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The Epiphone Zenith evolved significantly over a period of five years during the early 1930s. The Masterbuilt model was introduced as a smaller 13-5/8” wide archtop in 1931. By 1934 – the year this example was built – the Zenith’s body had enlarged to 14-3/4” wide. For 1936, the Zenith was enlarged even further to 16-3/8”. Throughout this evolution, the Zenith featured a single-bound body of carved spruce and walnut, with a fairly simple appointments and a subtle sunburst finish.

This example is a wonderfully preserved guitar that has just been through our repairshop for a neck reset, new frets, and setup. Its playability is excellent, and we’re all fans of its smooth, focused, and responsive small-archtop tone that’s naturally well suited to melodic lead playing. We have it strung with 12-53 strings.

This guitar was brought to us by its second owner, who’s had it for some years. The original, long-time owner affixed an army-style name tag to the back of the headstock which remains in place still. If you’ve needed a reason to visit Gulfport, Mississippi, grab this guitar and hit the road.

Crack-free and well cared for, this guitar is original save for a vintage-looking new ebony bridge made here and new frets. The finish is in lovely condition and has an attractive patina, with a little bit of playwear and honest evidence of being used.

The neck has a soft V/C carve and a contemporary feel. Its nut measures 1-11/16” and its first fret neck depth is .835”. Scale length is 25.4”, and neck depth at the 9th fret is .998”.

With original hardshell case

1935 Epiphone Zenith vintage acoustic archtop guitar

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This might be the ultimate player-grade pre-war 00-sized Martin. It sounds as good as they get and it has the most comfortable neck that any of us can remember holding on a Martin. It has some honest repairs but none that compromise the guitar’s tone, long-term structural health or playability and it’s in need of no further work. The neck angle is good, the fretwork and set up are excellent, nut and finish are original. The original bridge plate is in good shape, there are no bracing issues or out-of-the-ordinary brace repairs, and the neck remains crack-free and unaltered. The guitar’s cracks are few and relegated to parts of the body where cracks aren’t cause for much concern.<br/><br/>

We’ve devalued this guitar due to the crack repairs on the lower bass bout of the body – specifically, side cracks on the bout and a top crack/repair adjacent to side. There is finish damage around the bridge from where an oversized replacement was once glued and a chip on the top right corner of the headstock. The body’s edges are well worn throughout and there is some shellac remaining overtop of the body’s original lacquer finish, although we removed much of it while it was on our repair benches. The current bridge is a convincing replacement and the saddle, setup, and pins are compliments of our repairshop. The tuning machines are modern Waverlys that we aged in-house. <br/><br/>

The neck has a medium depth C carve in the first position which transitions to a very softened V further up towards the heel. The finish is completely worn off the neck which gives it a heavenly feel and plenty of vibe. The nut width started life at 1-3/4, but has worn to be a 32nd smaller over 90 years. Neck depth at the 1st fret is .841” and 1.080” at the 9th fret. 24.9” scale, 2-5/16” string spread at the saddle.<br/><br/>

As we alluded to in the first paragraph, this guitar sounds about as good as a 00-17 gets. It’s profoundly soulful, with a well-aged voice that’s dark, open and rich. It offers a strong and clean fundamental, the dryness of a mahogany top but also some subtle overtone color when you want it there. We love it.<br/><br/>

With modern hardshell case

1936 Martin 00-17 vintage mahogany acoustic guitar

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An important piece of Canadian music history, this 1938 Martin D-18 has been one of legendary Canadian Blues/Folk musician and Producer, David Essig’s, mainstay guitars since buying it in 1965. Throughout the 1970s and into the ‘80s this D-18 was the resident highstrung (Nashville tuned) acoustic at Bob and Daniel Lanois’ Grant Ave Studios in Hamilton, Ontario, where Essig regularly worked as a producer and musician. Essig produced the first three Willie P. Bennett albums, Fred Eaglesmith’s first three albums, and Cathy Fink’s first two albums – all of which featured this very D-18. Stan Rogers was a close friend of David’s, and casually played this guitar often, although it was not featured on any of Rogers’ recordings. Essig estimates that he recorded 20 of his own albums with this guitar. In short, this guitar and its long-time owner were an integral part of Canada’s folk and roots music landscape through the last 50 years.

