As many of you know I recently moved from FL to IL and am briefly staying with my cousin.
I was jamming a little while ago and she said,
You know...our grandfathers Guitar is under the bed in your room.
I flipped out...never knew him or that he played.

So here's the deal....I got it out and it's a 1933 Epiphone Melody 4 string acoustic. I tuned it up and it plays wonderfully for a guitar that has the same strings since likely the 70's or 60's

She also said she wants to sell it....does anyone know the worth of something like this?



Guitar in scratched Metal case The lid is Metal.
Headstock
up close 1
up close 2
Inside Label and serial number
Stamp on back of case

If anyone needs more pics or diff angles...I'd be happy to supply them.
Thanks.


Link to the site I found the date with from the serial number.
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/epiphone.html#serial

4 string, you sure its not a bass?

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Website says....

Epiphone Zenith archtop.
Collectibility Rating: D-- (similar to an ES-125).
. Zenith introduction specs:
· 13 5/8" wide.
· Segmented F-holes.
· Maple back and sides.
· Dot fingerboard inlays.
· Single bound top and back.
· Sunburst finish.
· Tenor version available called the Melody (discontinued 1958).

It is...The Melody I have here

Guy,

Treat that guitar as gold, because that's exactly what it is. A 1933 Epiphone guitar such as the one you have found is one the fucking most rarest guitars around here.

Don't dent, scratch, whatever. Just cherish it.

It was your grandfathers anyhow.

Keep it real, it has to be worth a score.

Later.

could be worth a lot.

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Well...I'd love to keep it but it was passed on to my cousin....and she wants to sell it. (she's like way older than me and not into music)

So......kinda a lost cause.
If she gets a rough estiment....she's gonna E-Bay it I'm sure.

Oh yes...I'm not a guy

Your cousin kind of sucks.

what a weird guitar

anyways

whatever you do, clean it up. get rid of the strings and polish it up before you sell it


id guess 500-1000 but thats totally a guess

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I shouldn't have said that. Your cousin is ill-witted to sell such a priceless thing on e-bay, especially since it is a family heirloom.

Goldurn it! I had a post almost completed and closed the darn thing accidently.
Anyways.... If you can make $20 a month payments for the rest of your life keep that in your possession. You can probably find some info on one of the other vintage guitar sites or the manufacturer's site itself. You might also contact something like Antiques Road Show and see if they can give you an appraiser's name or let you know the approximate price as well as the insurance value. It looks like it might have some ivory or maybe baleen on the headstock. I know there's some strict laws about certain ivory items, but I'm not sure how it pertains to antique instruments.
To me selling something like that on ebay just isn't right, but like you said, she isn't a musician.

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I'll look around tomorrow and see what I can find out for you. And if you ever see anything about a 1930's (probably) Hawaiian guitar with the Hawaiian king riding on the back of a stained on the back or something like that let me know! It was dark wood, had abalone around the soundhole, and had decorative trim around the top edge all the way around the body. There was one in the attic for years here and it was in bad shape, but it was beautiful. All I have from it now is the steel slide and the metal nut. I'm hoping it's up in my mom's attic somewhere. I'd buy another in a heartbeat, but I'd love to find that one again.

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My husband works at the post office and he has to ask what's in the packages not only for protective reasons but sometimes he knows a way to ship something a less expensive way. He said it's really disgusting how many people sell family heirlooms over ebay. There's probably many that don't even know the value of what they have.
I can turn my head any direction in just about any room of my house and see something that came from ancestors. And that's the way I like it.

That guitar is such a treasure.

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that thing is priceless. aswell vintage, take good care of it. im guessing that it would be worth around 20k maybe. im not sure, but thats vintage stuff and is worth alot. ill search around for u and see what i can find . or maybe u should go to ur local guitar shop and ask them what they think

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Ah sorry :/

You know how our generation is, read the text, screw the rest. >.>

And that sucks that your cousin is going to sell it. I'd keep it for atleast 25 more years, and THEN sell it. Watch it be worth atleast a hundred thousand or two when its 100 years old.

Later.

http://www.lorenburton.com/images/guitar-electric.gif
look how much the electric guitar has evolved in the past century, compared to the first one made.

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Holy shit That would be great for playing Sepultura.

To Ebay that would be a major loss, because of the fees you would have to pay, not to mention someone trying to scam it. I couldn't begin to put a cost on it. I've seen things like that sell for over $20K. You might want to contact Gibson and well known collectors and see if they would want to buy it. Someone in this world that has been waiting decades for something like that to surface, and you found it! Look into how many are in known existance. That will give you a great idea how much it is worth.

Great find BTW Once in a life time.

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whats its name? its gotta have a name. my guitars name is jack.. short for jackson

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That fuckin blows that she wants to sell it.

Tell her that it wouldnt be worth over $500, and buy it yourself

If i knew nothing about guitars i would be stoked with $500 for some random thing that just sits there under a bed.


And then you, Bia, will have the coolest guitar ever.


Or have you mentioned something about it being worth heaps already.

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omg, you should tell your cousin its worthless and offer her $50 for it, when/if you get it, ebay that beeeeeeatch! . then tell your cousin you won a lottery scratch card when she see's you have so much more money.

The truck I drive is an heirloom.

Getting back on subject, how does a four string guitar play? And what is the tuning?