About the foil "E" on pickguards....

[dhanners623]

Particularly on Texans. I've seen some vintage Texans that had the silver foil "E" on the pickguards, and I've seen some that don't. Was there a year range they were used, or do some older pickguards not have them because the "E" fell off, or what?

[TommyK]

The latter.

 

My 1974ish FT145SB has a painted on epsilon, that shows no intention of fading, flaking or just plain falling off. It is as if the paint has become part and parcel with the pick guard plastic. Some time after that, the EPA made manufacturers take lead, chrome and other carcinogenic phenols out of industrial paints is where we see the graphics of Epiphones and Gibsons, and possibly other manufacturers, being less durable.

 

At one point the epsilon was a stick on film label, at other times it was a three dimensional appliqué. These have been known to fall off.

 

With few exceptions, though, Epiphones have left the factory with an epsilon on the guard.

[frenchie1281734003]

Particularly on Texans. I've seen some vintage Texans that had the silver foil "E" on the pickguards' date=' and I've seen some that don't. Was there a year range they were used, or do some older pickguards not have them because the "E" fell off, or what?[/quote']

 

The last year that the Kalamazoo made Epiphones had foil "E"s, was 1965. After that they started to use the ridge one, which is still in use, although what with the IB64 Texan, and IB65 Lennon models, it seems as though the Foil "E" is making a comeback.