mwguitar Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Hello Everyone, New to the Community here. I have a couple of questions... well mostly I just want help. I have this Acoustic Guitar my dad gave me. It was his, he gave to me, and now I wish to give to my sister. But I wanted her to appreciate the guitar for the family history, but also for it's own history. I started researching on the internet and came accross this post: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/38468-need-info-on-a-epiphone-6732/ I read some information here, but i think the Guitar I have has some differences, especially on the label. Mine does NOT say "Union Made". Here are all the pictures I took: Entire Set Of Pictures on Flickr I would like to know everything about this Guitar that you could possibly tell me. I don't intend on selling it, because I am going to give it to my sister. I just want to know the history of it, but still let her know how much it is worth. When was it made, where, how, what kind of wood, where could I get the original parts missing, how much is it worth if anything at all??? What I can tell YOU about it, from what I see and what my dad told me. He thinks he probably bought it at a store or garage sell in Miami, FL in the 1980s, but then again he said maybe a roommate gave it to him. He said it's not an Acoustic Guitar, its an Acoustic-Electric, and that's what the whole in the bottom is for. He said he was cleaning his apartment and actually found the microphone equipment that goes inside that hole about a week or two ago (He lives in Venezuela now, so I don't have a picture of that yet). That is all he could remember. I see that there are some cracks along the body in the front, on the left of the upper bout, and all throughout the lower bout. There are also some weird scratches on the back of the headstock. The pearly butterfly-shaped tuning key is missing from the "D" string tuning peg. The saddle doesn't really "screw" into the guitar itself... when there are no string it just falls off, even-though it has those "screw" looking things on the sides, am I missing something here? Also, (not pictured), the nut is worn off to the side of the low "E" string in a way that the string actually falls off. To solve this, I can see that my "MacGyver-DAD" stuck a nail right above the nut onto the headstock in order to keep the string from falling off the side. So there is a tiny hole + nail stuck to the headstock. The bridge pins look pretty used up. I do not wish to replace the machine heads, just find one little pearly butterfly-shaped tuning key part to replace the missing one. I also want to know if I should keep all these original (even if broken) parts because it is worth something. Or if I should restore all of it and give it to my sister so she can play it. I did put strings on it and I have played it and it sounds fine, although I am not sure about those vertical cracks on the body. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 The 'serial' number is meaningless. Matsumoku serial numbers were anything but. One thing is for certain it was built in 1971. This nomenclature 6### was used very briefly in 1971 when production first moved to Masumoku of Japan. In early 1972, they FT### nomenclature came into effect. The 6### nomenclature was similar to what Masumoku was using on other guitar lines like Aria. The FT nomenclature was resurrected from better days at Gibson/Epiphone. I have heard only one other "E" suffix before here at the forum. The owner did not specify that his was an electric. I assumed it was a manufacturing identification for the Epiphone line. But yours appears to have been an acoustic/electric. I do not know for sure if this was a factory option or if this was installed after the fact. The inside-the-guitar microphone was a common field modification of that era. The cracks on the top are probably cracks in the finish. This usually happens when guitars are subject to extremes of temperature, or severe dehydration. The scratch on the back looks like some sort of impact mark where the guitar fell and hit something or vice versa. The butterfly tuner buttons are OEM. These appear, to me, more at home on a classical style guitar. When the FT series was released, the tuners were chrome plated and more butter bean shaped. I assume that Matsumoku used these until they could acquire tuners which looked more like those you usually find on a folk style guitar. Good luck finding a replacement button. I don't think anyone makes those anymore. Your best bet is to acquire a parts guitar or neck to cannibalize. These show up on Ebay every so often. "Union Made" This was printed on the blue Epiphone labels for Kalamazoo, Mi. production. When production moved to Japan, these labels were shipped to Japan for production use until blue labels could be acquired without the "Union Made" printed on them. Two of the three examples I've seen show the "Union Made" lined out with black marker and "Made in Japan" rubber stamped in the lower right. At least one I've seen missed this edit. i.e. unmodified K'zoo label on a Japan made guitar. The black mark-out and "Made in Japan" ink have faded, revealing the original text. This guitar is made of all laminated woods. Mahogany back and sides with 'select spruce' (laminate) top. This guitar has a bolt-on neck. Behind the black plate on