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Al Caiola... where is he?


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Hi all, following a couple of dead-end posts over on the Epiphone Acoustic Forum, I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me.

I'm trying to ID an apparently undocumented version of an Epiphone FT30 Caballero. It bears a facsimile signature of Al Caiola. My current thinking is that only Al Caiola himself might be able to explain it. Does anybody know how or where I might reach him? I can't find a fan club, agent or anything useful, so any lead would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance, Leo :D

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Hi all, following a couple of dead-end posts over on the Epiphone Acoustic Forum, I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me.

I'm trying to ID an apparently undocumented version of an Epiphone FT30 Caballero. It bears a facsimile signature of Al Caiola. My current thinking is that only Al Caiola himself might be able to explain it. Does anybody know how or where I might reach him? I can't find a fan club, agent or anything useful, so any lead would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance, Leo :D

 

Have you tried this?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Caiola

 

Scroll down and look at the external links. He is 92 so must be long retired.

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Hi there - thanks for the response. I have indeed tried all of those sources on the wikipedia link (at least one is dead or won't display correctly). However, I'm edging closer... received 2 e-mails today (one from Walter Carter, one from an 'agent'). Neither has current contact info, but... I have found that he recently (February 2013) played and attended at The Mahwah Museum in New Jersey. So I've e-mailed the Mahwah Museum to see if they can help...! Will post again if it get's me anywhere.

 

Thanks again, Leo. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

For anyone who is interested, I have tracked down Al Caiola himself. He has confirmed that it is indeed a faithfully reproduced facsimile of his signature...! However, he has no knowledge of why the guitar was produced. That said, he is keen to know so I've continued my research.

 

In a further development, I have now found 3 confirmed examples (all 1963, with open-book headstock, Kluson Deluxe tuners and the facsimile 'signature' in identical position). They appear to have consecutive serial numbers too: 137470 (my one), 137472, and 137480. If you want to see pictures, I have uploaded them to my Flickr. See www.flickr.com/photos/shedoverheels

 

I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed that Epiphone themselves don't seem to care about researching this unusual 'variant' model. It seems only their records would be a help now in finding further information.

 

If anyone has any ideas about how to proceed, please let me know! :D

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