Epiphone Ritz Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1942), ser. #18695, black tolex hard shell case.

Epiphone Ritz Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1942), made in New York City, serial # 18695, natural lacquer finish, laminated maple back and sides, spruce top; cherry wood neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.

The Ritz is one of the most obscure Epiphone arch-top guitars, a very short-lived model introduced in 1940 years after most of the line had already been established. While a lower-line instrument priced between the Olympic and the Zenith, it had one distinguishing characteristic: the Ritz was only offered in a natural blond finish, something usually reserved for pricier archtops. Tortoise celluloid was used for the body binding to nicely offset the light-colored wood, an idea Gretsch also tried around the same time.

Epiphone promoted several natural finished lower/midline instruments "For those who prefer Blondes" in the early 1940s; The Ritz was the least expensive listing at $47.50 in 1940 rising to $52.50 in late 1941; "an exquisite new model styled in the modern manner". It is built on a 15 3/8" wide laminated maple body size with a fully carved spruce top; the company didn't skimp on that sound-enhancing feature. The tailpiece and bridge were standard Epiphone fittings, the unbound pickguard tortoise celluloid to match the binding.

The neck is cherry wood (an unusual choice) with a comfortably slim soft "V" contour and an unbound, dot inlaid rosewood fingerboard. The headstock has a pearl Epiphone logo and Waverly strip tuners shared with the Olympic model. The long 25 1/2" scale enhances tone and power; most smaller Gibson archtops of the time still had a shorter 24 3/4" scale. The early style Epiphone "thrust rod" is fitted to the neck adjustable from the body end under the fingerboard extension.

1942 Epiphone, Inc. was headed up by its namesake Epaminondas ("Epi") Stathopoulo, by all accounts an extremely fastidious and dedicated man who personally inspected every instrument. All carved-top Epiphone guitars are fine instruments, but the earlier models produced under his watch are among the best, even modest models like this. The Ritz was discontinued in 1944, the same year Epi died. Although far from a high-end model, it is a fine playing and sounding instrument and a testament to the consistent quality Epiphone's 14th street Manhattan factory maintained in this era, even during WWII.

Overall length is 40 3/4 in. (103.5 cm.), 15 3/8 in. (39.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).

This guitar has seen some action over the decades but presents well, remaining nearly all original and looking and playing fine. The original natural lacquer finish shows moderately heavy checking with a number of dings, dents and scratches over the entire instrument. The top has some mottling below the fingerboard extension where a pickup likely was once affixed; this is not overly conspicuous. The beck of the neck has noticeable wear to the wood along the sides and some dings, scrapes and dents; a strap button hole was patched on the heel.

There is one sealed grain split off the back end of the bass side soundhole; the top center seam is visible just below the fingerboard extension; there are no other visible cracks. The binding on the body has been re-done in the correct style with some minor scarring to the finish, but all-in-all a fairly neat job. The guitar may have had the neck reset but if so it was a very clean job leaving little trace.

All hardware remains original except for a modern tailpiece; the original is in the case but has begun to tear below the hinge so was removed for preservation's sake. The frets appear original with a light re-crowning and still play fine. The guitar has an incisive sound without being overly brash, sweeter than some. This lovely old "Blonde" still plays very well, a cool survivor of swing era New York in a modern hard shell case. Overall Very Good + Condition.