the back are four #12 wood screws which hold the neck on. I gathered this from a posting years ago:> > > Brief History of Epiphone < < < Here is a > > > 1974 catalog < < <. Yours is the equivalent of the FT130. Inspect the guitar neck block for failure. This is a common problem on this vintage of guitar. The following link shows the mode of failure and my fix. > > > Fixing a broke neck Norlin FT < < < What happened to the nut is that the plastic probably got brittle and the string broke off the end of the nut. Mine did the same. Get the nut replaced for sis'. The adjustable saddle is complete. Most usually, one or both screws get lost. On this price point of guitar the saddle will fall off without strings. The saddle is grooved and showing fatigue cracks. I would get a new saddle to fit the adjuster. Or... some have had extra wide saddles made to fit the 1/4" wide slot. Save the adjuster for posterity. This guy: http://www.guitarsaddles.com/pricing.asp makes custom saddles. At one time he had a picture of an extra wide/deep saddle to drop in to this type of Epiphone bridge slot. I don't see it any more. But you can email him your needs. I think, if memory serves me and sometimes it don't, the saddle was in the $25 - $35 range... but that was a couple years ago. Or... you could just get an off the shelf saddle to fit the holder. This guitar is not worth a TON of money, but is more valued as a family heirloom. In playable condition with a solid neck block $100 - $200. Probably, this one is worth less due to the top cracks. As an heirloom, it would probably be worth any repairs to strengthen the neck to make it playable. Beyond that, leave the rest as patina of honest wear applied by your father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 The butterfly tuner buttons are OEM. These appear, to me, more at home on a classical style guitar. When the FT series was released, the tuners were chrome plated and more butter bean shaped. I assume that Matsumoku used these until they could acquire tuners which looked more like those you usually find on a folk style guitar. Good luck finding a replacement button. I don't think anyone makes those anymore. Your best bet is to acquire a parts guitar or neck to cannibalize. These show up on Ebay every so often. The tuner buttons are original. They show up on the 6732 in the 1971 catalogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwguitar Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 WOW... Thank you very very much for all the information. Now I am exited to get it fixed to give to my sister... TommyK, great information, thank you very, very much. The guitar neck block looks good to me, but I could be wrong. I might take it down to the guitar shop and ask someone who is more knowledgeable to tell me, and also help me fix it up for my sister. --------- Also, my dad had given me another guitar, an electric one. I couldn't bring it from Venezuela, so now he gave it to my sister as well. She has it now, and I have only low quality photos available. It's a Gallan Les Paul Imitation??? I have no idea. I tried researching online, and came up with nothing about this company. Well I did find ONE website translated from japanese that spoke about it. I just didn't know if anyone here would know anything about it. Maybe I'll post the pics, if anyone thinks they can help me with that one. MW Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 The tuner buttons are original. They show up on the 6732 in the 1971 catalogue. YOU have a 1971 catalogue? Can you post? Does it have an electric option listed for any of the flat tops? WOW... Thank you very very much for all the information. Now I am exited to get it fixed to give to my sister... TommyK, great information, thank you very, very much. The guitar neck block looks good to me, but I could be wrong. I might take it down to the guitar shop and ask someone who is more knowledgeable to tell me, and also help me fix it up for my sister. --------- Also, my dad had given me another guitar, an electric one. I couldn't bring it from Venezuela, so now he gave it to my sister as well. She has it now, and I have only low quality photos available. It's a Gallan Les Paul Imitation??? I have no idea. I tried researching online, and came up with nothing about this company. Well I did find ONE website translated from japanese that spoke about it. I just didn't know if anyone here would know anything about it. Maybe I'll post the pics, if anyone thinks they can help me with that one. MW Thanks again. Glad to be of service. Back during the folk music craze of the 1960's even Harmony couldn't keep up with demand. There were a lot of upstart companies making guitars or, rather, having guitars made for them to fill the supply gap to meet demand. I had, for a brief time, a Castilla banjo, made in, I suspect, the late 60's or early 70's. It appeared to be a no-name banjo with a hastily applied label which said simply, "Castilla". Probably some music shop who imported some no-name classical guitars and applied a Spanish sounding name. Then decided to augment his stock with banjos.... I guess. Your sisters' Gallin is probably in the same boat. Hers is probably a Les Paul copy. Many companies made copies of Stratocasters as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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