Yard sale Silvertone Crest

[SantaBob]

Alright, I'm an opera singer and have no idea about guitars.
I found this guitar at a yard sale and got it for literally pennies. 25 to be exact.
I know nothing about it. Value? Age?
Should I have it restored, or just buy the missing pieces and do it myself?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!!
http://res.cloudinary.com/lpzy5ndr3/...846_sjtcwk.jpg

http://res.cloudinary.com/lpzy5ndr3/...856_nzi2do.jpg

http://res.cloudinary.com/lpzy5ndr3/...100_i2rlyl.jpg

http://res.cloudinary.com/lpzy5ndr3/...200_jhe6xv.jpg

http://res.cloudinary.com/lpzy5ndr3/...927_bonvt2.jpg

http://res.cloudinary.com/lpzy5ndr3/...043_g19dby.jpg

[Looburst]

When I look at the guitar, if you wanna call it that, I see one thing,,,,poor construction. If George Gruhn were to look at this he would say, stay clear of it. You'll pay a small fortune to even get it playable again, if it ever was playable to begin with. A screwed on bridge,,,BIG RED FLAG IMO. Really not worth fooling with. .25 cents is cheap but unfortunately it's one of those cheap guitars from the late 1960s, I would guess. The peghead is the only cool part of it.

[Tico]

You overpaid.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Tico

You overpaid.

I disagree. Bob, I think you should take the guitar to your nearest friendly guitar shop and show the guitar to the repair tech who works there. If possible, find the nearest Martin Guitar dealership, because they tend to have better repair techs working at them.

The guitar you bought was probably built in the early 1960's or 1950's, though it could be earlier still by a decade and a half. It was made in Chicago by either Harmony or Kay (both of which provided instruments to Sears under the "Silvertone" brand name, as did Regal, another Chicago guitar manufacturer.) The back appears to be birch, which means the sides probably are, too, and it might well have a solid spruce top.

The key issue in whether it's going to be worth spending the money to restore it is the condition of the neck set. If the neck has been yanked forward and out of proper alignment by the tension of the strings, it will cost several hundred dollars to get it reset. If you don't actually play guitar, it'll be hard to justify that expense.

If that's the case with this guitar, it might make the most economic sense to use it as a rustic "Americana" wall hanging.

But if it's more or less okay, it'll be worth spending a few bucks to get the cracks glued and the tuners replaced with something better.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[backdoc]

I know nothing about vintage guitars, but that thing looks cool as heck. If a good luthier says they can fix it for a reasonable amount, I'd fix it and play it. Good luck.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by backdoc

I know nothing about vintage guitars, but that thing looks cool as heck. If a good luthier says they can fix it for a reasonable amount, I'd fix it and play it. Good luck.

I feel the same.
I really like it.
Nice find.... and welcome to the forum.

[dkstott]

The majority of the Silvertone guitar with the name "Crest" on the headstock that I have even seen were Archtop guitars that were made in the 40's.

I agree, get it to a GOOD repair shop for an examination.

[HHP]

From the sound hole and the headstock, I'd guess Harmony. It may not be totally awful if put into playing condition. People do seek these things out due to the "vibe" of the old dept. store guitars. Probably will cost more to put in playing condition than its worth in playing condition.

Find a well-heeled hipster, sell it to them for $20 and call it a $19.75 profit.

[zombywoof]

Based on the headstock and body shape, I would guess that is a 1940-1941 Regal-made Silvertone supplied to Sears during the short lull when they were not depending on Harmony to provide the bulk of their guitars. Both pre-War Kay and Regal-made Silvertone flattops are fairly hard to come by so you have yourself a rare bird.

[roylor4]

Clean it up and hang it on the wall - cool as an art piece. Another option (if the action is high, which is almost a certainty) is to clean it, buy some strings, a slide and bridge pins and tune it in open G for slide. Those little old birch boxes make great slide guitars.

[zombywoof]

Check the body depth. If that guitar has a deep body for an 000 size instrument (which you will find with Regals made from the mid-1930s through the 1940s) and is in nice playing condition, it can go in the $600 to $800 range. With an investment of 25 cents you have a whole lot of wiggle room. Even if you keep it as is I would lose the tuners. The guitar would have had open gear, strip Waverly tuners.

[Earl49]

Cool find. I would have done the same thing for that price. It may be worth some restoration work, and certainly some TLC. Get it to a decent shop and get an assessment. Worst case, you have some wall art. Better still you might just rescue a neat old guitar.

Since you are not a guitar player (as stated in the original post) there is little point in us asking you a bunch of questions about fret condition, neck angle, etc.

[Moocheng]

Nice find,

Interesting to hang on the wall but not worth trying to make a player. TBH they were pretty awful when new. Still its a interesting piece of history worth keeping

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by Moocheng

Nice find,

Interesting to hang on the wall but not worth trying to make a player. TBH they were pretty awful when new. Still its a interesting piece of history worth keeping

I gather you have never played one of these. I have although it was many years ago. The Crest guitars made by Regal and Kay were not your run of the mill el cheapo classics. The Crest archtops built by Kay had carved tops and remain some of the few Silvertones you will ever find with that feature.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by zombywoof

I gather you have never played one of these. I have although it was many years ago. The Crest guitars made by Regal and Kay were not your run of the mill el cheapo classics. The Crest archtops built by Kay had carved tops and remain some of the few Silvertones you will ever find with that feature.

They may be pretty good if in good shape but this one has what looks like corrosion on the tuners, two tuner posts are missing, couple back cracks will need to be dealt with, and a high probability it will need a reset. And that's just what's visible.I don't track the value of these but I would imagine cost to repair would exceed current value.