TSIBERT Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Hello Im new to the forum and have a quick question about my Epiphone its an FT-145 and the serial number is 524830. I would be very interested to know any info about this age, current retail prie etc.. Its in need of abit of a service the machine heads buzz can anyone recomend what I should replace them with? Cheers Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 "Iconoclast' is the resident expert on this subject, but as it interest me I'll put in my 2¢ worth Sold new in early to mid 70's. Serial numbers did not mean much as far as dating these Japanese built Epis. These were introduced shortly after Gibson and Epiphone was sold to a company called Norlin. Their claim to understanding musical instruments was that their main business was making cement in Brazil. :D A sales brochure, dated Feb 1, 1974 unearth on the internet shows that the FT-145 had a suggest retail price of $132.50 plus 16.50 for a 'Durabilt' case (chipboard) or $55.00 for a hard shell case. It came in natural blonde or golden sunburst. My avatar is of my FT-145SB 'Texan'. Not to be confused with earlier Epiphone 'Texans'. In order to make these FTs more affordable, Norlin opted for a bolt on neck arrangement. Fender too tried this. Unfortunately, they muffed the design and the glue joint at the neck block was weak and prone to failure. The following thread illustrates the mode of failure and how I fixed my FT-145SB Click here: >>>Fixing a Norlin FT<<< What is yours worth now? In playable, clean condition at least as much as it sold for new, maybe more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 "Iconoclast' is the resident expert on this subject' date=' but as it interest me I'll put in my 2¢worth Sold new in early to mid 70's. Serial numbers did not mean much as far as dating these Japanese built Epis. These were introduced shortly after Gibson and Epiphone was sold to a company called Norlin. Their claim to understanding musical instruments was that their main business was making cement in Brazil. A sales brochure, dated Feb 1, 1974 unearth on the internet shows that the FT-145 had a suggest retail price of $132.50 plus 16.50 for a 'Durabilt' case (chipboard) or $55.00 for a hard shell case. It came in natural blonde or golden sunburst. My avatar is of my FT-145SB 'Texan'. Not to be confused with earlier Epiphone 'Texans'. In order to make these FTs more affordable, Norlin opted for a bolt on neck arrangement. Fender too tried this. Unfortunately, they muffed the design and the glue joint at the neck block was weak and prone to failure. The following thread illustrates the mode of failure and how I fixed my FT-145SB Click here: >>>Fixing a Norlin FT<<< What is yours worth now? In playable, clean condition at least as much as it sold for new, maybe more. Hey, don't stick this on me lol... you know as much as much as I do about them (and far more about repairing them) and you said exactly what I probably would have....but I think ECL (the company that bought CMI and from whence Norlin was conceived) was more famous for its Ecuadorean beer... ...and Al's your uncle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Hey' date=' don't stick this on me lol... you know as much as much as I do about them (and far more about repairing them) and you said exactly what I probably would have....but I think ECL (the company that bought CMI and from whence Norlin was conceived) was more famous for its Ecuadorean beer... ...and Al's your uncle.[/quote'] Like it or not Icon' Most of what I know I got from you and.... what's his name... ???? MrGregg!, that's it! What book of knowledge did you read to get the lowdown on those Aria model numbers they used in '71 before they went to the "FT" nomenclature? I'd love to read it some time. Let's see... Cement... Beer..... guitars..... Yup, makin's of a great garage band. ... and who's Al and which aunt of mine did he marry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Like it or not Icon' Most of what I know I got from you and.... what's his name... ???? MrGregg!' date=' that's it! What book of knowledge did you read to get the lowdown on those Aria model numbers they used in '71 before they went to the "FT" nomenclature? I'd love to read it some time. Let's see... Cement... Beer..... guitars..... Yup, makin's of a great garage band. ... and who's Al and which aunt of mine did he marry? [/quote'] Mr. Greg...oh, that guy. OK I confess...I have a 1971 Epiphone catalog of the very first Epiphone imports and there is a Aria guitar web site... and there was a gentleman named Tad Mura..and between those three sources...my wealth of information was acquired...(and maybe a bit of help from Mr. Greg)...the Epi model number epiphany occurred one day when I was at a flea market and came across an old Aria acoustic guitar that looked exactly like those bolt-on Epiphone models of the early 70's...and the model number was "6732" which happened to be the corresponding Epiphone model number...and then after that I came across more Aria models from that earlier era with similar model numbers including 5102 which was the Aria electric hollow body that later became the Epiphone EA-250 but was first the Aria 5102... http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html so...you see? It's all really very simple. http://www.matsumoku.org/models/models.html I just read at the site where it's forbidden to link to those pages so anyone who ends up there don't tell them it was me OK? I'd hate to be taken to a Japanese prison or something for violation of the ancient Matsumoku code.. and Al's your uncle but I swear, I never laid a hand on your aunt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Ahhh... thanks Iconoclast for the trip down memory lane. And yes, this site is the one I was referring to with the 1974 catalog. The first time I saw a flying V was in a music store in Peoria, IL, behind Nortwoods mall. Probably about 1978 or so. It was the durnedest thing I'd ever seen. :D Could have been a Gibson, but who knows. I wasn't all that interested in electrics at that time. But... If I were I'd have me one of those Epiphone Scrolls, on looks alone. D**n that is just so-o cool looking. :) The others that looked like a cross between a Strat and a Tele with the E between the p'ups, Crestwood, I think, are plenty easy on the eyes too, especially the one with that strawberry/honey burst. Wow! Too bad Epiphone has to follow Gibson's lead on body style... Or do they? You listenin' Mother Epiphone? btw, you link is okay. They don't want anyone linking a pic. Uses up too much of THEIR 'puter power. I also seem to recall hearing about and seeing an solid body electric Epi that used the "SC" nomenclature.. SC-5, maybe.. It looked like a LesPaul with a pointed cut-out. May not have been Aria made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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