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c.1928 Epiphone Recording Model C
The instrument's pearloid headstock overlay, banjo tuners, and 10th fret fingerboard inlays are all Banjo remnants. The flat-top Model C is a lightly built instrument with double-X top bracing, an arched laminate maple back, and Venetian body styling. The guitar's body is roughly the size of a classical, but with deeper sides; and the long scale neck has a very friendly feel -- akin to that of an early post-war Gibson, but with a slightly wider nut width of 1-23/64".
The Model C is in very fine condition despite a healthy amount of playwear. The top has a repaired center-seam / crack below the bridge, but the guitar is otherwise crack-free. We've just finished some minor repairs -- heat pressed the neck, patched the bridgeplate, made a new floating saddle, and set it up -- and the guitar plays remarkably well. We tried a variety of different strings on this one and have settled on John Pearse 11-50's as the set that coaxes the best out of the guitar. Note that the greenish hue to the instrument's original lacquer finish is the norm on these models. Tonally, the Model C is quite unique, and comparisons with other manufacturers' instruments would be difficult if at all possible. The guitar has a very throaty voice, thick, and soft-edged, with strong response in the lower mids. Volume balance across the stings is excellent, and the instrument really jumps at melody. Single notes on the treble strings have a ball-like fullness, while the low strings have an 'in-a-big-room' attack and decay… sort of what a monstrously wide archtop might do. Suffice to say, it's hard to capture this guitar's tone in words. It sounds different and wonderful though, and that's all good.
A lovely instrument, and one your neighbour likely won't have ever seen before!
With hardshell case
