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Epiphone FT 145 any ideas?


leeh

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Hello everyone,

 

I'm new to the forums and i have just purchased a Epiphone FT 145. I was just looking for some advice regarding this model, early to mid 70's i'm guessing, but i'm not sure of the wood used on the body? Spruce? solid or laminated? over all build quality etc. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I'll give more info when it arrives, its in transit at present.

 

Thanks Lee H

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Welcome Lee,

 

Built from about 1972 - 1979 in Japan. Fully laminate. Mahogany back and sides. "Select" spruce top. 'select' meaning laminated.

 

Early models had a bad reputation for weak neck blocks. If the action is high and the fretboard extension is bearing down on the sound board, just above the sound hole, you have a loose neck block. It is fairly easily fixed:

 

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/37812-repairing-a-norlin-era-ft-guitar-with-broken-neck/

 

Is yours bursted or natural? Blue label or tan label?

 

Here's my FT145SB "Texan" :

 

FT145SBfullsize-1.jpg

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Welcome Lee,

 

Built from about 1972 - 1979 in Japan. Fully laminate. Mahogany back and sides. "Select" spruce top. 'select' meaning laminated.

 

Early models had a bad reputation for weak neck blocks. If the action is high and the fretboard extension is bearing down on the sound board, just above the sound hole, you have a loose neck block. It is fairly easily fixed:

 

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/37812-repairing-a-norlin-era-ft-guitar-with-broken-neck/

 

Is yours bursted or natural? Blue label or tan label?

 

Here's my FT145SB "Texan" :

 

FT145SBfullsize-1.jpg

 

Thanks for the reply and welcome :-))

 

I think its a tan labelled Norlin one and the colour is natural. It should arrive any day, once it does i'll post pictures. One of the bridge screws has broken off, (do you know if the modern Epiphone replacemnts - part PES221 from rosetti.co.uk would fit?) other than this its in original and good order, like i say its due any day and i purchased the guitar,(very cheaply) knowing about this small issue. If it plays good from day one, i'm just going to leave it alone, the seller says it's got a nice low action and apart from the odd minor scrape and chip its in good order. Thanks again for the reply and i'll post some pictures as soon as it arrives [thumbup]

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Not sure about the Rosetti part. These were made in Japan and are likely metric, but I can't say for certain. I know of no known direct replacement. These screws / adjusters seem to have been specially built for this purpose. One might be able to cobble together a make-do arrangement of a knurled screw which might be found at a hardware store with those little draws with various and sundry little, obscure parts.

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As promised, some pictures....

 

I re-strung the guitar with Elixir Polyweb custom light strings over the weekend and cleaned it up. Sounds great, mellow for a full laminate guitar,(most cheap laminate acoustics sound overly bright) but this is the exact opposite! Over all sound condition, the neck's rock solid at the sound hole, does'nt look like its ever been tampered with or played much!? unfortunately missing a bridge screw, proabaly never find a replacement for this? not bad considering it cost only £63!!

post-34860-002662700 1312810401_thumb.jpg

post-34860-063607800 1312810464_thumb.jpg

post-34860-033996700 1312810863_thumb.jpg

post-34860-020296800 1312810884_thumb.jpg

post-34860-043739300 1312810895_thumb.jpg

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