Vega Jumbo tenor

For your viewing pleasure:
This thing is very likely a one-off from sometime in the late 40's to early 60's when Vega was putting their necks onto harmony and kay bodies. My best guess is that this is a Kay made (K-22), spruce top-birdseye maple back and sides, thin body jumbo (17" lower bout, 3 1/4" depth). It's straight braced, and has nasal mids and a distant thunder bass. The slotted headstock is something I'd never seen. The only feature I really don't like is the pinless bridge, mostly for aesthetic reasons. The intonation is slightly off, which makes it tempting to just start over with a new pin bridge in exactly the right spot.

Attachment 132262

Yep, I haven't seen a slotted either. I bet it has some good volume when pushed. I don't understand the bridge, unless they intended for nylon strings to be used all the time.

Yup, real nice volume!
Not that I understand these pinless bridges, but it's designed for steel strings. They were used by Harmony quite a bit a few decades back. Breedlove still uses them, here's a video they put out on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDX4dOWK7oc

That is a far nicer jumbo than the one I modified from a six string but mine played really well (sold it now) I have a vid on here somewhere.
I was really surprised just how loud and deep it was especially considering it had six string bracing, it goes to show how size does make all the difference!

Thanks for the video. I had no idea there was a bridge like this one. Interesting idea, but I guess it never got embraced by the marketplace. Looks cool, though.

Yes... size... it matters. I want to find that video of yours...

I think you're right that the marketplace just didn't dig it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, just leaves me wanting the pins for some unknown reason.

You can see it near the end of this thread http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...29#post1371629 just a bit of whagon wheel at the start of the vid!

That converted 6-string is awesome! Love the little jazz box too, and the great energy throughout the video.

Attachment 132370 Pinless bridges were pretty common on Chicago built guitars in the 40's and 50's. This one is on a Regal I rebuilt for the owner.

That's a cool bridge... it looks like Batman's guitar.

Pinless bridges are still very popular -- on every single Ovation that was built!

They're absolutely horrible for setup, though, because saddle adjustments are made more difficult by having the strings in your way. I can't stand them to work on but they're perfectly functional in use.

The Breedlove design solves the biggest problem with this design: bad back-angle on the saddle, especially after it's been shaved down. Usually Harmony, Kay, et al. drilled the mounting holes for the strings too high (like a classical bridge) and thus the back-angle was shallow. Annoying! I tend to have to chop off the "tie block" rear on those and convert them to pin-bridges to get more miles out of them.