The mystery tailpiece is no mystery... is definitely original to the guitar and has a very homespun quality to it. The bridge is both decorative and crude.
So next step is to get it playable. It has a nice old style "d" profile neck and is super lightweight, which is a good sign and consistent with the original Selmer/Macs that I have had the opportunity to play. The brass frets are hanging over the edge a bit and will need to be filed. The action is on the high side. The tuners kind of work... but before I get carried away with any upgrades (tuners, bridge, tailpiece) I just want to see how it sounds. Will keep you posted!
I'd tought it was a resonator guitar tailpiece too, but there are just 3 holes in the back of the guitar perfectly matching those on the tailpiece... so it seems original (maybe Sonora did Dobros too!).
The guitar is MUCH better than I expected! Beautiful top grain. I'm sure it will sound great...
It looks like it was built June 28 1952? A little hard to see in the picture you posted... In common, there is the 3 piece neck, the bridge which is identical and the funky handmade tail piece. Otherwise it look likes one-of-a-kind production (so far).
Comments
The guitar is MUCH better than I expected! Beautiful top grain. I'm sure it will sound great...
P.S.
The arched back still points to Di Mauro.
BTW, my guitar sound great - it is the real deal!
Antonio Di Mauro, Carmelo Catania e Vincenzo Jacobacci
1950
Catania by the way was the only luthier in Sicily those days with the muscles to produce necks and parts for third parties.
I think the case is pretty much solved...