Style 4 Archtop

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Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
1930 Epiphone Style 4 Archtop Headstock

The Style 4 was the top of the line, the largest and most ornate of the Styles 1 though 4. The "Numbered Series" Epiphone guitars appear to be a transitional model between the "Recording Series" (Models 'A' through 'E') of the late 20's, and Epi's first Masterbilt f-hole archtops of the early 30's. Larger and louder than the Recording Models, the Numbered Series represented a radical breakthrough in the effort to design acoustic guitars with sufficient projection to replace the banjos of the early big band era.

Significantly, the guitars were the first Epis with a 14 fret neck, and the first to adopt the 25.5" scale, over seven years before Gibson made the long neck standard on their largest archtops. Another innovative features is the self-centering bridge, a rosewood retainer for the bone saddle that slides in a channel on the front of the bridge. The bridge pins are staggered in placement, and a suspended bound tortoise pickguard was held in place without a bracket, employing an ingenious retaining pin to the bridge, in a fashion similar to Gibson mandolins of the teens.


1930 Style-4 Special
Ruurd Feitsma purchased this instrument in May 2011 online from Folkway Music, Suffolk Street West, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.


Contents

Models

Style 4

Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
1930 Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
1930 Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
1930 Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
  • 1928-1932
  • Serial number stamped in soundhole
  • No label

Body:

  • Carved arched spruce top
  • Arched solid maple back
  • Maple sides
  • Round sound hole

Neck:

  • 3-piece Maple neck with "V" contour & centerstripe
  • Indian rosewood fingerboard with double-dot inlays
  • Open-book style headstock with front & rear black celluloid veneer
  • Banner logo & ornate floral design with model number on headstock
  • Bone nut
  • 25.5" scale
  • 1.73" nut width

Binding:

  • 14-ply pyralin rosette
  • 4-ply binding on front
  • Single-ply binding on neck & back

Hardware:

  • Nickel hardware
  • Triangular pickguard attached to bridge
  • 4:1 ratio plate-mounted open-back tuners
  • Ivory oval buttons
  • Rosewood bridge with bone saddle
  • Staggered ivory bridge pins

Colors:

  • Natural
  • Shaded


Model-4 Special

Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
Epiphone Style 4 Special Archtop - Serial # 407
Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
Epiphone Style 4 Special Archtop - Serial # 407
Epiphone Style 4 Archtop
Epiphone Style 4 Special Archtop - Serial # 407

Circa 1930 Epiphone number 4 Special serial# 407
Not much is known about the Epiphone #4 and other numbered-models, let alone the number 4 Special. The lower-line models were regular flattops, while the upper-line models had laminated arched backs. The number 4 Special however has a an arched top as well. Fish & Fred (p. 235) do mention this particular guitar:
“This number ‘4 Special’ has a carved spruce top and laminated arched back”.


  • 1928-1932
  • Serial number stamped in soundhole
  • No label

Body:

  • Pressed arched spruce top
  • Arched maple back
  • Maple sides
  • Round sound hole
  • 15.375" body width

Neck:

  • 3-piece Maple neck with centerstripe
  • Indian rosewood fingerboard with slotted-diamond inlays
  • Open-book style headstock with front & rear black celluloid veneer
  • Banner logo & ornate floral design with model number & "Special" on headstock
  • Bone nut
  • 25.5" scale
  • 1.73" nut width

Binding:

  • 12-ply pyralin rosette
  • 4-ply binding on front
  • Single-ply binding on neck & back

Hardware:

  • Plate-mounted open-back tuners
  • Plastic oval buttons
  • Rosewood bridge with bone saddle
  • Staggered ivory bridge pins

Colors:

  • Natural
  • Shaded


References:


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