All
images and text copyrighted and property of Greg Gagliano.
FACTOIDS & TRIVIA
1948
Gibson L-7 (l), 1957 Gretsch Corsair 6014 (m), 1944 Epiphone Triumph (r)
Like Gibson, Epiphone
made it's finest archtops from 1930 to 1941 and had it's mainstay
guitars; namely, the Emperor and DeLuxe models. The Triumph was fourth
in the Epiphone line behind the Emperor, DeLuxe, and Broadway, and
competed directly with Gibson's L-7 in price, but not in appointments.
The Triumph had fancier bindings and tuning machines. Note, too, that
the Triumph used cello-style F-holes whereas the L-7 used the
traditional
guitar F-hole developed by Gibson. Epiphones were made in New York City
until 1952 when production was moved to Philadelphia. Epiphone was
purchased
by Gibson in 1957 which continued to manufacture Epiphones using the
original
designs until 1970. The Epiphone name was then used for Gibson's
economy
line of guitars that were imported from the Orient. The Triumph
pictured
is interesting in that the spruce used for the top is not of the
quality
normally associated with this model due to wartime shortages. However,
the
guitar sounds terrific which is a testimony to the craftsmanship that
went
into this guitar despite the materials. The guitar was refinished at
the
Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan during the 1970s.
Gretsch attempted to go head to head
with
Gibson and Epiphone in the acoustic archtop market in the '30s and
'40s. Gretsch failed even with endorsements from famous jazz artists
such as Harry Volpe and Django Rheinhardt. Gretsch guitars from the
1930s through the late
1940s did not have truss rods and no musician wanted a guitar with a
neck
that could not be adjusted. The war also hurt any momentum that may
have
been gained by the "Gretsch 7 Points of Supremacy" advertising
campaign.
In response to poor sales, Gretsch dropped all, but four, of its
acoustic
archtops in the early 1950s. Hence, Gretsch acoustic archtops of any
kind
are considered rare or uncommon. Of the four remaining models, only the
top
of the line Fleetwood/Eldorado was constructed of solid wood. The
Corsair
was in the Gretsch lineup from 1955 to 1959 as a non-cutaway model and
from
1960 to 1969 as a cutaway model. Gretsch guitars were not as highly
regarded
in terms of craftsmanship as the aforementioned manufacturers. Many of
the
craftsmen in the New York City area were of Italian and Hungarian
descent
and worked at Gretsch, Epiphone and Guild. It's not likely that these
craftsmen
were solely responsible for Gretsch's alleged reputation of poorer
quality
than its competitors. More likely it came from the designs, materials
(glues
& resins) that were not as good as they could have been.
Despite
some of the shortcomings, very few guitars can match the comfort and
playability of a Gretsch.
Gibson archtops were made in Kalamazoo, Michigan until the
mid-1980's
when production was moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Gibson made their
finest
archtops from 1925 up to World War II. The L-5 and Super 400 were the
mainstay
of jazz and swing band guitarists for many years. The L-7 was fourth in
the Gibson line behind the L-12, L-5 and Super 400. The difference
between the models in within the L series was the quality of wood and
level of appointments. The L-7 was really a plain version of the
L-12/L-5 and was quite popular due to it's lower cost. Gibson ceased
production of all models above the
L-7 during the war and had limited production of guitars all together
during
this period. In fact, many wartime Gibsons had wooden trussrods and
tailpieces due to metal shortages. !947 marked the beginning of
post-war production of Gibson archtops. The neck profile, neck
construction, pickguard, and
headstock logo were the only significant changes to the model from '47
- '54. The neck profile changed again in the mid-50s and by the end of
that
decade, the non-cutaway L-7 was discontinued. This particular guitar is
an interesting transition model since it retains the pre-World War II
neck
construction (3 piece maple), but has the rounder post-war neck profile.
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