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GALLERY: Vintage Epiphones of the 1930s

In the early 20th century, Epiphone was known as one of New York''s premier archtop builders. See 14 exquisite examples of early works and learn how the company changed in the first three decades of the 20th Century.

"Epiphone unveiled the Recording series of guitars in 1928. The unusually-shaped acoustics were named with the letters ""A"" through ""E,"" and were built with spruce and laminated maple. Higher-end Recording guitars featured an arched top. The Model E pictured was the high-end of the line, retailing for $175 in 1929. The Recording series wasn't successful, due to lack of celebrity endorsements as well as a size discrepancy in comparison with the popular (and larger) Gibson L-5. "

With internally adjustable midrange boost and versatile Voice 2, these pickups are designed to capture the killer tones of 80s & 90s high performance Strats.

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Keith Urban's new tour fires up in May 2025 and will feature Chase Matthew, Alana Springsteen and Karley Scott Collins.

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Featuring updated circuits for maximum fidelity, intuitive controls, and true stereo capabilities, this pedal offers a rich chorus effect with tube-like overdrive.

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A mix of futuristic concepts and DeArmond single-coil pickups, the Musicraft Messenger’s neck was tuned to resonate at 440 Hz.

All photos courtesy ofthe SS Vintage Shop on Reverb.com

The idiosyncratic, Summer of Love-era Musicraft Messenger had a short-lived run and some unusual appointments, but still has some appreciators out there.

Funky, mysterious, and rare as hen’s teeth, the Musicraft Messenger is a far-out vintage guitar that emerged in the Summer of Love and, like so many heady ideas at the time, didn’t last too much longer.

The brainchild of Bert Casey and Arnold Curtis, Musicraft was a short-lived endeavor, beginning in San Francisco in 1967 and ending soon thereafter in Astoria, Oregon. Plans to expand their manufacturing in the new locale seemed to have fizzled out almost as soon as they started.

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