Epi help

[Lily]

One of my favorite acoustic players - David Rawlings - plays this guitar - I read somewhere that it's a 1935 Epiphone Olympic archtop. Can anyone confirm this??
I saw them live just a few weeks ago - this guitar sounds GREAT. :dude

 

[Tom Wittrock]

That sounds about right. Rounded peg head. "F" holes with separated dots.
Yep, I think that is probably correct.

 

[Lily]

Thanks TW!

 

[doodman]

Those are some of my favorite acoustics. I have never looked at an Epi before, but the Gibsons I pick up usually sound great to me. But I don't know much about them to drop $750 on a banged-up one. If I ever see one I really like, I will come here and ask, but they jump in price too quick for my liking. And I wouldn't play an acoustic much, anyways. Maybe the Epi's are less expensive? I'll have to keep an eye out for some.

 

[Tom Wittrock]

By the early 1930's, Epiphone's archtop acoustic line was highly competitive with Gibson's. Their models range in design and features widely, just like Gibson's. The Olympic was one of the plainest, simplest models.
After 60-70 years, it is not uncommon to find them in "needing work" condition. Those require knowledge of repair costs.
Establishing a fair value/price is more difficult, for a lot of reasons. There isn't huge demand in the small body archtop market [that I know of:wha].
Of course, if you just buy a guitar you are happy with, then that is worth more.

 

[hank]

Those are fabulous guitars.

 

[professor]

Small bodied guitars, properly mic-ed, are friggin' great! I especially love mahogany-bodied guitars, as they are very "dry" and crisp sounding, more so than a rosewood-bodied guitar, but not as bright as a maple-bodied guitar.

 

[Lily]

Yes, his guitar has this mellow, but beautiful tone that I really liked for the music that they were playing. She (Gillian Welch) played a brighter acoustic, I think it was rosewood with a spruce top. He plays the Epi exclusively. They sound great together.

 

[Bluburst135]

That instrument looks to be in excellent shape for being nearly 70 yrs old!

 

[Tom Wittrock]

The guitar she is playing is a J-50, with mahogany back and sides.
The tonal and resonation aspects of archtops versus flattops are very different. Comparing their tones is a bit like comparing a Les Paul with a Strat. Both are electrics, but the differences are so great, that a comparison is pretty much "apples to oranges".

 

[hank]

Lily, they are phenomenal together! His interplay on the guitar complimenting her unique vocal tone is heaven-made.

 

[Tom Wittrock]

Ah.............the "new" Backstage Area.



An Epiphone thread, :wha


started by Lily, :eek


an no Epi slamming. :dude

 

[Snags]

Hey, is that Robert Duval holding that accordion? spin

 

[1959burst]

more info from acoustic guitar central

GILLIAN WELCH AND DAVID RAWLINGS

Gillian Welch’s main guitar is a ca. 1956 Gibson J-50 with a factory-installed adjustable bridge. "It’s pretty much just like a J-45," she says. "It’s blond, and it’s got a big ugly pickguard on it." A couple of years ago, she picked up a five-string Vega Senator banjo, which she’s specially modified "with a little bit of bubble wrap shoved under the head."

David Rawlings gets his signature, midrangey guitar sound from a 1935 Epiphone Olympic archtop with a carved top and plywood mahogany back and sides. He likens its sound to that of a resophonic guitar. "I bought it without a bridge," he says, "and had a one-piece mahogany bridge made for it. I think with a top this small it really behooves you to get as much stuff touching the top as you can, because the top doesn’t have that much flex to it." He says his guitar is unique in that every note on every string plays at the same volume. "It doesn’t have any dead spots or any high spots—which is very, very strange," he says. "It makes it fun to play lead, because you don’t have to worry where you’re at. It’s not much of a solo instrument, but I can’t really play by myself worth a darn, so it doesn’t make much of a difference."

Welch and Rawlings switched their stage amplification rig in 1996 from pickups and DIs to external microphones. Rawlings explains that the change has made setting up for shows easier, although they do need to be a bit more hands-on during setup than they used to be. "We carry Shure SM-58s and SM-57s," Welch says. "Fancy microphones can be very difficult. The one thing that’s nice about the Shures is that their quality control is low enough that they are all different. They’re like snowflakes. If we carry a complement of eight microphones, we can go into a hall and find the right one for the room and the system. We play the microphone game; we swap them out." "And it’s easy to control volume by changing the proximity to the mics," Rawlings adds.

—Simone Solondz

 

[Lily]

Very cool! Thanks Greg.

 

[Tom Wittrock]

Re: more info from acoustic guitar central

GILLIAN WELCH AND DAVID RAWLINGS

Gillian Welch’s main guitar is a ca. 1956 Gibson J-50 with a factory-installed adjustable bridge. "It’s pretty much just like a J-45," she says. "It’s blond, and it’s got a big ugly pickguard on it." —Simone Solondz

I didn't think that large pickguard came about so early. Or, the adjustable bridge. :hmm

 

[1959burst]

long big pickguard in 1955 adjustable bridge in 55 or 56

 

[Tom Wittrock]

Thanks Greg. :dude

I need to get back up copies of reference books to keep beside my home computer.

 

[1959burst]

no problem, as for the reference books i don't have any for acoustics, but i did steal the picture off buzzy levines guitar shop website.