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  #1  
Old 03-30-2017, 12:32 PM
bayoubengal bayoubengal is offline
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Default First Archtop-NOGD-'45 Epiphone Triumph

Well, I didn't think I would end up with a battered '45 Epiphone Triumph for my first archtop (thought it would be a Loar LH-700) but I put in what I thought was a low bid for the Triumph on ebay and won it. As you can see by the photos it is not close to a Collector Piece, but I don't care (if you saw my great sounding '48 Gibson J-50 with a horrible refin you'd see what I'm about ).

There is a repaired crack on the lower f hole and some overspray on part of the neck but it has had a fairly recent neck reset and refret and that was big for me. It arrived today and I love the barky sound. I am not a jazz guy by any means (more Old School Country/Folk/Blues/R&B) but I have written a few songs that I know would sound great on an archtop.

Here is a quick and dirty sound clip of my rudimentary playing of the old Country Chestnut "Any Time" recorded on my lousy iphone 4 that I hope will at least give you an idea of the tone. The strings look to be D'Addario PBs and the guitar will be restrung soon with 13s but I was too excited to wait! Thanks to all who chimed in on my earlier thread regarding the Godin question. After the sound clip link there are the obligatory pictures.





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Last edited by bayoubengal; 03-30-2017 at 10:26 PM.
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Old 03-30-2017, 12:40 PM
Archtop Guy Archtop Guy is offline
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Congrats. Looks fabulous. I had one almost just like it at the start of my long love affair with archtops.

Play it in love and good health!
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Old 03-30-2017, 01:04 PM
kayakman kayakman is offline
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Nice, that model was my first archtop, and away we go!
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Old 03-30-2017, 03:22 PM
billyg billyg is offline
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Cool. I think it sounds great and looks the part!
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Old 03-31-2017, 11:57 AM
BradleyS BradleyS is offline
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Congrats, very cool archtop.
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Old 04-01-2017, 09:42 AM
zombywoof zombywoof is offline
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Congrats! Triumphs may just be the best value out there in old archtops. I have a blonde 1953 Triumph Regent. I swear I like the sound of the Epi over any Gibson archtop I have gotten my hands on. Like you I am not a jazz guy but fingerpick da' bluz on mine. While it is just my preference, I string my Triumph with 13 gauge D'Adarrio Nickel Bronze. A bit pricey but that guitar seems to love those strings. I do gotta ask - how has the binding held up? Epiphones are notorious for binding issues. The binding and pickguards off-gas like crazy.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:44 PM
bayoubengal bayoubengal is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zombywoof View Post
Congrats! Triumphs may just be the best value out there in old archtops. I have a blonde 1953 Triumph Regent. I swear I like the sound of the Epi over any Gibson archtop I have gotten my hands on. Like you I am not a jazz guy but fingerpick da' bluz on mine. While it is just my preference, I string my Triumph with 13 gauge D'Adarrio Nickel Bronze. A bit pricey but that guitar seems to love those strings. I do gotta ask - how has the binding held up? Epiphones are notorious for binding issues. The binding and pickguards off-gas like crazy.
Thanks, zw! I agree about the tone of the old Epi Archtops. I had heard about off-gas issues with the binding and pickguards before. The binding on this one seems to have held up surprisingly well. The pickguard is a new repro so I'm guessing off-gassing did the orignal one in.






__________________
1974 Martin D-28 (A gift for my 20th birthday from Mom and Dad)
"Frankenstein" 1948 Gibson J-50 Body/1938 L-00 Neck
2008 Martin 000-18 Norman Blake
2006 Jubal Jumbo
2016 New Era Crooked Star Prairie State Jumbo
2016 New Era Crooked Star Senorita
2020 Iris Smeck
1972 Guild Killdeer F112-6 Part Deux
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