1930's Epiphone Apollo
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- Stagg
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- meble-kuchenne.warszawa.pl
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1930's Epiphone Apollo
Hi all,
I recently posted about wanting an archtop and very nearly bought oleg's eastman which I'm sure is a wonderful guitar. In the end I decided to risk buying overseas as I didn't think I would find what I was looking for in the country any time soon. I had never bought a guitar from overseas before and I've heard a lot of horror stories so it was pretty scary. This is what I ended up with.
Epiphone Apollo serial #225 dated to sometime in the 30's (probably 37). Carved spruce top, sycamore back and sides (though it looks very maple-y, could be that). A very strange epiphone, sold even cheaper than the olympics at the time and only in the UK leading some people to suggest that maybe the guitars were put together by another factory in chicago instead of the NY Epiphone factory.
Terrifyingly this guitar arrived wrapped in bubble wrap in a cardboard box. I'm very fortunate that it is still in one piece. Would love to hear more about these guitars if anyone has information. There's not a lot online about them.
I recently posted about wanting an archtop and very nearly bought oleg's eastman which I'm sure is a wonderful guitar. In the end I decided to risk buying overseas as I didn't think I would find what I was looking for in the country any time soon. I had never bought a guitar from overseas before and I've heard a lot of horror stories so it was pretty scary. This is what I ended up with.
Epiphone Apollo serial #225 dated to sometime in the 30's (probably 37). Carved spruce top, sycamore back and sides (though it looks very maple-y, could be that). A very strange epiphone, sold even cheaper than the olympics at the time and only in the UK leading some people to suggest that maybe the guitars were put together by another factory in chicago instead of the NY Epiphone factory.
Terrifyingly this guitar arrived wrapped in bubble wrap in a cardboard box. I'm very fortunate that it is still in one piece. Would love to hear more about these guitars if anyone has information. There's not a lot online about them.
- Jay
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Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
Gorgeous, love that classic shape without cut aways.
When faced with quality, I recognise it every time.
- kdawg2a
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Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
That looks amazing. I bet it's got a lovely mellow tone too.
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
- robthemac
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- codedog
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Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
That's a beauty! Love the shape and finish. Yeah, very keen to hear how it plays too.
Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
It plays even better than I hoped. I put 13-56 phosphors on it to help mellow it out more. Has a very rawlings type tone with heaps of natural reverb. You can really feel the old dry wood shaking with certain notes. I will make a recording tonight to share.
- robthemac
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- olegmcnoleg
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Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
That looks great, and a good combination of woods to give you the tone you are after. Congrats!
- Jonny
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Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
Can't wait to hear it! Looks and I imagine sounds fantastic. Risk looks like it paid off!
Yes, M'Lady.
Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
Thanks for the replies guys! Sorry for leaving you hanging with a recording. My shitty tascam interface has decided to start skipping on me and I can't seem to fix it but I have a SSL2+ which should be here tomorrow.
Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
Here's a sample.
https://soundcloud.com/nick-burfield/guitarsample
After listening to it back through a clean recording its a lot mellower than rawlings olympic. That's kinda what I was aiming for with phosphor strings and a slightly bigger lower bout because it's the only guitar in the group I play with. It really sounds like there's reverb on the track but I promise you it's dry haha.
https://soundcloud.com/nick-burfield/guitarsample
After listening to it back through a clean recording its a lot mellower than rawlings olympic. That's kinda what I was aiming for with phosphor strings and a slightly bigger lower bout because it's the only guitar in the group I play with. It really sounds like there's reverb on the track but I promise you it's dry haha.
- codedog
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Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
Beautiful playing and gorgeous tone! You must be stoked with that purchase. That guitar ticks all the boxes for me.
Re: 1930's Epiphone Apollo
Cheers yeah I'm real happy with it especially considering not hearing it before purchase.