Month: December 2019

Here’s a rare one – an Epiphone Electar guitar, circa 1935-1939. There’s not too much information about these out there, but Fretted Americana Inc. had some detailed information about this model, which was Epiphone’s first electric guitar and notable for its Miessner pickup. There’s easy access to the pickup through a cavity on the back, which was covered by a screwed-on padded plate. Lots of information on the peghead: the plate on the back of the displays several patent numbers, and the four-digit serial number is stamped atop.

This guitar badly needed a neck reset & good setup, but otherwise it’s in great condition & it played well once the strings were back on.

According to Fretted Americana, this guitar is what attracted none other than Les Paul to the Epiphone company & later Gibson. If you’re interested in modern/electric guitar history, the article is linked above, and here’s the url as well, just in case:

<https://www.frettedamericana.com/product/1937-epiphone-electar>

Over the past couple of months, David’s been busy with a custom F-5 mandolin. This one has the works: a Sitka spruce top, stunning curly English sycamore back & sides, ebony fingerboard/peghead overlay and underlay/bridge/finger-rest, and – last but not least – inlaid cardinals and dogwood flowers. It’s almost ready for its sunburst finish, so check back soon for more photos.

There’s another pair of A-5 mandolins in progress, too – get in touch if you’re interested in one.

To see other examples of David’s mandolins, click here.

A customer liked our recent run of tenor ukuleles, especially the X-braced acacia one, but he was interested in a few upgrades: a tie block, Waverly tuners, ebony binding, and an iris inlay on the peghead. These northern California black acacia instruments sound fantastic, and it looks a lot like koa; in fact, koa is in the acacia family.

There are three tenor ukuleles at the showroom, looking for a good home for the holidays. Get in touch with David if you’re interested in one!

This is a sweet guitar, with big sound for a small-bodied instrument. The other three from the batch didn’t stay around long, but you can try this one out at the showroom. More info & specs here.

There was a real gem on the bench recently – a 1954 Fender Telecaster. Owned by the same guy since the ’60s, this Tele needed some serious fretwork & a little cleanup on the input jack contacts; otherwise, it’s in fine well-played condition, with a stage-ready three-level boost built into the pickup selector plate.

This one has a good home already – just sharing a cool classic.