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What model Epiphone is this?

27sauce

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3Ea3Mc3H75Ie5U25Fdcb1b724ea6c147f16f6.jpg
 

jhmp

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That is a far out looking aftermarket pick up ( I think ) but the knobs are late 30's early 40's. I'll bet the fingerboard wouldn't make it through customs though! I wonder what scale it is? Hmmm...
 

j45

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I'd say a Zenith or Beverly by the body size. I've never seen an Epi p/u in any era look like that but no expert. Headstock would help. Looks like a small base model like the Beverly. All others were bigger.
 

ZZ Not

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Appears to be a Kent. Epi's lowest price es model introduced in '49 and utilizing the "Tone Spectrum" single coil that was the forerunner of the New Yorker pu. 15 3/8" wide laminated mahogany body with laminated maple top and one piece mahogany neck. Out of production by '54.
 

j45

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Good call, I think that's it. The body looked smaller to me. I thought it looked like a 14" or smaller from the pic.
 

27sauce

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Great! Yes it is a Kent, my wife just picked it up for $200. Should be fun to mess around with. Any experience with this pickup?
 

ZZ Not

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No, only with the smaller package design (early New Yorker) on a Zephyr Regent. I like it on that particular guitar and in the typical archtop neck position. I imagine it sounds quite different on that guitar closer to the bridge.
 

j45

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When were those faceted knobs discontinued?

I think those went all the way through the 50's until Gibson started building them. Every one of my Epi's had them. I've heard them called "carousel" knobs. That's a kick-ass guitar for $200. I think we may be technically out of order with this discission since pre-Gibson but I've always been into old Epiphones. I'd love to be able to post some of mine here but probably not the place for the pre-Gibson Epi stuff.
 

j45

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Oh what the hell, I'll do it on 27's dime and we'll all get banned together. Here's my '54 Zephyr Regent, monster fat tone...I think this is what Duke Robillard recorded with for years.:

e1.jpg


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e4.jpg


e3.jpg
 

apossibleworld

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Some of those early Epiphone pickups from before the NY model can sound really amazing, though some of them don't. They tried a lot of different designs, lots of cool history in there. I haven't played that particular pickup though.
 

27sauce

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I was only able to check it out for a bit last night. Its pretty clean, despite having been neglected for years, missing tuners+bridge.

My wife said there was something rattling around inside, so I didn't bother plugging in at first, thinking the harness had been disconnected. So I take a closer look and its an old dried out wasp's nest! As it turns out, the electronics work, hopefully I'll get it strung up this weekend.

J45, does your Zephyr have the truss rod adjustment on the heel?
 

27sauce

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I do not recall seeing this pickup in an Epiphone. I have seen a single coil that precedes the "New York" pickup that differs greatly from this.
However, it looks familiar to me as from a National pickup [Valco era]. :hmm

That's what I figured when I first saw the pictures, Valco, but it is in fact original.
Here's a cleaner one I found online.
img_13376626844775.jpg
 

ZZ Not

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Here is a photo of a photo of a '51 Kent from the "Epiphone The House of Stathopoulo" book by Fisch & Fred showing one of the two variants of pickguard available.

IMG_0234.jpg
 

Tom Wittrock

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Thanks 27 Sauce and ZZ Not.
By House of Stathopoulo book is a few thousand miles from my hands right now. :ganz
 

j45

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:wah

I don't think of "under the fretboard" as "on the heel".
Those are two different locations in my mind. :hmm

I kinda thought the same thing but I think that's what he meant to say since the other end from the headstock. I don't think you could have a truss rod at the actual heel, could you?
 

27sauce

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Whoops, yeah thats what I meant. at the end of the fretboard.
 
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