Kerouac
weird musical dildo
1938 Calace Archtop
This is the rarest, highest quality Archtop that I've ever had the honor of holding in my hands.
This instrument was handcrafted by one of the finest luthiers to have ever lived. After the passing of Raffaele Calace in 1934, Giuseppe Calace, his son, took over the family's workshop which has produced some of the finest mandolins in the world since the mid 1800s. He decided to issue in a new era for the family business and began work on a very limited line of Archtop guitars. The project lasted for four years and only ten guitars were produced during that period. Giuseppe's son, Raffaele Jr. told me via email that these guitars were to known as the "Gibson" model, loosely interpreted from the early 1930s Super 400. Similar to the Super 400 only in dimensions, this instrument differs in almost every other way, from material and build quality, down to the finest appointments on any instrument I've ever seen.
This guitar features a solid Spruce top, likely of the Italian Alpine variety of which the finest guitars in the world are built from. The back and sides are some of the most gorgeous pieces of flamed maple to ever be put to a guitar, and are also hand carved as with every other piece of this guitar. The neck is solid spruce with no truss rod and at a deep V angle, but it is incredibly comfortable to play and while it doesn't have a truss rod, it's straight as an arrow and has a ton of life left to it. The pickguard and bridge are hand carved spruce with intricate inlays made from plastic. The neck features striped mother of pearl inlays on the 5, 7, 10, 12, and 15th frets, like that of a mandolin. The neck is 23 frets long and joins the body at the 15th fret. All but one of the frets are original, and were recently reglued to give the guitar the voice of an angel. The headstock is reminiscent the Gibson headstock and is covered with the same speckled golden plastic as the pickguard, which is also solid spruce. The shape of the sound holes are unique to this instrument and only Calace's feature it. Each guitar was made differently and all of the inlay work and intricacies change from guitar to guitar.
Giuseppe was truly a master of his craft and it is evident by the tone of this guitar. It has booming lows and a full mid range with mellow highs and produces some outstanding volume with excellent resonance. The quality of the tone is unsurpassed by any archtops in current production and would stand to compete with any of the finest archtops that money can buy.
The only non original piece to this guitar are the tuner buttons. The original buttons disintegrated but the machines are original and are early 1930s Kluson open back tuners. Of the eight guitars that have been located, this is the only one that hasn't needed complete rebuilds and the only one that hasn't been refinished. It is also the only one that has a straight, playable neck. There were two cracks on the soundboard that were professionally repaired some years back and are very stable. The pickguard covers one of them completely and the other isn't very noticeable. The guitar shows some signs of wear and aging, but is incredibly sturdy and has centuries of life left in it. Of the surviving guitars built in the late 30s by Giuseppe Calace, this is one of two not owned by a private collector in Germany. The other is owned by a musician in New Zealand and it is an heirloom. This is your chance to own one of the rarest and finest archtops in the world. Opportunities like this surface once in a lifetime.
The price is based on the current price of a 1938 Gibson Super 400, and considering that this was handcrafted by an esteemed luthier, its value is significantly higher. I wouldn't be selling this unless it was an absolute must. This was purchased for my own private collection but some things have come up and I'm forced to let go of all of my instruments. This is my most prized piece.
The guitar comes with a hand tooled leather case from Paraguay which was custom fitted to this specific guitar. The guitar is too big for even a Super 400 case by about two inches. The case alone is worth well over $1200. It also comes with a hand tooled leather strap to match the case and the guitar. The case and strap are both works of art and are just as intricate as the guitar itself. All pieces in this sale are handmade and of the highest quality.
Dimensions:
Lower bout- 44cm (17.3in)
Upper bout- 32cm (12.6in)
Body length- 55.5cm (21.9in)
Total length- 110cm (43.3in)
Depth- 9cm (3.5in)
- that is a spectacular piece! 
