we did dress the fretboard, so now it plays even better than before. A great option for anyone in need of an affordable, all-purpose strummer. $350, comes in a hardshell case. Photos
Shipping
We ship most of our instruments via UPS. Cost to ship a mandolin is $30 to $50. Cost to ship a guitar or banjo is $30 to $70. The cost of insurance is extra. We will be happy to quote before shipping.Small goods like banjo heads and other parts cost $9 per order for Priority Mail shipping in the continental US no matter what the order size. Micro orders weighing less than 12 ounces and valued less than $50 are usually shipped via first class mail for $6. The cost of orders headed out of the continental US will be quoted before they are shipped.
Sales Tax
We are legally obligated to charge 6% West Virginia sales tax on anything purchased here at the shop or shipped within the state of West Virginia. We do not charge sales tax on orders sent out of state.To Order
Call us at 304-636-6710. For payment we accept checks, wire transfers and MasterCard & Visa. If you prefer Paypal, please send us an email requesting a Paypal invoice.Email;
Occasionally a customer will let us know that the "Contact Us" button will not work on their computer. If you have that problem, please use sfi<at>smakula<dot>com You will have to change the <at> and <dot> to @ and .