Writersings Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 Hi Everyone. Have a question about my 1964 Epiphone Coronet guitar. I am trying to get a value of it. I have looked up the serial number and found it was made in the Gibson plant in Kalamazoo, MI. Would that be considered a Gibson guitar too being that they own Epiphone and manufactured the guitar in their plant? Mahogany neck and body. Have the option of vibrato or a hard tail. One P-90 pickup that sounds fantastic. Serial # 223200 etched into back of head stock. Would anyone here know where I could get an honest value for it? I tried some vintage guitar collectors and getting varying figures. Thank you! BTW it's in great shape. All original parts. Well cared for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 Gbase would maybe be your best bet as they tend to have quite a few vintage guitars all the time from all over the place. I own a 60's Epi and they are popular enough but not nearly so much as SG's (the Gibson equivilent) as they are not as well known and not used by as many famous musicians back in the day. Quality wise, they are identical to 60's Gibsons (same materials, factory, workers etc) but they are not Gibsons by name. Of the different models the Coronet is fairly popular as a few known players used them. Without even looking I'm going to guess they range from $2-3000, assuming it's Cherry red, which was most common, but check out Gbase and remember those are dealer prices and the price they actually get (or a private seller can expect) might well be somewhat lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Writersings Posted October 27, 2016 Author Share Posted October 27, 2016 Gbase would maybe be your best bet as they tend to have quite a few vintage guitars all the time from all over the place. I own a 60's Epi and they are popular enough but not nearly so much as SG's (the Gibson equivilent) as they are not as well known and not used by as many famous musicians back in the day. Quality wise, they are identical to 60's Gibsons (same materials, factory, workers etc) but they are not Gibsons by name. Of the different models the Coronet is fairly popular as a few known players used them. Without even looking I'm going to guess they range from $2-3000, assuming it's Cherry red, which was most common, but check out Gbase and remember those are dealer prices and the price they actually get (or a private seller can expect) might well be somewhat lower. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cunningham26 Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 Reverb is also a good resource https://reverb.com/p/epiphone-coronet-electric-guitar These are definitely some of the more sought after epiphone electrics from that era- they weren't a copy of a gibson model, and were as good as any gibson, and are somewhat rare. you should do well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Writersings Posted October 28, 2016 Author Share Posted October 28, 2016 Reverb is also a good resource https://reverb.com/p/epiphone-coronet-electric-guitar These are definitely some of the more sought after epiphone electrics from that era- they weren't a copy of a gibson model, and were as good as any gibson, and are somewhat rare. you should do well! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Mustard Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Thank you! +1 on that. Epiphone Company was bought by Gibson in 1957, after Epiphone fell on hard times. Epiphone guitars made in the Gibson plant in Kalamazoo were made by the same small group of luthiers and craftsmen (and women) who made the Holy Grail Les Pauls and ES-335s and SGs of the day. That's who made your Epiphone. The same excellent workers. You have a real prize. Early 60s Epiphones were used by many pros and stars of the time. Johnny Winter played an Epi Wilshire. So did Wayne Kramer of the MC-5. There are no flies on early '60s Epiphones. And there are not too many of them either, so they command decent prices. Later 60s Epiphones fell victim to competition from Japanese "budget" guitar makers, and Gibson ended up transferring Epiphone production to various unfortunate places. Bad news... It was not until Gibson bought and set up the TsingTao factory that Epi production began to get its reputation back. Epiphone has recently re-issued the Wilshire (similar to the Coronet) because the demand is there. New ones are fine... and I own an Epiphone Wilshire replica made in Tsingtao in 2006 and also an ES-339 P-90 pro made in 2014. I like both of these very much, and after some modifications they can take their place alongside "better" guitars costing eight to ten times as much, and not give up a thing. Old ones are sought out by collectors and players alike. So don't accept a low ball offer on your vintage Epi. What I would recommend is you take it to a qualified guitar appraiser and get a written appraisal done. This will cost you a few bucks, but will be worth it if you intend to sell. You may need to do some looking and/or some traveling in order to get the appraisal done. But that's who you should believe. Not someone from an internet forum. A real appraiser, such as they have at Elderly Instruments in Lansing Mi... or Gruhn's guitars in Nashville. There are others... seek and ye shall find. Good luck with your guitar quest. Me, I wouldn't sell it. I'd play it. But that's up to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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