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1938 Epiphone Triumph
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Serial #: 12577, Masterbilt label
Body size at lower bout: 17 3/8" Scale length: 25 1/2". Nut width: 1 10/16"
Finish: Sunburst finish, nitrocellulose lacquer type
Materials: Solid bookmatched hand carved spruce top; solid hand carved maple back; Honduras mahogany neck with 3-ply walnut/maple centerstripe; Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with mother of pearl diamond inlays; ornate "snowflake" style mother-of-pearl peghead inlay, 3-ply top binding, bound fingerboard and headstock.
Hardware: 100% original hardware includes rare original engraved nickel tailpiece, nickel open-back Grover tuners, original serial-numbered compensated Brazilian rosewood bridge, bound tiger-stripe tortoise pickguard
Notes: This guitar from early 1938 is a transitional model, and one of the last equipped with the rare and attractive Epiphone stamped flat plate tailpiece. The arched peghead design is one of Epi's rarest as well, seen only between 1936 and 1938, as well as the rounded body style and larger f-holes. This guitar is in extraordinary condition, with all original finish and hardware, including an original bound pickguard of vivid translucent tiger stripe tortoise, a material unavailable at any price for decades. The original adjustable bridge is stamped with the serial number on the underside of the foot, and the pearl work includes the graceful prewar snowflake peghead inlay, inlaid with exceptional skill.
The voice is big and vibrant, with exceptional projection, and the neck is distinctly fast for a prewar guitar, with a slightly veed profile that sits nicely in the hand. Apart from a longish scratch from the bass f-hole to the fingerboard, and a few scattered finish dings on the back and neck, the guitar shows remarkably little play wear for an instrument of its vintage. An outstanding example of one of the rarest versions of Epiphone's most popular professional guitar.
Setup: The frets have been precision leveled, recrowned and polished; trussrod tension and neck relief adjusted; 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-.057). 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: Original Epiphone hardshell case.
