View Full Version : Epiphone Strand 1945
brunello97
Nov-06-2013, 7:17pm
Don't know much about these old Epiphones.
Epiphone Strand 1945 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1945-Epiphone-STRAND-Mandolin-NYC-Excellent-ALL-Original-RARE-/141104698618?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20da7ed4fa)
I'd be interested in hearing folks' thoughts on them.
Mick
pfox14
Nov-07-2013, 8:53am
Epiphone made some nice mandolins back in the day, but I don't think they sold a lot of them. There are probably not a lot of them still around.
Pretty nice, maybe a bit pricey. I am in doubt of the sellers description of a 'Poplar top' or for that matter 'Walnut back and sides'. Looks pretty Mahog-ish to me. Hard to tell from pics.
edit: Right and wrong, from Gruhn, Spruce top & Walnut:
http://www.gruhn.com/articles/epistrand.html
posting at the same time eh ! ;)
pfox14
Nov-07-2013, 9:00am
The Epi strand had a carved spruce top. The catalog says it was made from walnut for the back & sides, although I agree that this one looks like hog.
Jim Garber
Nov-07-2013, 10:47am
I am a an Epiphone fan in general, prob because they remain the underdog in most cases when compared to similar Gibsons. I own a 1934 Epiphone Spartan roundhole archtop guitar that is a great little rhythm machine.
I have played a few Epiphone mandolins from that period but it was quite a few years ago. I can't really speak of the tone but I do think the aesthetics are a little off. The headstock for instance is way too large and not graceful to my eyes anyway.
I agree that the back doesn't look like walnut to me but you never know. I think the specs from Gruhn are prob from the catalogs which may not correspond to the actual instruments.
Mandolin Brothers (http://mandoweb.com/Instruments/Epiphone-Strand+Masterbilt+Mandolin-1934/2653) had a nice looking earlier one. I like that headstock better. That back looks more like walnut.
Masterbilt
Nov-07-2013, 12:56pm
This c. 1945 Strand is the latest example of any Epi mandolin I know of before the company discontinued all mandos until c. 1950 when they reintroduced the Strand and Rivoli as oval hole models.
While the Strand (and Rivoli) models typically have a carved walnut back (only very early ones before 1934 have a pressed back I think), I also thought this one looks more like mahogany in the photo. During the war years they occasionally seem to have substituted some of the woods specified in the catalog. Some wartime guitars are reported to have a non-spruce carved top.
My estimate is that the old Epiphone company produced probably less than 1000 mandos in total.