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Topic: Supro crackle finish |
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Denny Turner
From:
Oahu, Hawaii USA
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Posted 30 Mar 2009 6:28 am |
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Yessir, Andy,
Those sets were marketed under the Epitome brand name; Had nothing to do with Supro as far as I could determine over the last 10 years or-so. That krinkle finish was by far the most common finish for them. It's a thick white shrinking coat painted over a strong solid gold undercoat, ...thus the white shrinks during drying, cracks widely and exposes the gold undercoat between the cracks. From what I have been able to gather / interpolate from limited information on the internet: Epitome was a brand of 'Federated Teachers Service' which was a supply affiliate (Jobber?) with 'Federated Teachers Assn. of California'; Both servicing the Hawaiian Steel Guitar teaching / learning craze of the 1930's - 1950's. I've had several steelers tell me that Epitomes were made by a little known piano company that also made violins ....known for expert use of high quality woods; And very similar Steels showing off nice wood carried the brand Guldan ...which might be the name of the piano / violin company or one of their instrument brands. You can see the wood of this finish-stripped Epitome. The pickup assembly is a Rowe / DeArmond assembly common on a number of guitars and steels of the 1940s and 50s; The pickup often called 'hershey bar' or 'motel soap bar'; Often attributed to Harmony in the 1940's and 50's, but Harmony didn't purchase Rowe / DeArmond until sometime in the early-mid 1950s if I remember correctly, ...first appearing on Harmony's 1954 Stratotone entry into solid body spanish electric guitars.
The Epitomes I've seen were very solid and very well made. They sound and play well, although the string spacing is a bit tight near the nut. They're small ....and if I remember correctly (don't bet on it) the scale length is around 20 or 21". I have really liked the sound of those DeArmond pickups for a long time, a wide range of dynamic tones warm and rich at low gain and banshee at high gain. 6000 turns of #44 wire choke the signal and give it a very nice compressed tone (makes just about any amp at higher gains sound like a marshall). Some reviews by folks that prefer high output pickups have reported that these DeArmonds are a bit thin; But I've found that allot of folks preferring high output pickups are either pedal steelers (where high output narrow dynamics is good), or spanish guitarists who don't understand high dynamics or have lost touch with it and don't seem to remember what an amp's volume knob is for. 
I've not been able to determine who made the amp, by comparing their appearance to other known amps of the period; But I'll bet guys over in the Electronics section might recognize the amp's manufacturer.
.
_________________
Aloha,
Denny T~
http://www.dennysguitars.com/
Please help support humanity:
http://www.redcross.org/en/aboutus
Last edited by Denny Turner on 30 Mar 2009 8:24 am; edited 3 times in total |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 30 Mar 2009 8:09 am
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| Wow, thanks for all that unexpected info, Denny. The forum never ceases to amaze. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 30 Mar 2009 9:36 am
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Andy,
I saw a set Eggs Ackley like that yesterday at The Cleveland Guitar Show! Eggs Ackley! |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 30 Mar 2009 10:21 am Probably?...
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| The original factory direct 'distressed' finish. |
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K.J. Tucker
From:
Texas
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Posted 30 Mar 2009 10:32 am Me Too
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Andy ;
I have one from Epitome @ Federated Teachers Service Corp. It is in gold relief and it was my first Ax. Pic's to follow. As soon as I can figure it out! |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 30 Mar 2009 11:29 am
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KJ
I just sent you an email about posting pics.
jb |
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K.J. Tucker
From:
Texas
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Posted 30 Mar 2009 12:41 pm My AX
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I hope this will help in your quest .
Thanks Tuck
P.S. I am getting better at pic's Thanks again John B.
P.S.S. Hey Denny I haven't forgotten about you the pictures just keep turning out bad ! 3-31-09
Last edited by K.J. Tucker on 31 Mar 2009 10:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 30 Mar 2009 12:56 pm
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Anytime Tuck! Yours is in much better shape than the one I saw yesterday, But, it did have the matching amp.
JB |
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Denny Turner
From:
Oahu, Hawaii USA
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Posted 31 Mar 2009 8:02 am
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Tuck,
Yours is the first I've ever seen with a headstock brand marking (silk screen? sticker? decal?).
Could you please take and post a close-up of the whole headstock so we can see that rare logo? (Whole headstock so that folks can triangulate for detailed restoration work that might be encountered in the future).
The common absence of a brand / logo is usually a pretty good sign of broad jobbing. Having a good pic of your branded / logo'ed headstock would be a good archival tid-bit that might help fill in some of Epitome's history and chain of marketing puzzle in the future. Who would'a thought 40 years ago that every little mark on so many guitars would be as important as they are today!
Thank You
_________________
Aloha,
Denny T~
http://www.dennysguitars.com/
Please help support humanity:
http://www.redcross.org/en/aboutus |
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Don Kona Woods
From:
Hawaiian Kama'aina
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Posted 31 Mar 2009 9:39 am
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| Quote: |
| Wow, thanks for all that unexpected info, Denny. The forum never ceases to amaze. |
There is a proverb contained in a very famous book that says, "In the counsel of many there is wisdom."
Aloha, 
Don |
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K.J. Tucker
From:
Texas
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Posted 31 Mar 2009 4:09 pm Denny Here you go I Think...............................
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Denny Here you go I Think..............................
Here is the first shot
Here is the second shot
Here is the third shot
Also Denny it is a decal .
Later
Tuck |
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Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
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Posted 1 Apr 2009 6:59 am
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| It is so coincidental that I ended up with the exact guitar and amp combination having discovered the pair on Ebay a short time ago. Buffalo Bros just a few miles away from my shop and is a wonderful toy store for guitarists having hundreds of high-end guitars and amps and fellow forumite Rick Schmidt works there. |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 7 Apr 2009 7:07 am
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The first commercial example of a "relic" guitar.  |
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Todd Weger
From:
Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
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Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
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Posted 12 Dec 2015 9:00 am
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| I've had several of them at the shop and have one currently |
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Larry Carlson
From:
My Computer
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 26 Jul 2019 6:54 pm
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| Denny Turner wrote: |
| I have really liked the sound of those DeArmond pickups for a long time, a wide range of dynamic tones warm and rich at low gain and banshee at high gain. |
At least one other person agrees, because I won this Epitome on eBay some years ago for a song, likely because it had been cannibalized and relieved of its pickup, electronics, and control plate.
I bid on it only for its prewar surplus Gibson bridge, which was factory original on many postwar Epitomes.
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