Cougar Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Took a road trip visiting my 92-year-old dad and brother in the Pasadena area. I dropped off a cherry ES-339 (I kept the case for my blonde 339, which needed one ;) ) to complement my dad's Gibbie LP studio and Ibanez hollowbody electric somthing-or-other. AND I picked up a couple guitars he had stashed in a back closet. A like-new 70s Japanese-made Epiphone FT-160 twelve-string that my brother carried back from Hong Kong in the 70s. It's probably got 2 hours of playing on it. Bolt-on neck, which is where the 6-digit serial number is (starts 1316..). I'd recently had it set up but my dad never played it, preferring the Gibbie, of course. This 12 is soundful! I don't think they're worth a lot, but it's a great 12-string. I like it! Guitar dater doesn't recognize its serial number. Then there's my dad's old, old guitar he played for probably 30 years before getting another acoustic. It's pretty beat up, but structurally intact. It's has 'Zenith' ink-stamped on the inside blue label, but the printing on the label says Epiphone Masterbilt. Epi dater says it was made in Philly in 1939. What's one of these worth fixed up? Here's a couple pics... . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 that my friend is a beautiful piece of art, I'll bet it is a blast to play. price, from what I saw, anywhere from 850-3200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Yup... What really gets to me is that in the early '60s the "folkie crew" that I was likely to be around would consider that only an idiot who didn't know anything about "real" guitars would ever consider an archtop. And yup, they'd play Carter Family stuff and gracefully ignore that Mother Maybelle played a big old Gibson archtop. That, my friends, is largely why I keep howling that it's how a guitar feels to you and how you physically connect to it with your kinda technique. A more personal example is that little guitar in my avatar. Dunno why I didn't dump it, because I decided that I didn't like it with those heavy "jazz" strings everybody said hadda go on an archtop. She sat for more than 20 years in an unopened case. One day on a whim I opened the case, figured I'd replace the strings and ... what the heck, I have these 9-42s. Since then she's been incredible for me. Why she wasn't swapped off, I don't know. Fate. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I have a 1936 Epiphone Zenith in my collection. Awesome sounding and looking guitar! Really loud for ac acoustic, too! A keeper in the collection. Nice job o see another one posted on the forum. Jazzman Jeff aka QM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 ...I'll bet it is a blast to play.... Oh, the strings are so high, it's practically unplayable. I've got to take it in to my tech and see what he can do with it. It's a set neck but apparently the neck doesn't adjust. The bridge is adjustable. Some of the binding is coming off; some's just missing. I guess I can get all new binding. There are lots of nicks and scratches. I'm not sure what you can do about those. Comments and suggestions on restoration welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 A lot of guitars from pre WWII had no neck adjustment mechanism, although they were made quite well. IMHO that's why necks so often were "baseball bat" types even after the "new" truss rod concept became pretty standard. I think personally that's one reason the archtops with adjustable bridges were as popular as they were. I dunno... I'm with you on getting it to a luthier who knows what he/she is doing. Then... I keep thinking about one of those pickguard pickup combinations that have a floating pup and controls on the pickguard so no change to the guitar itself is needed except for possibly the installation of the pickguard. In the olden days <grin> I had an add-on pup that simply clamped onto the strings behind the bridge on an archtop. It worked fine and added a different dimension to how I played the thing. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Oh, the strings are so high, it's practically unplayable. I've got to take it in to my tech and see what he can do with it. It's a set neck but apparently the neck doesn't adjust. The bridge is adjustable. Some of the binding is coming off; some's just missing. I guess I can get all new binding. There are lots of nicks and scratches. I'm not sure what you can do about those. Comments and suggestions on restoration welcome. [/quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Oh, the strings are so high, it's practically unplayable. I've got to take it in to my tech and see what he can do with it. It's a set neck but apparently the neck doesn't adjust. The bridge is adjustable. Some of the binding is coming off; some's just missing. I guess I can get all new binding. There are lots of nicks and scratches. I'm not sure what you can do about those. Comments and suggestions on restoration welcome. A few months back I picked up an old ss stewart archtop and it was very hard to play but the honey burst finish got me. The wood bulged everywhere. Now after drying then humidifying the drying again its coming closer to perfect. I did a neck reset sanded some of the light scratches out ( didn't hurt the finish ) and tried to sand the crazy glue the guy used on some cracks. Its fun to play not a master piece but its fun PS when I got it the strings where 1/2 an inch off the neck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I'm having my old Synchromatic totally rebuilt and restored as an xmas present to myself this year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I'm having my old Synchromatic totally rebuilt and restored as an xmas present to myself this year... nice do you play any blues with it and if so do you use a slide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I have on it, It's pretty worn, the "heel" has split, some binding loose..it's all there. I'm going to bring it to the "Guitar Doctor" in Whitman, MA..real pro's there, I've used for other, more than several, "fix ups". He and his crew are true luthiers And I'm sure him and his "crew" will be happy to put new life into that old guitar. In the mean time, this is my "acoustic blues slide guitar", for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 That Zenith is ultra nice, thanks for putting up the pic's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 this guy can fix it, if you don't mind mailing it...insure it good and quadruple box it, put it in a case., it's really an irreplaceable antique guitar. http://www.guitardoctor.com/ he is a 15 minute ride from my place...not too bad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Some may say that old Epiphone Masterbilt Zenith is worth "X" amount, which initially may seem like a lot of $$$. Personally, If it was my dad's, to me...I would never ever part with it...it's a priceless reminder of "good old dad"... but that's just me. Fix it and hang it on the wall, within quick reach, in your living room. A true work of "luthier art". And then when you look at it and play it, all the good memories of old dad will come back...probably bring a smile to your face. I know when I play this....which mom and dad got me for my 13th birthday..in 1966, it certainly brings a smile and wonderful memories back ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 here is my SS Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Some may say that old Epiphone Masterbilt Zenith is worth "X" amount. If it was my dad's,to me...I would never ever part with it...it's a priceless reminder of "good old dad"... but that's just me. Fix it and hang it on the wall, within quick reach, in your living room. A true work of "luthier art". I agree with ya 100% and that's a gorgeous Harmony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I put the blame on mom and dad (rip) for my GAS attacks...but I know they are smiling down at me when I "fart"...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 any snow "up there" in Northern Ontario, yet ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 any snow "up there" in Northern Ontario, yet ? Hell No Way to Early last year we got it in the first week of December Hopefully the same this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 here is my SS Stewart Awesome...looks to be in great shape...dig the inlays...I bet that was a relatively expensive instrument...in 1958...maybe...nice looking old antique archtop guitars are cool by me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 We had 4 or 5 inches of snow on Oct. 30 last year...20 miles south of Boston nice for Halloween...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Awesome...looks to be in great shape...dig the inlays...I bet that was a relatively expensive instrument...in 1958...maybe...nice looking old antique archtop guitars are cool by me not bad for a 50 dollar gas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I stayed inside, looked at it from my window, and played my guitars...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 not bad for a 50 dollar gas dig it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffmac Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I stayed inside, looked at it from my window, and played my guitars...lol I try not to think about cause I work outside and getting to old for it. The old bones don't bounce back like they use to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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