c.1920 American Frank Borges Portuguese Guitar

Close enough to a mandolin for a family photo... :)

This P. guitar was made on Wickenden Street in Providence, RI just a few doors down from Coffee Exchange (where I used to work) -- so to me there's a nice tie-in right there! It's an unusual design in that it sports 12-string style tuners (thankee, Gods, for those) rather than the typical P. guitar "peacock" style ones.

More info/pics over at my blog post! (click here)

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Jake,
Are those tuners on a plate, or individual?
Nice job with an instrument that has been through it. What do you think that top is made of?
Bill

Bill: Single plate like on the old Oscar Schmidt Stellas. The top is some sort of flatsawn pine. From the half-dozen of these I've worked on so far (old ones) it seems cracks like on this one are very typical. I'm betting it has to do with wood choice for the mot part. Fortunately they don't seem to hurt the tone... :)

It would be hard for a piece of pine that wide not to split over the years.
Bill

Bill: No kidding!

I guess other instrument companies should make them this way as they're easier to tune up. The Headstock is angled so it puts the strings at a sharper angle for more volume & clarity.