1936 epiphone broadway archtop for sale

colorado_hick

Hey folks- so this is not quite a gypsy guitar but it swings really hard, and the hand-carved walnut back and sides have a bright attack that is not unlike a Dupont MDC-50E I used to have. See the craigslist add for details and pics, PM me or respond to the CL listing with djangobooks in the email if interested.

Thanks!
http://westslope.craigslist.org/msg/3509895851.html

Bohemian

"for sale locally" ?

colorado_hick

That would be my preference, but I live in one of the least densely populated areas of the united states and as such the market for high-end guitars is a bit limited
If someone on the forum is interested i will ship it, well packaged and fully insured. It is my preference that it goes to a player instead of a collector/hoarder and that is why I have not put it on ebay yet.

klaatu

That is a beauty. I own a 1946 Epiphone Triumph that I use in my big band gig, Freddy Green style. IMHO, the New York Epiphone archtops are every bit as good as the more pricy Gibsons, which command higher prices largely due to the name.

A lot of people don't realize that Epiphone didn't always mean budget Gibson, they were in fact Gibson'e biggest competitor in the 30s and early 40s. They were hurt by economic conditions in the 40s and the death of Epaminondas Stathopoulo, company president and son of the founder. His brothers took over but neither was anywhere near the businessman or musician that Epi was. After a disastrous strike in 1951 and relocation to Philadelphia, the company went under and was eventually bought by Gibson. The Gibson people were actually interested in Epiphone's line of upright basses, only to discover that they had bought everything, including tools and dies for making guitars, a great many guitars in various states of completion, and the name. The first Gibson Epiphones were produced from these tools and dies. Eventually they began making low-cost Gibson style guitars under the Epiphone name.

"Epiphone - The House of Stathopoulo" by Jim Fisch and L. B. Fred is a wonderful history of the company, with hundreds of photographs, ads, and catalog pages.

colorado_hick

That is a read- I especially enjoyed insight into the Gibson/Epiphone battle that raged for almost 1/2 century. Gibson did win, and smeared the Epiphone name by using it for their imports, and as a result the early epiphones are a much better deal then the early gibsons.

klaatu

I don't know whether or not Gibson intentionally trashed the Epiphone name by using it for the budget line, which was originally made in the USA before everyone started shipping production to Japan, then Korea, then China (and who knows where next?). But it's true that this had the effect of devaluing vintage Epiphones. Which is in a way good for those of us who want to own one.

The other unfortunate thing they did was recycle some of the model names of the Epi professional models - Broadway, De Luxe, and Emperor. The original Emperor was a magnificent beast, an ornate 18 1/2 inch monster that was AFAIK the biggest archtop ever produced, other than the Strombergs, which reached 19". NOw it's the name of a Chinese built electric cutaway arch top. Real shame.

At least they didn't reuse Triumph, the workhouse of the Epi professional line and a counterpart to the much revered Gibson L-7.

The Emperor was (unfortunately) front and center in one of the all-time great guitar ads, The Emperor and the Maid."

Archtop Eddy

I love USA made WWII and pre-war era Epi archtops! I've owned two in the past and they were both spectacular guitars. As for Gibson-Epiphone guitar wars, I love the story about how Gibson had a slogan "Only a Gibson is Good Enough" and Epi came out with an ad that said "When Good Enough Isn't Enough!" HA HA

The '36 Broadway is a beaut for sure. And, here I live in Colorado -- if I had the bucks, I'd be all over it! Someone's gonna get a truly sweet guitar, fer sure! AE

Stringswinger

I have owned two American made Epis. A 53 Triumph ( which I sold) and a 46 Triumph that I gig with from time to time. Both are (were) superb guitars, a loud as any Selmer style guitar that I have ever played, with (IMO) better tone, though the best Selmer style guitars do "cut" better for playing lead lines without amplification or playing rhythm guitar without a drummer.

The 53 Epi had a giant baseball bat neck that I hated. The 46 has a full, but comfortable neck. Tone on these guitars rivals anything Gibson or D'Angelico made.

I bet the new owner will be quite pleased. Old American archtops of a professional quality are the best guitars ever made.

colorado_hick

The walnut back and sides does give these models more of a selmer-like 'cut', at least more so then other archtops I have played. It is not as sensitive or as responsive as a nice thin-topped Dupont (and presumably selmers as well, having never had the privilege of playing one). Neck on this one is great, smaller then the '54 triumph i sold to buy it.

@klaatu, I liked seeing the emperor and the maid advert. There is another great one i remember seeing (but cant seem to find it now) that had a similar motif but with a blonde girl, and the slogan was 'some gentlemen prefer blondes', of course promoting the natural (non-sunburst) finish. Pretty risque by pre-war standards. I guess jazz guitarists tend to respond to a certain type of aesthetic, I should start looking for a model i can use in my ebay listing!