As always, we are very excited to have one of these depression-era, 1930s, 16-inch, Gibson made acoustic archtops.  The Henry L Mason branded guitars are example of the other branded guitars made during the depression era, many for catalog sales companies, or as in this case, for a wholesale distributor.  These were made for Coast Wholesale, a music instrument distributor in California.  This CW-4 model is essentially the same guitar as the Cromwell G-4, and the Henry L Mason CW-4 is the exact same model owned and played by Roy Rogers, as seen in the promotional pic I have included.  This model has a solid, press formed, spruce top and mahogany back.  Make no mistake, this is a great sounding guitar, and as I often find, it outperforms most L-50s which have carved tops.
 
The guitar is set up to optimize acoustic sound and plays well with slightly more relief than I would personally set up a guitar with a truss rod, but also well within norms for a pre-war guitar with non-adjustable steel reinforcement.  The bridge has plenty of room for adjustment either up or down as the player prefers.  The neck has the slighly rounded V-shape typical for this era.
 
The guitar is in great cosmetic condition for its age, and appears 100% orginal, including the frets which show some wear, but are more than adequate for easy playing.  It has a lacquer crack in the top lower bout adjacent to the tailpiece which does not appear to involve the wood and a small crack repair on each side of the back at the waist.  The factory order number dates it to 1936.
 
The guitar comes with a chipboard case which is likely original to the guitar.  The latches and hinges all work well.
 
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