The Epiphone Texan FT79N – the N indicating a Natural finish on the top rather than Sunburst – was built as a slope shoulder dreadnought from 1958 to 1970 when Epiphone production ceased in the USA. The Epiphone FT79 was originally built from 1941 to 1958 as a square shoulder dreadnought with Walnut back and sides until 1949, and then with laminated Maple until the company was sold to Gibson in 1958.
Steel String
The small body, slotted peghead, 12-fret neck Martin 0-16NY was effectively Martin’s first ‘Vintage Reissue’ when it appeared in 1961. It was introduced during the ‘Folk Boom’ in recognition of interest in and scarcity of early Martin guitars.
The Orpheum Imperator Style C archtop was the top of the line for the brand when introduced by Lange, a prominent instrument builder, in 1933. Featuring a carved, X-braced Adirondack Spruce top, Flame Maple for the sides, back and neck, Brazilian Rosewood for the multi-bound fingerboard and headplate, Ebony for the bridge and Mother of Pearl for the logo, this was an impressive instrument.
This de Jonge Standard Spruce and Sapele Steel String guitar with natural French Polish finish is dated to 2021. A lovely, new older stock de Jonge Standard steel string features a Sitka Spruce top with with Sapele (Entandrophragma cylindricum) for the rosette, sides, back and head plate.
This Martin Custom Shop D-28, built during 2014, is a beautiful instrument with a number of subtle differences from stock models.
Here’s an unusual, beautiful and spectacular piece – a Tony Karol Belair Multiscale Harp Guitar, combining Haida Gwaii Spruce and Figured African Sapele. Tony Karol builds high quality custom guitars in a small shop in Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto. The Karol Belair Multiscale is one of his “standard” models, offered on his website.