A Visual Guide to Identifying Singers from Crappy Craigslist Photos, Part 5: Is It a 99?

Model 99, up top, is stubbier. Model 66, on the bottom, is longer.

The model 66 is a full-size machine; the model 99 is a 3/4-size machine with the same visual DNA as the 66, the same lines and curves. Identifying the model 99 by sight is fairly easy, because it's just a horizontally-squashed version of the model 66, as you can see above.

The model 99 is the only 3/4-size machine I'm covering in this series. One other 3/4-size machine you might see on Craigslist--I've only seen one once or twice--is the model 28/128. This is easily distinguishable by the shovel-shaped inspection plate and/or dual slide plates:

NOT a 99, as evidenced by these features.

So, if you see either of those indicators, you'll know it's not a 99. The 99 has a single center-mounted slide plate, as seen below:

The only way to tell if a machine is full-size or 3/4-size is to look at pictures of them over and over again. After a while you start to get a sense of "Well, that looks too 'stubby' to be a 66" and you'll realize it's a 99.

There is one other giveaway that it's a 99, which is a bit trickier to see. If you'll recall, I started this series off by telling you that this photo...

...is a model 99. How did I know? Well, look at the needlebar-containing area of the head of a typical 99:

It kind of looks like the head of a hammerhead shark.

In other words, the front part of a 99's head is symmetrical:

"A" is the same length as "B." That's unique to the 99.

Contrast that with the 66:

As you can see, the same area on the 66 is NOT symmetrical top-and-bottom. "A" is definitely shorter than "B" on a 66. It's too lopsided to resemble a hammerhead shark.

That's the only way I could tell from that tiny, crappy little photo that I was looking at a 99. The front part of the head looked symmetrical. I e-mailed the owner and she later confirmed it.

So, quiz time: Which of the following is a 99?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

 How'd you do? You can check your answers below:

1. Too long to be a 99. This is a 66.

2. It's stubby, definitely a 3/4 machine. Single slideplate says it's a 99.

3. Again, too long to be a 99.

4. Stubby and has that "Hammerhead" symmetry. It's a 99.

5. Again, stubby size plus the "Hammerhead" symmetry makes it a 99.

6. Too long and stretchy. This is a 66.

7. Stubby, and single slideplate. It's a 99.

8. Stubby, and barely visible single slideplate. 99.

9. Stubby, bu not a 99, as evidenced by the shovel-shaped inspection plate and dual slide plates.

Go back to:

Part 1: Is it a model 15?

Part 2: If it’s a model 15, what kind of 15?

Part 3: Is it a 201?

Part 4: Is it a 66?