Dedicated to jazz music performed (mainly) on archtop guitars.
Nicolai Foss
This highly unusual Triumph may not be the very first Epi archtop, but it is the oldest Joe at Archtop.com has seen, so it is quite likely that this is in fact numero uno. Note the very reasonable price. With the dollar at (almost) an all-time low, this should be seriously interesting for Euro-collectors.
Nicolai Foss
Here. What an amazing piece it is!
Nicolai Foss
Though usually associated with the SelMac, his main instrument, Django Reinhardt played many other guitars during his career, including a Gretsch Synchromatic, a Gibson L5, and an Epiphone Zephyr. Django played the archtops during US tour in 1946, but apparently only the Zephyr went back to France with him. Here is the story of Django’s Epi #3442.
Apropos: Are any of the O&M readers able to identify those Django recordings where he is playing the Zephyr and those where he is playing his Selmer with the Stimer pick-up?
Nicolai Foss
OK, at the moment I am Sundance, Utah, for a conference. It is a highly interesting conference, and I don’t want to leave. Besides, I have to deliver a talk. While chilling out in my log cabin today, I happened to come across the site of Intermountain Guitar and Banjo — located … you guessed it, in Salt Lake City.Why is this a problem? Well, IGB has an inventory that features the most amazing classic Epiphones (check out those two Emperors) plus lots of great Gibsons. And as readers of this blog know, I am an Epi nut. Hmmm, perhaps I can find a way to sneak out tomorrow.
Nicolai Foss
Here. A very clean example, judging from the (not too good) pics. In fact, most Emperors are pretty clean. It must have been obvious from the beginning that these were as much investments as tools.
Nicolai Foss
Yes, that is right, no less than three specimens of what some consider to be the best ever factory-made archtop. My dream is to one day be able to amass the amount of money that is required to buy an Emperor, but I got to admit that a Deluxe wouldn’t be a bad second choice.
OK, here is, first, an appr. 1932, 16” Masterbilt Deluxe. Overall very pretty (note the front and the back of the headstock), but with some ugly damage to the finish near the left f-hole and a repair to the back. It will be interesting to see what price this rare and beautiful guitar ends at. Second, here is a 1940s Deluxe, and, third, here is an extremely clean example from 1946.
Nicolai Foss
This is from the excellent Freddie Green site:
The acoustic arch-top version of the Emperor was discontinued around 1957, but in subsequent years the name has been used to name several electric models, such as the Emperor II, Emperor Regent, and Joe Pass Emperor. These instruments have very little in common with acoustic arch-top version that Freddie Green used. Under the ownership of Gibson, Epiphone offered a Japanese-made Emperor acoustic re-issue in limited quantities for a short time during the mid 1990’s.
I have not been able to find info on this Emperor acoustic re-issue, nor have I ever seen it offered for sale. Can anyone help?
UPDATE: Here is a bit of info on these guitars.
Nicolai Foss
We need to have penal code that will allow the legal system to prosecute people who commit this kind of crime! Grrrrr….
UPDATE: Here is one more Blackstone massacre, not as bad as the first one, but surely bad enough!! Why can’t people do this to real craptops only, like Harmony or Framus arctops, and leave quality archtops alone?
Nicolai Foss
… and a very specialized one indeed: It is entirely dedicated to gather and publish information about the inexpensive but pretty Epiphone Olympic archtop guitar. 23 members (including yours truly).
Nicolai Foss
There seems to be an unusual amount of beautiful Epi archtops on ebay at the moment, including a stunning 1951 Zephyr Deluxe Regent, a cool little Zenith, another Zenith with a New York pick-up assembly,an Olympic with a Silvertone pickup, a fantastic Deluxe (hefty price!), and a somewhat less fantastic Deluxe.
