Music

This is my favorite guitar of all I’ve owned. It has been modified, which reduces its asking price, but the changes made resulted in a guitar for someone who wants a wide (1 7/8ths) neck on a versatile vintage instrument with balance, clarity, power and beautiful tone. Epiphone was still an independent company in 1956, a competitor to Gibson, bought by them in 1957. Now Epiphone makes less-expensive versions of Gibson models, but before the acquisition and for a few years after they were equally high in quality. The FT-79 is a round-shouldered jumbo, a highly adaptable workhorse with exceptional tone. Epiphone probably designed it to compete with Gibson’s J-45. It has a press-formed back with no internal bracing, like the archtops for which Epiphone was most famous. Under Gibson ownership the FT-79 became a flat-backed guitar built from mahogany and called the Texan. Vintage Texans have famously been an acoustic of choice for Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Peter Frampton, Noel Gallagher, Bert Jansch, Graham Nash, Justin Townes Earle, and others. This pre-Gibson FT-79 has maple sides and back. It’s bright-toned and exceptionally responsive. The top is nicely silked spruce over X-bracing. It has no cracks except for cracks in the lacquer, and has no underside cleats or other repair work. This guitar was a project carried out by master luthier Jim Lombard of Santa Barbara. The top was carefully sanded to bare wood and given a very light coat of nitrocellulose with a subtle aging toner. The neck had been narrowed from its already-slender 1 9/16ths dimensions by a previous owner. The Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard was widened with ebony, and the neck itself with mahogany. New frets were added. The necck is straight and level, playability excellent. Fingerboard is virtually seamless where the Brazilian and ebony meet. Aztec-looking square inlays. Back of the neck was left alone. It has an open, balanced voice with amazing volume. To me it sounds better than any vintage Gibson I’ve played or owned, except perhaps an amazing Banner J-45 I once played. The FT-79’s maple construction vs. J 45’s mahogany back and sides produces a brighter voice with more punch and clarity, even though as guitars they are like littermates. It gives the guitar a throaty rumble, with focused bass and mid range and woodiness in the trebles. It sounds great with full-strum rythym playing as well as single-string work in all registers. Gibson-like “open book” peghead. Serial number 69135. Sturdy non-original hsc. Scale: 25 ½” / upper bout width: 12” / waist: 10 1/8th” / lower bout: 16” / depth at neck block: 3 5/8ths” / depth at end block: 4” / first fret action: low E 1/8th”, high E 1/16th” / 14th fret action: low E 3/8ths”, high E 5/16ths” / weight 4 pounds 4 ounces.