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1935 Epiphone Broadway
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Serial #: 8050, white Long Island "Epiphone Banjo Corporation" label.
Body size at lower bout: 16 1/2" Scale length: 25 1/2". Nut width: 1 11/16"
Finish: Sunburst finish, nitrocellulose lacquer type
Materials: Hand carved solid spruce top; highly-figured hand carved bookmatched black walnut back and sides; 5 piece mahogany neck with centerstripe; Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with block mother of pearl inlay; triple-bound body; abalone vine pattern peghead inlay in asymmetrical 'Masterbilt' headstock design; pearl block-letter Epiphone logo.
Hardware: Original hardware includes gold trapeze tailpiece; gold Grover Sta-Tite butterbean tuners, and bound bakelite pickguard. 1940's Epiphone rosewood bridge with compensated saddle.
Notes: Between 1931 and 1939, the Epiphone Company, alone among major builders, produced a professional archtop guitar with back and sides of solid black walnut. The result is an instrument with unusually attractive looks, but more. The hard, lightweight walnut back and sides produce a tone that is distinctly more brilliant than ordinary maple guitars. The mids and highs have exceptional projection and a brilliant bell-like tone, making these guitars particularly well suited for acoustic lead guitar. The cutting power on these instruments is simply phenomenal, with the warmth and sustain of finely aged wood.
This remarkable guitar is a transitional example from a time of rapid evolution for the model. Built early in the final year for the 16 1/2" body, this guitar has the short-lived block-letter peghead logo only seen on instruments from '34 and '35. (Interestingly, the body retains the three- piece F-holes of the very earliest Masterbilt guitars. Most of the '34 Broadways we've seen already employed the cello-style f-holes of the later models, and this guitar is by far the latest example we've seen with the old style soundholes.)
Another signature design element of early '30's Epis is the pronounced flare in the fingerboard width from nut to body, reaching almost 2 1/2" at the 20th fret, in contrast to the industry standard of 2 1/4" as used by Gibson. Not long after this guitar was built, Epi reconfigured their fingerboard to the standard width in late 1935, and built all their necks accordingly until the company closed.
The original purchaser of this guitar was one Andrew DeLuca, a professional player who also operated a music store in the Hartford, CT. area. After serving with distinction in WWII, Andy sent his beloved Broadway back to the factory in October of 1947, to have the fingerboard conformed to standard width as decribed above. The company threw in a neck set, fret job, bridge, and a handsome prewar style finish as well, all for the princely sum of $68.55, strings included.
Mr. DeLuca maintained the guitar lovingly in immaculate condition, right down to the genuine Epi repair invoice in the original black hardshell case. Easily the best-preserved example we've seen to date, the guitar is without pick, buckle, thumb or fingerboard wear, and apart from a single short shrinkage crack near the back centerseam now soundly resealed, is otherwise without cracks of any kind. With a fresh set of gleaming pro frets and a gentle D neck profile, the guitar has smooth low action and volume to burn, with the crystalline brilliance only the walnut body can deliver. A simply stunning example of one of our most sought after Epis ever.
Setup: The frets have been precision levelled, recrowned and polished
as necessary; bridge height adjusted; bridge compensation set; string slots
at nut and bridge inspected and recut as necessary; bridge foot contour
inspected and fit to top as necessary; bridge radius inspected and recurved
as necessary; bridgewheels and tuners lubricated; fingerboard and bridge
oiled; body and neck cleaned and hand polished. This instrument is strung
with medium gauge bronze strings (.013-.056). The guitar will accommodate
lighter or heavier gauge strings, according to preference. String action
is set at 5/64" to 6/64" at the 12th fret, with moderate relief
for acoustic playing with medium strings. The action may be lowered or raised
to your requirements with the adjustable bridge.
Case: Plush lined hardshell case.
