Slingerland May Belle Style No.7 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1933), made in Chicago, sunburst lacquer finish, birch body, poplar neck, pearloid fingerboard, original black chipboard case.
Is your life missing a guitar festooned with angelic cherubs and a neck that is a symphony of pink/purple Pearloid? Oh boy then do we have something for you! This concert-sized flat-top guitar was definitely built primarily with eye appeal in mind, but actually plays well enough and has a surprisingly rich tone.
Slingerland in Chicago was not the only company that made liberal use of pearloid on banjos and guitars, but they went farther than anyone else in applying this uber-flashy treatment to guitars in the pre-electric era! This Style #7 was a budget example, listing at $16 in the early 1930s, even then a pretty bargain price. The headstock and fingerboard on the poplar neck are covered in what was described as "Rose" pearloid (sort of a purply-pink, or pinkish-purple) with an engraved and filled May Bell logo on the headstock. "Slingerland, Mfrs, Chicago USA" is hot-stamped on the inside back.
The pickguard is "Rose" pearloid as well, while the top (and indeed most of the guitar) is finished in a dark red sunburst lacquer. The outer edge and sound hole rim are bound and inlaid with colored wood marquetry. The most cheerful decoration is a stenciled filagree on the top featuring angel cherubs playing a lute and blowing their horns.
The spruce top has the classic Chicago canted ladder bracing pattern and has held up very well; this is definitely a steel-string guitar as it was built in the early-mid 1930s but it is currently strung with silk-and-steel in the interests of preservation. While hardly a competitor to a period Martin it plays well offers a surprisingly sweet if slightly boxy sound. It makes a nice fingerpicking blues or ragtime guitar, although really the sheer eye appeal is its primary raison d'etre.
Slingerland went on to greater heights as the leader in modern drum equipment during the swing era, and this fairly rare guitar disappeared from production later in the 1930s. With its tasteful plastic overload this is an endearing little guitar, a charming and delightful period piece that does not take itself too seriously!
Overall length is 36 3/4 in. (93.3 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
Overall this highly decorative May Bell is in very nice all-original condition and is actually a surprisingly fine-playing and sounding guitar considering its low-budget origins. It has had a recent neck set and careful fret work, and the neck itself is surprisingly straight. The pretty basic bridge is original with a new saddle and has been reglued; the prominent screws through the top are original!
The is no really major wear to the guitar. The top and back have some light checking, the back a few dings and an odd drip spot off the upper waist. The neck is quite clean with a few tiny dinks, the celluloid coating is in excellent shape without noticeable shrinking or peeling. The pearloid pickguard has shrunken up just a bit and lifted a little around the edges. The tuner plates show some corrosion but the machines work as well as they ever did.
This guitar plays well for what it is with a deeper sound than most budget 13" wide flat tops. Usually when instruments of this type show up 90 or more years later they are not really playable, at least without major work. This is a real eye-catcher of a guitar that is a surprisingly nice sounding instrument as well. The original chipboard case is included; it is worn but relatively functional for 90 year old cardboard! Overall Excellent Condition.
