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Old 04-17-2019, 11:29 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzer44 View Post
...The necks on Epis were a bit wider than Gibson and more conducive to the finger acrobatics required in jazz...
IME this was indeed so for the early-30's models (as well as the final New York-era guitars - see below), but by '37 they had gone to a narrower neck (1-9/16" to 1-5/8") on their midline Broadway/Triumph/Spartan instruments in regular production (TMK it could also be had to order on the upline Deluxe/Emperor, and remained as standard through at least '39 and possibly as late as the end of '41). I've played a few of the former and, like all things genuine New York Epiphone, they're significantly different from their Gibson counterparts: there's a distinct V-shape which, in concert (pun intended) with the narrow neck width, allows for easy over-the-top thumb action on the low E and A strings (great for those extended chord voicings you can't get any other way) - I always found the contemporary Gibson necks unnecessarily bulky and slow-feeling by comparison, and a little-known bit of guitar trivia is that Martin adopted similar specs for their F-Series 16" archtops through the end of production. Used to own a '46 Blackstone whose neck still had some of the prewar DNA, but unfortunately in the wake of Epi's untimely death and the subsequent infighting for control they appear to have adopted a heavier, clubbier profile through the end of the original Epiphone operation in 1957 (probably to head off warranty claims, as many of the Italian luthiers you mention went over to then-upstart Guild in the wake of labor issues) - I'm going to presume (perhaps wrongly) that it's this postwar neck spec you're referencing here, and I'll agree wholeheartedly...
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Last edited by Steve DeRosa; 04-17-2019 at 07:57 PM.
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