It ended up needing quite a bit more work ... but that wouldn't have been obvious to Fenderguy (but quite possibly was obvious to the store that sold it to him!). The neck angle was indeed off ... and the strap button on the upper bout was caved in ... both suggesting a repair following a neck break. That was held up by what the luthier found when he took the neck off - the neck part of the dovetail joint had been broken clear away from the neck and glued back (and not the greatest job either). The luthier repaired the dovetail and reset the neck ... it took quite a while for this work to be done, hence the delayed NGD. But ... here it is in all it's Scandinavian glory!
I haven't been able to find much information online about these ... I've known about Levin acoustics thanks to Shadowplay and others on here recommending them ... but I wasn't aware that they also (briefly) made hollow body electrics. The body size is closer to a Duo Jet than a Starfire, despite the similarities in shape. With the DeArmond pickups this certainly sounds a whole lot like a few old Gretsch guitars I've heard.
Before the neck reset the bridge was completely decked (and still the action was too high) ... now there's about 12mm to play with at the bridge. At the moment the action is a little higher than I normally go with, but at least now I have the room to take it down. It would help with the string tension a bit too ... at the moment, with .11s, this is just a shade too tight for me ... but bringing the action down a shade will lessen the tension a little.
The neck profile feels quite modern - it's certainly a slim 60s neck ... but with Gibson nut width. It feels great to play, even to someone like me who normally prefers thicker necks. And ... I mean ... just look at this thing! The styling is just so classy ... and I love the Levin truss rod cover
The paint is actually pretty checked ... I've tried to catch the patina in the light here:
This guitar worked out more expensive that I thought it would (new nut, fret work, neck reset and repair to the break in the top bout where the strap button had been caved in), but I knew this one was worth saving. A vintage Dynasonic equipped Gretsch would have set me back a whole hell of a lot more than this did, and I'm pretty sure the Levin is a lot nicer than even the modern 50s reissue Duo Jets. I'm very happy with this guitar - cheers again Fenderguy!
