1930s Weissenborn Kona Hawaiian Guitar Beautiful and historic piece. I don't imagine there are many of these left in circulation. The photos tell it all. Its not perfect but it's certainly playable with a great traditional sound. In the hands of a real musician (not me) I'm sure it will sound beautiful. The neck joint is very secure. Comes with a semi-hard caseShipping is by UPS ground, 3 days. Box will be constructed for shipping and insured for total price of bid. Lovely and quite solid original 1930's Hawaiian guitar made by Weissenborn, with full koa body and solid neck, as the Konas were. These versions of the Weissenborns often have structural superiority over the hollow-neck versions, in part because of the solidity of the standard-type of neck joint. This one is a perfect example. There are a few minor cosmetic flaws in the form of some small bits of binding either missing or creatively restored, and hard to find at that. There have been two repairs made, one to the soundboard and one to the lower left bout. See photos for details. Overall, a very cool and solid piece of musical history, and it sounds great too. Cannot guarantee tuning pegs or bridge are original but have no reason to doubt either. History: From Born Again by Bill Elder Hermann C. Weissenborn emigrated from Germany around 1902 and was listed in New York City directories as a violin and piano maker until 1910, when he moved to Los Angeles. His early directory listings in L.A. emphasized violins and piano repair, although it appears that he expanded to steels, ukes, and guitars around 1920, as Hawaiian music gained popularity.Weissenborn built the guitars players seek today, including deeper-body Kona instruments (made for an outside concern). Two features set his guitars apart from other period instruments: (un-scalloped) X-bracing on the tops, and tapered bodies that curve from bottom to top. Ladder-braced imitations have more parallel tops and backs.KONA AND OTHER LABELSA few unmarked instruments are so similar in construction details that they must be Weissenborns. As was common with many manufacturers, including Martin, Weissenborn made instruments for outside customers. By far the most common of these is the Kona Hawaiian guitar, made for Los Angeles music teacher and publisher Charles S. De Lano. While most of the features (peghead, hardware, rope binding, and internal construction) point to Weissenborn manufacture, the Kona has a deeper body (4-1/4 inches) and narrower bouts (9-1/4 and 13-1/4 inches). Rather than a hollow neck, Konas have a short standard neck with a raised bone nut that joins the extended body at the seventh fret. Kona necks had actual wire frets rather than Weissenborns' inlaid markers. The connection between Kona and Weissenborn guitars is also seen in a comparison of the body dimensions of their Spanish models: except for the Kona's slight neck-joint extension, these two guitars have precisely the same measurements.No international shipping. Thanks