30s (Gibson) Cromwell Archtop Info

KDS

Played a 30s (by Gibson) Cromwell Archtop. Know next to nothing about old archtops, let alone vintage ones.

Seemed to play well, neck seemed good, not bowed or twisted, no  idea if it had a reset.
Frets seemed in very good condition, bearing in mind age it must of had a refret at some stage, but could not see any obvious signs on the neck binding. the  Tone was slightly thin sounding, but I don't think it was helped by light gauge acoustic strings, could feel the top gently vibrating, got a sense that the guitar wanted to sound 'bolder/bigger'...... not the sure the right word. Got feeling that with right strings and setup, this could be something special. Bridge 'pins/posts' on the (presumably) flouting bridge seemed slightly angled neckwear's, not sure if that is normal or even my imagination. Genuinely surprised how well it played.

Any info/advice? Can't find much on the internet about them. It did have a serial number stamped on the rear of the headstock.

MikeP

How was the break angle over the bridge? Was the Bridge wound right down? You thinking of buying it? Might be wanting a neck set...

KDS

MikeP said:

How was the break angle over the bridge? Was the Bridge wound right down? You thinking of buying it? Might be wanting a neck set...

Firstly, I'm surprised how well it played, no buzz's, rattles, etc.

Not sure how to answer the break angle over bridge, looked ok to my untrained eye. Had a trapeze tailpiece, I looked down length of guitar from the body end and it looked fine, no twist's, warp's etc.  Bridge was not wound down, from memory it was about 3 or 4 mm off body. I should have got some photo's. Biggest doubt in my head was that it was set up with light acoustic strings.

Seller said that he had bought it from the son of the original owner!

oh..... and yh I'm thinking of buying it.

One other point is that I've realised it can't be a G-4 as it had flamed, sunburst front, back and sides. any idea what model Cromwell?

KDS

After a few cups of coffee and some research its the same guitar as this:

https://reverb.com/uk/item/20208006-cromwell-archtop-g6-1938-maple-back-and-sides

Any comments? Good/Bad? It defo sounded nice. Anything I should look for? I thinking of going back and looking over it again.

AlbertC

Looks similar to a Kalamazoo KG-21 which of course were made by Gibson around the same time. 

MartinB

I had a Kalamazoo KG-21 which is the same build style and era, but smaller L00 sized deep body and mahogany back and sides. They're solid wood, but with the top domed over a hefty X brace using heat and pressure, rather than carved from thicker pieces. 

I think the bass is always relatively lean/tight compared to a good flat top, mine really found it's voice with medium strings on. It takes a while to adjust your touch to get the fullest sound out, but it's a strong, interesting sound when you do. A heavy, not too sharp pick helped bring out the body too.

One thing to be aware of - if you ever want to add a floating magnetic pickup to do the classic jazz archtop thing, you're out of luck, because the fingerboard is level with the top rather than elevated and there's no room. There are some thin, top mount pickups around, but they killed the acoustic sound on mine.