These are superb vintage archtops for the player, and you won't find one that plays better than this. You'd be very hard pressed to find one that plays as well.

Built when Epiphone was in New York and was Gibson's biggest competitor, the craftsmanship is wonderful, and it's in nice shape for a 75-year-old guitar. It's mostly original, other than a couple of key things that make it a better player than any all original example. First, it was expertly refretted in the 90s. I first had the original frets leveled but that left them too low for comfort. So I went with a full refret with wire very similar to original. Then about 10 years later the electronics gave up. First the pots, then the pickup. Rather than carve it up I had Pete Biltoff build a custom pickup into the original New York pickup housing and it's an enormous improvement. Now it's best of both worlds. It looks original, but sounds even better. I detailed what I wanted and Pete made a pickup that he described as something of a cross between a Charlie Christian and a Goldfoil. Really sweet sounding and very vintage in tone and output.

There are, of course, cosmetic imperfections as you would expect. But it's never had any major repairs. A couple of small things, binding near the nut had to be reglued, a small piece of the face of the headstock started to lift and was glued down. Then about a year ago I found the pickguard had “weeped” onto the finish while it was stored for awhile. It created a little split in the finish (finish only - photo 8). It was distressing at first but soon just became another part of the story of this cool vintage guitar. Of course I had to remove the guard and it’ll be included in case you want to have it duplicated, or maybe there’s a way to seal it (the Epsilon is still in nice condition). In any case, it’s only in the nitro and affects nothing. Other than the expected checking, normal wear spots from 75 years of playing, and some finish worn off on the side where your arm rests, that’s about it. The neck has never needed a reset to my knowledge and I've owned it for over 35 years. All this should be visible in the photos. 

Keep in mind these vintage Lifton cases are quite valuable on their own, averaging around $700, and that value hasn't really been factored into the price. Most of these I've seen don't have an original case so consider it a huge bonus. Also, it's much easier to find later models like 53s and 54s. You can spot the older ones easily by the end-of-the-fingerboard truss rod adjustment, rather than on the headstock (notice there’s no truss rod cover like the later models).

I have a strong sentimental attachment to this guitar so I'm in no rush to sell. It's found it's way onto many recordings and I've played live shows with it as well. It's a wonderful playing and sounding instrument with one of the nicest necks I've ever had the pleasure to play. Lowball offers will be ignored.

I featured this guitar on my YouTube Channel back in 2022. Other than the fact it still had the pickguard mounted, it hasn't changed a bit, so this video should give you a nice sense of the guitar.

Please note: this is exactly as described, but it is a vintage guitar and I'm a guitar player, not a dealer. I can't offer an approval period or free returns. So please ask all questions and I will do my very best to respond quickly and accurately. If you need a specific area photographed I should be able to accommodate that. Thanks.