Vega Jumbo tenor

[dburtnett]

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.

[BlowingRockNC]

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.

[dburtnett]

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

[fox]

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!

[BlowingRockNC]

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.

[dburtnett]

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

[dburtnett]

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.

[fox]

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!

[dburtnett]

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

[PT66]

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.

[dburtnett]

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

[Jake Wildwood]

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.