Check out this rare 1935 Supertone Gene Autry Round-Up Guitar—a real piece of vintage Americana. Sears had their subsidiary, Harmony, build this special guitar for Gene Autry, featuring a cool cowboy scene rounding up cattle and Autry’s signature on the belly.
 
By 1935, Harmony had upped the size to a 14″ concert guitar and tweaked the neck to 14 frets clear of the body. It boasts a spruce top and a reddish mahogany-finished birch body. As with all Harmony guitars of the time, it’s made with solid timbers and real pearl dot inlays. The ladder-braced design gives it a bright, responsive tone that’s perfect for intimate settings. Nut width is 1.575."
 
This version of Autry’s Round-Up was produced until 1939, when it was replaced by a larger 15″ grand concert model. If you’re into vintage guitars, this one’s a gem that captures a unique slice of musical history.
 
From Overhaul: Overhaul - think of it like a hotrod engine swap and full restoration on an old truck. New hoses, new wires, anything and everything including the most horsepower you can pack in. Something to be clear with upfront is that - I’m not building guitars to sound like the best new guitars, I’m building guitars to sound like the best old guitars. Here’s how.

First the guitar is disassembled and then the internal structure is replaced with an X brace in the style of the “Golden Era” - a period in the 1930’s considered by many to the best era of American steel string guitar manufacturing. The 1930’s was a peak moment where the steel string flattop had been around just long enough for trail and error in design but also early enough in history to be judged soley on their acoustic properties - no tone modeling or EQ gizmos to hide behind. After this period, guitars would begin being built heavier and heavier as durability became more important to the manufacturers than acoustic performance. Luckily, we can see what designs held up for 100 years and what hasn’t. 

After the guitar has had its tonal “engine” swapped for high performance, the neck angle is corrected for peak playability and torque on the top. Next the frets, where the rubber meets the road, are replaced to a modern standard which guarantees best playability and longevity of the fret job.

A new bridge with correct height, mass and strength replaces the often much lower original so the top is torqued correctly in conjunction with the new bracing system. This step also allows me to set the intonation perfectly with the saddle location. 

A new saddle and nut top off the treatment and what comes out is a perfectly set up vintage guitar with its internal structure optimized tonally for 12 and 13 gauge strings, which I consider the longtime industry standard. 

With an Overhaul there is no stone left unturned, as I fully disassemble a guitar all issues get corrected or modified to be the best performing and longest lasting acoustic guitar one can make. This is done all while leaving the old school vibe shine on the outside.
 
This acoustic has been set up by our in-house luthier, and is ready for the stage/studio!
 
Ships from Athens, Georgia with a new hard-shell case.