Bear in mind that Elmer Stromberg’s massive Master 400 archtop, designed to project through the increasing din of the big-band era, measured a mere 19”. Its gigantic body, measuring 19 ¼” across, puts it in a class with the largest guitars ever built. It is curiously both deluxe and plain.īut what is it? It’s wide, flat fingerboard straddles the body at the 12th fret, its relatively thick V-shaped neck is topped with a squared-off slotted headstock, and its antiquated nickel-plated tuners, with pinion gears above the worm gears – are all indicative of a small, turn-of-the-century parlor guitar. Its configuration of flimsy, stamped-steel trapeze tailpiece and simple movable bridge (usually the hallmark of a budget flat-top) stands in stark contrast to the high quality and craftsmanship demonstrated throughout the guitar. Its unbound 18-fret fingerboard –also of rosewood – sports only a few small, round dots for position makers, yet intricate multicolored wood purfling graces much of the rest of the instrument, including the top body edge, rosette, and back centerseam. So what is it? Its original black-finished spruce top is simply ladder-braced from within, but its back and sides feature Brazilian rosewood with dramatic bookmatched figure.
