1963 Epiphone Olympic Double, Cream

One of 212 shipped in 1963, this Epiphone Olympic Double was completed during a transitional era for the model and for Epiphone electrics heading into the mid 60s and the end of the decade. It featured the newly adapted asymmetrical cutaway Mahogany body, early-style short open book headstock with 3x3 tuner configuration, and a wide nut at 1 11/16". This spec gave way to what was dubbed the "batwing" 6-in-line headstock in 1964, with a narrower 1 9/16" nut width.

The slim body design produced a very lightweight guitar - this one is just 5lb 5oz! Combined with the medium-full C neck carve, it's very resonant and lively acoustically.

This Olympic bears an old homegrown refinish in what we've affectionately named Creamed Corn - a Cream-ish opaque color with hints of pale yellow and even a slight tint of green in the right light. It also got the stinger treatment! The serial number was partially sanded in the process, but still shows impression into the wood. It's funky, but we love it! It does appear that the fingerboard was temporarily removed during the refin, as there's evidence of some finish/adhesive residue where it meets the neck in a few spots. It's a nice slab of Brazilian Rosewood, nonetheless, and the frets cleaned up very nicely in-house.

Thankfully, the pickguard, pickups, wiring harness, and knobs remained entirely intact. The original single line Kluson tuners also work great. It came to us with a Badass wraparound bridge, which we replaced in favor of a MojoAxe "lightning bar" wraptail, compensated for a plain G string.

This is just the kind of player-grade vintage electric we love having here in the shop. It's fun to play, sounds great, and tells a story of its unique history.

Includes vintage Epiphone chipboard.

• Body--Mahogany, Finish--Lacquer, Color--Cream (Refin)
• Pickups--Original Melody Maker single coils, Electronics--Original | Centralab pots 134 6341, Controls--(2) Volume / (2) Tone / 3-Way Toggle, Bridge--MojoAxe Lightning Bar Wraparound, Tuners--Original Kluson, Pickguard--Original
• Neck--Mahogany, Binding--None, Carve--Med/Full C .83-.96", Fingerboard--Brazilian Rosewood, Radius--12", Inlays--Dots, Frets--Original Med Jumbo, Nut--1 11/16" Bone, Scale Length--24 3/4"
• Other//Serial #--121254, Weight--5lbs 5oz, Case--Vintage Epiphone chipboard

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The Music Emporium has been a fixture of the Boston music community since 1968. We're a shop built by musicians - players, luthiers, photographers, and gear obsessives - and that shapes everything about how we do business.

Every instrument we ship is inspected and set up by our in-house guitar techs before it leaves the shop.

We're a Fender Showcase Dealer, Collings' largest dealer worldwide, and a Martin Custom Shop Expert Dealer. Our showroom is at 165 Massachusetts Ave in Lexington, MA.

Questions about any instrument are always welcome. We're happy to talk gear.