Old Epi Masterbilt? Help Identifying old Archtop with stenciled f-holes.

[giant016]

Hi all,

 

So I picked up this project axe in an auction lot where I was there to only grab a sweet 60's Guyatone, but ended up too intrigued by this one not to drop the $40 on her. Only problem is, even after looking inside as much as I could there's 0 identification. The headstock shape looks similar to some old Masterbilts I've seen, and some of those do have the "stenciled" f-holes that are 3 cutouts instead of 1 as would be common. It's hard to see from the pictures but it's got arched front and back. Quality is better than the no-name guitars I have.

 

What I have found otherwise is the saddle looks straight off of a vintage Gibson L4 . What I haven't found is any guitar ever that has the 1-2-1-2-1-2 dot inlay pattern on the fretboard.

 

Does anyone have any guesses? Any chance she's an old Epi? At first I'm looking to find tuners and a bridge that would be of the time period and style. So any hints as to it's age and origins are appreciated. I'm guessing 1940's?

 

Anyways, thanks in advance. Here's where I hosted the photos:

 

 

http://imgur.com/a/xkxvv

 

 

PS: Does anyone know what the bar is on the side of the bottom of the fretboard? I was thinking maybe a thumbrest? But if it's a mount for a pickguard it would be proof the neck was replaced since the body has screw holes on the right-hand side for a pickguard.

[QuestionMark]

Generally, the rule is that the industry switched from 3 piece carved F holes to one piece F carved holes circa 1933 or 1934i ish.

 

I can say with some reasonable surety, that the instrument is not a NY Epiphone as the headstock does not match a NY Epiphone. It doesn't match a Gibsons, either.

 

It might be something like a Kaykraft (Kay's predecessor) as those were made in the early 30s. Or it could just be something made by Regal who made a number of generic guitar's as well as guitars on an outsourced basis for companies like National circa that era.

 

The dot positions on the fretboards of guitar's from that era were not as standardized as they are on today's guitar's, so

their positioning is kinda up in the air in terms of reason.

 

That ? thing you mentioned is ? as far as I can tell. Not sure what it is. Could it be some kind of repair? Not sure.

 

If you can get it up and playing it certainly would be interesting to learn how it sounds. Some old inexpensive guitars at the time can sound quite good by today's standard. The question is really can it be made playable in a good way. Remember, archtops sound different than flat top guitars, of course.

 

That's the best I can surmise about the guitar. Apologies are offered if my best guess proves incorrect.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

[rct]

PS: Does anyone know what the bar is on the side of the bottom of the fretboard? I was thinking maybe a thumbrest? But if it's a mount for a pickguard it would be proof the neck was replaced since the body has screw holes on the right-hand side for a pickguard.

 

It was probably an early effort to put a pickup under the strings.

 

rct

[kidblast]

Ron's right, that bar is a mounting arm for a pickup. that is how they were mounted on guitars that were equipped with early pickup systems

[giant016]

I can say with some reasonable surety, that the instrument is not a NY Epiphone as the headstock does not match a NY Epiphone. It doesn't match a Gibsons, either.

 

Hi Jazzman,

 

Thanks for the reply. You gave me a lot more to look at. I only have one thing, where I saw a 1939 Epi Olympic with a similar headstock (see attached). Am I missing something with that, or is that not pretty similar?

 

Here's the listing if anyone's curious: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1939-Epiphone-Olympic-Archtop-Vintage-Acoustic-Guitar-Carved-Spruce-Top-w-osc-/172482196974?hash=item2828bd75ee:g:2hQAAOSwUKxYdYlS

 

It's not a direct match by any means with the single-cutout soundholes but the wood combo and headstock shape looks similar, and given the wear and tear on my example I could understand the headstock label easily wearing off.

 

[giant016]

It was probably an early effort to put a pickup under the strings.

 

rct

 

BINGO!

 

That's one mystery down.

[rct]

Hi Jazzman,

 

Thanks for the reply. You gave me a lot more to look at. I only have one thing, where I saw a 1939 Epi Olympic with a similar headstock (see attached). Am I missing something with that, or is that not pretty similar?

 

Here's the listing if anyone's curious: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1939-Epiphone-Olympic-Archtop-Vintage-Acoustic-Guitar-Carved-Spruce-Top-w-osc-/172482196974?hash=item2828bd75ee:g:2hQAAOSwUKxYdYlS

 

It's not a direct match by any means with the single-cutout soundholes but the wood combo and headstock shape looks similar, and given the wear and tear on my example I could understand the headstock label easily wearing off.

 

Probably a dozen guitars by a dozen companies meet the criteria. Stella alone probably had a few of this general shape and size. The chances of pinning it down to any one are pretty slim without something left on it to identify it.

 

rct

[Cougar]

BINGO!

 

That's one mystery down.

 

It's called a monkey on a stick.