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?

It plays wonderfully....and I tuned it with my digital tuner several ways....but dont know tuning specs like you guys....I use the default tuning on my tuner....whatever that is.....I do know I dont go near as low as some songs do.

how's the action on it? those strings looked kinda high off the fretboard but it might have just been the angle.

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You can see the closer you get to the bridge...the worse it gets.
But was easy to play and is adjustable....I just dont wanna screw with it though.
Action


.

Anything lower than B tuning is retarded for the most part. Hell, even B is retarded for the most part.

The default tuning is probably standard. What gauge do the string appear to be? That thing has got to be fucking awesome. I'm stoked that you got to play such a classic guitar.

Too bad I suck...heh

I could be wrong but they appear to be the "A D G B" strings....neither E string seems to be in the order.....so somewhere in the middle I suppose.....I could be wrong.

I would pay your cousin off and keep it. It's pretty old and odd, you know it's priceless. Fuck ebay, fuck selling it, keep it, sit on it, pass it on to your children (if they play, etc).

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not too bad seeing how old it is and that the high frets on an acoustic are practically useless.
if you manage to gain ownership of this guitar, i'd definitely take it to a luthier to have him check it out. maybe get an idea of just how much its worth.

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Its such a nice guitar.


Offer a few hundred for it and see what she would be willing to take. Be like its pretty old, old guitars dont go for much because of their non-playability.

lol or some shit.


You must get it.

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Damn straight

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Before anyone complains about the action does it have a removeable nut? Like I said that Hawaiian guitar had a metal one. It was in addition to the one on it. and it was for laying across your lap and using a slide. The strings were supposed to be higher for that. Both guitars are from about the same era and I've got scads of Hawaiian sheet music from back then that a friend gave to me. 2 normal paper grocery bags full. If I can roust it up from my attic I'll see if there's some 4 string music in there.

Bia clean out your pm's!!! lol I tried to send you this.
"I hope you don't mind and I'll remove it if you do, but I posted something about your guitar find and the pictures on tabcrawler where I mod. There's a guy on there the same age as me and some older acoustic fans that might have some knowledge of it. I'm even wondering if my son would be interested in it depending on what the selling price is, but he's out at sea still. He's due in probably by the end of the August. He can get emails though periodically so I'lla tleast see if he might be interested.
I'm curious about it. It's such a neat find."

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Congradulations on the find!! To bad that ignorant family member of yours wants to sell it. I envy you. I need to check more garage sales out, those things are gold mines.

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Try to convince your cousin not to sell, if you can. It'll be a shame to let this leave the family when someone such as yourself enjoys playing music so much. Is she selling it because she needs to raise some cash urgently or because it's taking up space in the house? If it's the latter of the two offer her a deal by which you can keep the guitar and pay her off bit by bit or something!
Go get it valued though as you may wish to take out insurance on it.

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Hmm. Looks pretty fucking nice. Hope you get your hands on it and drive your cousin away from it. Four strings, It would be sort of fun to try some finger picking/ classical on, maybe.

To answer....she's not desperate for money....however she collects expensive cutglass....1800s era stuff. It's partially my fault...after I tuned it and played it....she saw it still can perform and instantly thought of selling it.
She's wanting $1000+ and there's no way I can afford that....and she's determined to sell it so I'm kinda screwed.....and it is hers afterall.

My only hope for something good would be that if she can turn it into some decent cash....she said she would share a little with me for helping her out and shit.

We'll see.

that would be a big mistake. that thing belongs in a guitar retirement home. considering some 60's strats is worth like 5000, your cuison could may a ton if she sell's it to the right person.

that guitar was made be form jimmy hendrix was born.

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No dont do that. keep the string on.. and if you clean it make sure you only wipe in down with a dry cloth.

Anything can lower the value.

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ghs fast fret?

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I probably wouldnt use that on it.
like i said a luthier would know exactly what to do.

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Get an EMG 81/85 set installed in that bad boy.

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Route it out for a kahler also.

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Put a Whammy bar on it...heh

Seriously though...I don't use guitar chemicals and surely wont on this one.

Bia, you need to send a pic and bio to guitar world, to the rare bird section. They can tell you how much it is worth , and might even feature it. I don't know if it's collectible though if it's got a class D collectors rating.

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Now that is a good idael.

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