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  #31  
Old 07-27-2014, 09:21 AM
Long Jon Long Jon is offline
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Anyone else notice that KOA is an anagram of OAK ?


Spooky eh .... ?
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  #32  
Old 07-27-2014, 09:58 AM
kydave kydave is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Long Jon View Post
Anyone else notice that KOA is an anagram of OAK ?
Spooky eh .... ?
LOL!!

OK, I might as well log off. It ain't getting any better than this one today!!

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  #33  
Old 07-27-2014, 10:44 AM
psychojohn psychojohn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ewh2 View Post
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrWLapF62TE

A video for the Martin Oak guitar
Thanks. Sounded good !
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  #34  
Old 07-27-2014, 11:43 AM
redir redir is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Long Jon View Post
Anyone else notice that KOA is an anagram of OAK ?


Spooky eh .... ?
LOL hahaha nice.
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  #35  
Old 07-29-2014, 02:30 PM
KYDeadhead KYDeadhead is offline
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Originally Posted by kydave View Post
Sounds like maple, but looks like oak... beautiful oak!







New member here, been reluctant to join due to all the time just lurking seems to take, but finally did it specifically to ask about this guitar. Dave, do you have any info on it? It looks like one that is in a picture I have with my great-grandmother holding it. I've wondered what it is, the headstock looks Martin like, but I wasn't sure about the tailpiece. The one in the picture looks to be a Mahogony top,or at least something somewhat darker. Hard to really tell in a 100 year old picture.
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  #36  
Old 07-29-2014, 02:46 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Hi, KYDeadhead. I'm not Dave, but I do have some experience with oak guitars of this style and vintage.

What we now think of as being a "Martin headstock" was actually very common and was not seen as brand-specific for many years. I've seen old Lyon & Healy and Washburn guitars from the late 19th Century that had identical headstocks. I'd venture to say that a majority of the guitars from that era had basically the same headstock, regardless of manufacturer.

This seems to have changed starting around WWI, but some of the low end manufacturers continued using that headstock design at least through the 1930's.

As for your great-grandmother's guitar, the presence of a dark top on guitars of this style was often an indication that they were made of all the same wood, with dark stained all-birch guitars probably being the most common. It might indicate all-oak, too, I suppose, though I haven't seen any of those. (All of the oak parlor guitars I've seen have had spruce tops, like the one in Dave's pictures.) A dark top could also indicate all-mahogany construction or all-koa construction, too.

Mahogany was considered more of a premium wood, and koa (at that time fairly plentiful) was probably considered a step below mahogany in terms of price and status. Birch was below koa, and from what I can gather oak was below birch. Oak guitars were quite often the cheapest guitars that a company made.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller
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  #37  
Old 07-29-2014, 03:52 PM
kydave kydave is offline
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What Wade said...

Mine looks a lot like this old Sears guitar:




I've found references to guitar that might be it in a range from 1880 to 1920; Lyon & Healy, Washburn or White Hall (?)... Nothing inside or on the headstock...
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  #38  
Old 07-29-2014, 06:31 PM
KYDeadhead KYDeadhead is offline
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Thanks for the quick replies! I was thinking probably a L&H or Washburn. Doesn't really matter since the guitar is long gone, but I"ve been curious since I found the picture,apparently we are the only 2 in the family to play. The picture is from the early 1900's and I would guess they probably didn't buy it new, so I was guessing late 1800's. I really need to get it scanned into the computer for a back up, maybe I can post it when I do. Thanks again guys,

Mark
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