As with most professionally used instruments, this 1938 D-18 has seen its share of repair and restoration. It has numerous repaired top cracks, a 70’s Martin style rosewood bridge plate, which itself has worn and been capped, an oversized ebony bridge, and, most notably, a replacement neck. The guitar’s back and sides are largely original including well-worn finish. The top has areas of finish repair overtop of worn original finish and spliced cracks, and its original forward-shifted scalloped bracing remains intact and in excellent condition, with no evidence of repair or regluing. The same can be said of the back’s original bracing. There are a few repaired back and side cracks, and a ‘popsicle’ brace has been added to reinforce top cracks along the fretboard extension’s edges. The neck was fitted with the guitar’s original headstock overlay, and a set of modern Martin vintage style tuners. It has a full carve and a big 30’s wide-neck feel. There’s a filled-in strap button hole on the side adjacent to the neck heel, and the endpin has been enlarged for a pickup’s endpin jack, but there is no longer a pickup in the guitar.

A bold, dark and big sounding guitar, this 1938 D-18 offers a huge bass response, thick and woody trebles, and a strong and supportive midrange. It’s an excellent flatpicker, and we have it set up with medium strings and bluegrass action. Tone for the dollar, this guitar probably won’t be beat.

The neck was built with graphite reinforcement rather than the T-bar that would be in an original. As such, the guitar is a bit lighter and offers some of the overtone development and warmth of a wartime D-18 but remains tonally in the wide-neck camp. The neck is one-piece mahogany with style 45-quality wood and an ebony fretboard. 1-3/4” nut width, neck depth of .908” at the 1st fret which tapers to 1.135” at the 9th fret. String spread at the saddle is 2-5/16”. Playability remains excellent for a heavy flat-picker, with full height modern frets and slightly higher action of 5-8 64ths at the 12th fret. We’re happy to adjust the action lower upon request.

With 70’s hardshell case

1938 Martin D-18 vintage acoustic guitar

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It’s no secret that we’re big fans of smaller-bodied mahogany guitars here at Folkway, so we’re naturally pretty excited about this ’47 00-17. We’ve known this guitar for years, as its previous owner is a client of more than 20 years. About a decade back we reset the neck, and replaced the saddle, pins, and tuner buttons. The original frets remain in excellent shape, there is not a crack to be found, and the finish is in beautiful condition. The guitar’s only minor flaw is a bit of flaked-away finish in front of the bridge, which was reglued at one point.

The early post-war guitars have a unique neck carve that’s deeper and rounder than those we find from a year or two later. We mostly associate this neck carve with 1946, but this 1947 00-17 features this style of neck, which is quite a lovely plus. The nut width is 1-11/16″ and the 1st fret depth is .865”. Folks who prefer 1-3/4″ widths will find this one easy to play thanks to its chunkier feel.

A very fine sounding guitar that’s hard to put down. As compared to the more common 0-17 or 0-15 models, this 00 offers bigger lows and mids without compromising any of the roundness and fullness we love so much in these small all-mahogany Martins. The trebles are very sweet and robust, and there is a wonderful linger and decay throughout the frequency range. Its big enough to strum on and it takes a heavy flatpick really well, as it does a heavier right-hand attack. Under a lighter touch the guitar’s tone is pretty, warm, and inviting.

All mahogany construction, tapered X bracing, 24.9″ scale, 2-1/8″ string spread at the bridge. Set up with 12-54 strings and an action of 5-7 64ths at the 12th fret with perfect frets and a full height saddle.

With non-original hardshell case

1947 Martin 00-17 vintage acoustic guitar

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The 1953 Kay K-150 is a 16” electric archtop with a ‘Jimmy Reed’ blade pickup and full-depth body. Similar in design to Gibson’s ES-125, the K-150 was likely designed and marketed to compete with that model.

This example is in excellent condition, crack free, and has recently been refretted here at Folkway. The pickup has been lovingly rewound/restored by Alastair Miller, while the rest of the wire harness is factory original, save for a new endpin style jack installed in our shop.

Playability is excellent on this 1953 Kay K-150 thanks to new frets, replacement ebony bridge, and careful setup. The tuners are StewMac replacements. Round neck carve with a nut width that’s just shy of 1-11/16” and a first fret thickness of .971”.

With modern deluxe case

1953 Kay K-150 vintage electric guitar
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