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1953 Epiphone Devon
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Serial #: 66120, blue label
Body size at lower bout: 17 3/8" Scale length: 25 1/2". Nut width: 1 11/16"
Finish: Original tobacco sunburst finish, nitrocellulose lacquer type
Materials: Handcarved solid spruce top; solid cherry neck with centerstripe; arched maple back and sides; Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with oval fingerboard inlays, art-deco peghead inlay, and inlaid Epiphone logo, all in solid mother-of-pearl; single-bound body and fingerboard.
Hardware: Original hardware includes nickel Frequensator tailpiece, compensated adjustable rosewood bridge, hex-key adjustable truss rod at peghead. Vintage correct bound tortoise-shell pickguard and nickel-plated open-back Grover Sta-Tite tuners. Kent Armstrong Handmade PAF floating pickup with Stealth thumbwheel volume control and endpin jack.
Notes: The Devon is the rarest of all full-size Epiphone acoustics, made in small numbers in the New York factory only between about 1949 and 1953. The guitar has the 17 3/8" solid hand-carved top and the long 25 1/2" scale of the Deluxe, Broadway and Triumph models, with which it is structurally identical. Like these more familiar models, the Devon also has a solid Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and the patent pending Frequensator tailpiece.
This example has a particularly handsome tobacco sunburst finish, and shows distinctive bearclaw figure in the solid carved spruce soundboard. The guitar has been maintained in superb condition, without pick, buckle, or fingerboard wear and only a bit of light thumbwear and some fine normal lacquer checking in the all-original finish. The multi-ply binding is original, with a few small shims here and there, and a newer rosewood heel cap. The original nickel Frequensator tailpiece is solid at the bend, and the original compensated adjustable Brazilian rosewood bridge is in place. Smooth low action over recent high medium jumbo frets accentuate the power of the voice, with volume and projection which simply jump out of the body.
This outstanding player is further equipped with a genuine Kent Armstrong Handmade PAF floating pickup with thumbwheel volume control under pickguard and endpin jack. An unusually powerful instrument, in a model that is a perennial best buy, delivering exceptional performance in a true vintage pro-sized acoustic archtop guitar.
Setup: The frets have been precision leveled, recrowned and polished as needed; trussrod tension and neck relief adjusted; bridge height adjusted; bridge compensation set; string slots at nut and bridge inspected and recut as necessary; bridge foot contour inspected and fit to top as necessary; bridge radius inspected and recurved as necessary; bridgewheels and tuners lubricated; fingerboard and bridge oiled; body and neck cleaned and hand polished.
This instrument is strung with medium gauge bronze strings (.013-.057). The guitar will accommodate lighter or heavier gauge strings, according to preference. String action is set at 5/64" to 6/64" at the 12th fret, with moderate relief for acoustic playing with medium strings. The action may be lowered or raised to your requirements with the adjustable bridge.
Case: Deluxe plush arched black hardshell case.
