THIS is interesting, and first I've heard of such a thing with these instruments. I'd love to hear from any Shutt owners who have seen this feature. It's owned by Mike Lettieri who just emailed me about it (being the default Shutt historian over at Harpguitars.net).
Through the F-hole you're looking at an extra "rim" that I can only imagine was meant as some form of "tone reducer" (the disparaging term some use for the Virzi, perhaps more accurate here). Mike describes it thusly: "The secondary wall runs from the bottom of the f holes all the way around, from bass to treble side. It appears to be anchored at the starting points via a thin vertical block and at the tail block, tho its hard to see and confirm. In addition, it does not make contact with the top or back plates. There is a 1/8" gap all the way around. It's like a double wall. Looks to be about a 1/8" space between it and the actual sides of the instrument. The only holes I can see are near the f holes. There a 2 of them one above the other, and they are approx 1/4" in diameter. It shows no signs of being opened up either. And if someone did add it, bravo to them for their creative experimentation."
Of course, I urged Mike to tear it apart, but he passed... Incidentally, though I haven't updated my Shutt article, I've seen a few clues that are leading me to believe that the jet-black-top Shutts may be the ones built by Harmony (at least one showed a heel stamped by them when taken apart for restoration), while the lighter bluish-gray finished tops may point to Shutt and his helpers in his home. Just a working theory. This then could be a Harmony-built. Original experiment? or after?
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