Modded Epiphone DeLuxe

Brunerd1489

Just wanted to show you guys my modded archtop. It started as a regular Epiphone Masterbilt DeLuxe. At the time I was a touring musician and needed an acoustic for an unmiked encore but also an electric for the regular set. I added Kent Armstrong floating pickups but got into Pasquale Grasso at the time and then changed them to PAFs that I modded by making them floating. After a few years I found I wanted more upper fret access and the guitar had devalued some so I made the decision to give it a cutaway. It plays well, sounds alright acoustic but isn't super loud (all the mass of pots on the soundboard even though the pickups are floating), and I've been able to use it for a few recordings so far. It still has the crappy piezo bridge and electronics inside but that never gets used.

How it started:

Mid Process:

How it is now:

Russell Letson

If it's like the "Masterbilts" I sampled when they first appeared, it was an acoustically mediocre guitar to begin with--thin and nasal. I suppose some of that mediocrity can be moderated by adding a decent floating pickup, but these Masterbilts-in-name-only are nothing like their actual-Epiphone ancestors. (FWIW, my first archtop was/is a '46 Broadway that currently wears a repro DeArmond. It sounds like what it is--an actual orchestral archtop.)

voutoreenie

I worked at a music shop back when those Epis were released, tried a ton of them over the years...never found a good one, or at least anything remotely comparable to my 1951 Triumph Regent.

@Russell Letson very cool you have that '46 Broadway, I've got a DeArmond 1100 on my Triumph Regent as well, was my "workhorse" archtop back in the 2000s during my pre-Selmer and pre-rest stroke days when I was doing a ton of Freddie Green comping - Epiphone sure made some beautiful archtops through the 40s into the early 50s.

eta: sorry for the thread drift - that's a very cool cutaway conversion OP, looks seamless

paulmcevoy75

are there any decent cheapish archtops?

I have a friend who has an Eastman Otto Dambrosio, it's a really modern guitar, I really dig it.

I wouldn't mind having a decent archtop to play.

voutoreenie

Paul, I think you may have answered your own question - imo, those Eastman archtops are pretty dang sweet for the coin, way better than the "masterbilt" Epis

Brunerd1489

Well thanks for crapping in my sandwich, guys.

No, it's not a great sounding archtop but the tone is noticeably diminished when I tested the pickups touching the top. I just also like modding and building electric guitars, thus the customizing. This was a good way to learn how to do wood bending and Florentine cutaways which I hope to eventually do when my kids are older and I have more free time. It has a cool thuddy sound on the low strings unplugged, which I've actually used for recording in a more percussive, palm muted way for my rock band. Kinda like tic-tac for power chords and little lines. It's an interesting sound.

voutoreenie

@Brunerd1489 you did an awesome job man! Apologies if anything I said came off differently, love everything you did to soup up the Epi - looks like an awesome jazz box and putting in that cutaway is a testament to your vision/talent

Brunerd1489

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/122593#Comment_122593

It's ok, had a long day. It really only gets used for my hack jazz recordings that my friend sometimes recruits me for, or playing unplugged at home. When I did have to bring it out into the crowd for those encore things it never was loud enough (shoulda gotten a GJ guitar back then 😉).

The neck pickup especially is fat because it's jammed right up against the end of the fretboard.

MikeK

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/122588#Comment_122588

Paul--I have really nice Epiphone archtop for sale here on the forum. It's a Zephyr Regent, kind of a poor man's ES-175. It plays and looks great. It's $825 + $150 shipping. Check out the original post & PM me if you want more info.

littlemark

Good job on the pickguard change. Yeah, not great acoustic instruments but when you put those pickups on it, seems like a good base to build on.

ChrisMartin

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/122588#Comment_122588

I have had several '50s to '70s Hofners down the years and while possibly rarer in the USA there are plenty to choose from in Europe. The cheaper models have laminated tops but even they have good tone and volume. Probably the same applies to Framus and other similar German archtops. Just beware the early ones that used hide glue often suffer from neck creep and will need a reset, though even that is easy to do on these. The more expensive models, like the UK spec Committee that I still have used solid carved spruce tops, but they will usually be into four figures.