fws6 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 This is my first post..... No disrespect to the current Epiphone guitars, but I am a BIG fan of the original Epiphone guitars, those made before 1957. Especially the acoustic archtops in my opinion are better than any other make, new or vintage. So I wondered, are there other vintage Epi fans on this board ? Or am I in the wrong place here, are there other boards spoecifically dedicated to vintage / pre-Gibson Epi's ?? If anyone cares to take a peek here are mine (link) --> my vintage gear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMcClane5000 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I'm a fan of Vintage gear too! Unfortunately I'm still a young chap and cannot afford the BEAUTIFUL guitars I've seen on your MySpace page (those Gretsches...... *droooooooooooooooool*). Unfortunately I'm not very informed about the super-old Epis =( Anyways welcome to this forum. It's much less "I know stuff better than you because I have 232545747467456 Posts and I'm older and more expierienced" (than on other Forums....) and more like "Live And Let Live"... (This forum) I hope you enjoy 'us' Cheers JM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fws6 Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 Live And Let Live is fine with me Just curious if there are more archtop fans out there.... or if people can recommend other websites for vintage Epiphone fans. Etc. BTW I am not that old... 'just' 38...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ship of fools Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I just recently sold off some of my old vintage archtops, love them to death but was afraid of playing them anymore as they were always kept in pristine condition and frankly I thought I was the only one that enjoyed the music that they would sing. Little did I know there is a very large group out there that covet these beauties and really know what they are all about and was overly surprised at what they sold for in a very closed market, and I think you'll find that we have a large group here who enjoy and love these babies,( maybe a lot who can't afford them, but there is even more who wish they could ) as for other forums who appreciate these older archtops sorry don't know of any bigger fans then myself, but that goes with out saying.Ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Over the past 45 or so years I have tried more Epi archtops built between the early 1930s and early 1950s that I can recall. While they sure gave Gibson a run for their money when they came out with that line of carved top guitars in 1931, I never could find one I could make peace with. My favorites though were the guitars built between 1937 when they went to a wider body and 1943 when Epi died. But may give it another shot - a friend has a late 1930s Emperor he asked me if I would be intersted in. I may run by this weekend and pick it up and give it a whirl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 While I hope you continue to share and post here... you will find an number of Epi arch top afficionados on the Gibson forum as well. It is a seperate forum, run but essentially the same people, but you need to register there seperately. If you're lucky, you'll be able to use your same nom de internet there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fws6 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 >I just recently sold off some of my old vintage archtops So SOF what did you sell; and more importantly what have you got left ? >a friend has a late 1930s Emperor Cool... let me know what you think of it once you tried ... mine is a 45 and it sounds great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ship of fools Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I sold off all of my arch tops, I am not one to collect and watch them gather dust or sit in their cases like they did for so long.De Luxe was the hardest to let go, and the next were the Emperor, triumph and the Zenith was given back to the original owner and I have no arch tops left in my stable. Can't see a reason to keep one as it wouldn't get much play by me or any record time. But I will always be a fan of them, when they are played well they have a truly wonderful loud rich voice of their own and they want to be played and if I were to replace any I would like to try a Recording Model C, so for now I play only one Epiphone that has its only great qualities and actually made me money along the way of owning it, so thats that. But I would love to hear some sound clips of your De Luxe Regent 51 an 53 is your 51 an unbound body.Ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fws6 Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Thats a shame .... it must be hard to sell a deluze for sure they are wonderful My 51 Deluxe doesnt have binding at the f holes as was normal at that time; it also has a 18,5 body so very big and booming sound, lots of volume, beautiful midrange The 53 Deluxe is 17" like an L5 (just sounds a lot better) - it was Bill Leavitt 's guitar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leavitt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Not quite sure I would call any archtop short of a Stromberg Master 400 "boomy" - not at least when compared to a good Martin dread. To my ears I always found the lows chunky - somewhat similar to what you hear in old Gibson flattops. The archtops are usually quick with alot of punch and midrange. A good one will have a trebly, cutting edge which was what was needed to cut through on a dance floor. But then I have also played some not so great Epi archtops that sounded thin and tinny in the upper register. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterbuilt Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 fws6, nice collection! I love old Epi archtops, especially the early 1930s Masterbilt models. My c. 1933 Olympic gets a lot of play - tiny in size but not in voice! m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fws6 Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 thanks for the compliment. I would really like to have a MasterBilt era model too, like a 38 Deluxe or so, that will probably be my next guitar.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterbuilt Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Late '30s Epis tend to have a rather narrow neck, often even less than the 1 11/16" nut width which became standard after 1939. If you like them slim, great. Personally I prefer the wider necks (1 3/4" at nut) typical for pre-1935 examples. My c. 1935 Blackstone also still has the "old" wider neck, as has my c. 1933 Olympic. I just love the look, feel and tone of the early ones! m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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