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Topic: A unique Epiphone/Electar: what did I just buy? |
Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 9 Feb 2012 9:52 am |
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I just bought this off Ebay for $300; (click here for pics). I usually don't have the lutherie skills to take on "project" guitars, but I can re-glue binding and install a tuner; supposedly the electronics are working fine. It looks like a single-neck Rocco crossed with an early Model M. I believe the absence of "Epiphone" on the top of the name plate also indicates it's real early, probably 1936. Gruhn's book dosn't mention any Model Ms with natural aluminum tops.
And... that's all I know about this guitar. I figure it's worth $300 plus a new tuner even if the natural aluminum top turns out to be some later modification. I'd like to think, though, that it's some sort of historically important one-off or prototype. Any thoughts either way? |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 9 Feb 2012 10:02 am
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Yours is a Model M, but I think the first Model Ms all had Herb Sunshine's pickup in them. [After checking, Herb's pickup wasn't used until a few years after the Electar line's introduction. It appears you have an early Model M. There was a big Electar dealer in Newport, Rhode Island--can't remember the name, an Italian name, and I'll bet this is where that guitar first originated from.] I have seen them with Rick H-shoe pickups before, though. Interesting.
The Model M was my first steel guitar, which I picked up at Englishtown Flea market a little more than 20 years ago. for $25 I still have mine, but it's been modded with a new pickup. Whoever owned mine originally (his name was Artie and he was from Newark, NJ--it's carved into the guitar's headstock) painted the whole top black. I was never able to remove the paint. Not a bad guitar at all.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 9 Feb 2012 10:24 am
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Deleted
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 2 Aug 2012 9:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 9 Feb 2012 10:28 am
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| Woah - I looked through all the old Epiphone catalogs I could find online (not many from the '30s, unfortunately) but couldn't find a pic like that. That's clearly my guitar, though. Any idea what year it's from? |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 9 Feb 2012 10:54 am
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Probably '37, the year they were introduced.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 9 Feb 2012 11:14 am
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| Apparently I should learn to use the search function better, because there's already an answer to my questions in this thread. Looks like mine is from '35 or '36. |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 9 Feb 2012 2:46 pm
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Is that one of the companies that got sort of a "cease & desist' thing from Rickenbacher, about the horse shoe pickup ? Seems I remember to reading something about that years ago.
Anyway, it's a cool guitar, and some TLC will make is a cool instrument. 
Let us know how it turns out and sounds  |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 19 Feb 2012 7:48 pm Epiphone Electar steels...
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Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 2 Aug 2012 9:51 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 19 Feb 2012 7:51 pm
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Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 2 Aug 2012 9:51 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 19 Feb 2012 7:54 pm
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Deleted
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 2 Aug 2012 9:51 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 19 Feb 2012 8:02 pm
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Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 2 Aug 2012 9:51 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 20 Feb 2012 5:20 am
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Very cool photos!
Mine's not that clean, but I've got it all set up - replaced the missing tuner, glued down the binding, put strings on - and it sounds great. Most of the nickel plating has worn off, but you have to look very closely to see it. Fortunately the electronics all work fine, though I suspect that the tone pot has been replaced. I used to have a Model M with a black top and black horseshoe pickup (like this one), and I remember the tone being quite different. This one is very mellow and round, with a hint of the Rickenbacker sound you'd expect from this pickup but still with its own character. There's excellent balance across the strings - much better than with the '50s Rick steel I used to have. |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Posted 20 Feb 2012 5:12 pm
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I'm smitten by that 7-string. Dang!!
...but why 3 knobs? |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 21 Feb 2012 12:30 pm
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Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 2 Aug 2012 9:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 28 Feb 2012 10:20 am
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Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 2 Aug 2012 9:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 4 Mar 2012 4:58 pm Model year
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Hi, I have 3 Model M's.
One is a great 36 Mint condition with Ric type pickup
I have a 37 6 string with true balance pickup
I also have a 37 7string I just bought.
with true balance pick up
I went to a website that has early Epi serial numbers.
The numbers on my headstocks match the years that
they were advertisd as made.
You should find a link to this site if you google Epiphone History.
I think if it was a 36 your serial number would be under 500. |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 4 Mar 2012 6:20 pm
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| The serial is 334; I looked it up a while back in Gruhn's Guide, and it's 1936. |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2012 1:57 am 36 M
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Makes sense to me.
Mine sounds fantastic.
Arlen Roth features a Model M 36 with horseshoe in his
DVD, Lap Steel Guitar. Where I got inspired to buy mine; nice for Jackson Brown, David Lindley runs.
You won't regret it. I found the best sound with D'Addario
XL medium flat wound chrome strings. Great bass. |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2012 1:58 am 36 M
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Makes sense to me.
Mine sounds fantastic.
Arlen Roth features a Model M 36 with horseshoe in his
DVD, Lap Steel Guitar. Where I got inspired to buy mine; nice for Jackson Brown, David Lindley runs.
You won't regret it. I found the best sound with D'Addario
XL medium flat wound chrome strings. Great bass. |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2012 1:58 am 36 M
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Makes sense to me.
Mine sounds fantastic.
Arlen Roth features a Model M 36 with horseshoe in his
DVD, Lap Steel Guitar. Where I got inspired to buy mine; nice for Jackson Brown, David Lindley runs.
You won't regret it. I found the best sound with D'Addario
XL medium flat wound chrome strings. Great bass. |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2012 1:59 am 36 M
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Makes sense to me.
Mine sounds fantastic.
Arlen Roth features a Model M 36 with horseshoe in his
DVD, Lap Steel Guitar. Where I got inspired to buy mine; nice for Jackson Brown, David Lindley runs.
You won't regret it. I found the best sound with D'Addario
XL medium flat wound chrome strings. Great bass. |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2012 2:00 am 36 M
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Makes sense to me.
Mine sounds fantastic.
Arlen Roth features a Model M 36 with horseshoe in his
DVD, Lap Steel Guitar. Where I got inspired to buy mine; nice for Jackson Brown, David Lindley runs.
You won't regret it. I found the best sound with D'Addario
XL medium flat wound chrome strings. Great bass. |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2012 2:01 am 36 M
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Makes sense to me.
Mine sounds fantastic.
Arlen Roth features a Model M 36 with horseshoe in his
DVD, Lap Steel Guitar. Where I got inspired to buy mine; nice for Jackson Brown, David Lindley runs.
You won't regret it. I found the best sound with D'Addario
XL medium flat wound chrome strings. Great bass. |
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Gary S. Lynch
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2012 2:02 am 36 M
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Makes sense to me.
Mine sounds fantastic.
Arlen Roth features a Model M 36 with horseshoe in his
DVD, Lap Steel Guitar. Where I got inspired to buy mine; nice for Jackson Brown, David Lindley runs.
You won't regret it. I found the best sound with D'Addario
XL medium flat wound chrome strings. Great bass. |
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