1961 Epiphone Coronet in its original Cherry finish. A great player with tasteful, well‑executed mods and a ton of vibe. It’s set up nicely, plays great, and sounds fantastic. That being said you can always dial it in to your preferred setup. 1 of only 469 shipped in ‘61.

This is the early, hard‑to‑find version with the Bikini logo. At some point a humbucker was professionally routed into the neck position—clean work—and the original P‑90 remains in the bridge. A toggle switch was added to select between pickups. The original bridge holes were filled, and a new bridge and tailpiece were installed. Schaller tuners were once fitted, but the current strip tuners hide the modification from the back, though there are “raccoon eyes” on the front. The headstock face shows a few extra screw holes for reasons unknown (see photos). There’s also a strap screw installed on the bass‑side horn.

The neck pickup is a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, mounted on a short‑leg Dimarzio base to fit the thinner body. Hardware includes aged nickel Faber ABRH bridge and tailpiece with aged Faber thumbwheels.

The tuners, Bikini logo, knobs, bridge pickup, truss‑rod cover, and pickguard are all vintage‑correct parts, not reissues. The frets appear original and are in solid condition. A later hard case is included.

Desirable nut width of 1-11/16” and the weight is just under 7 lbs.

Overall, this is a fantastic guitar—versatile, unique, and a cool piece of Epiphone history. Coronet examples from this year don’t surface often, and this is the only one I’ve seen with a professionally added neck humbucker. Sold as‑is, no returns.