The Francesca is a copy of the Stella Auditorium guitar made by the Oscar Schmidt Company. This iconic 12 string was played by such blues greats as Leadbelly and Willie McTell. This guitar has the Leadbelly reproduction tailpiece and purling. I added a clear pick guard to prevent wear in the French Polish where I rested my fingers while playing finger style.The Francesca is ladder braced, has a 16" lower bout, with a long 26 1/2" scale. This means these guitars should be tuned down to C or B. Leadbelly and McTell tuned in that ballpark, going down to Ab toward the end of their careers. I tended to keep it in Open A Vastapol tuning: A-E-A-C#-E-A.
The guitar has an Adirondack Spruce top, Walnut back, sides, bridge, and fingerboard. The neck is Poplar stained to match the Walnut and is 1 15/16" wide in a modified V shape. There are position dots at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets. The neck joins the body at the 12th fret. It has a dual action truss rod adjustable with a 4 mm hex wrench. It has the German silver tuners which are an upgrade. It has a white binding and the Stella reproduction purfling which is also an upgrade.This is a big guitar with a deep rich sound. It is in excellent condition. A tweed case is included as are 5 sets of strings and a 12 string capo. It has been kept is a smoke free environment and has been properly humidified. The only cosmetic issue is a small wear spot in the finish on the top where I rested my fingers while playing finger-style, so I put on a clear pick guard to prevent further wear. The pick guard is easily removed.Here us a chance to get one of these wonderful instruments without having to wait a year plus to order one. Contact me at tomdolan55@gmail.com if interested.
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