1967 Gibson-made Epiphone Texan Slope Dreadnought Guitar

Aside from the Epiphone markings, extra bling on the neck, and the long scale length (which makes it more of an "Advanced Jumbo"), this guitar is identical to a same-period Gibson J-45 -- because these were made right in the Gibson factory alongside them.

The Epiphone-branded Gibson products from the '60s continue to be slightly-devalued compared to their Gibson brothers and sisters due to their becoming import guitars in the '70s, but that just means that these nice old boxes are still somewhat more of a bargain for what you get in the increasingly-expensive vintage market. A "normal" J-45 might go for a few bills more than one of these but even if they were at the same price, you'd still get a guitar with pearl blocks in the board, neck binding, and a punchier-sounding long scale length compared to a J-45.

I worked on this for a customer and now that it's been done-up, it plays like a champ and a big, full voice. These sound like a J-45/J-50 but with a bit more snap and clarity in the mids and highs. Also like period "normal" Js, the interior bracing is quite light and the soundboard is, too, so you get plenty of lows out of it for rock-n-roll or folk-style strumming. This flatpicks melody lines a bit better than your average '60s Gibson dreadnought due to the longer scale, but you really have to reach back to mid-'50s Gibsons to get that mids-centric, punchy, dry/woody "old Gibson" flatpicking voice.

Repairs included: a neck reset, new compensated saddle, fret level/dress, cleaning, and setup.

Setup notes: it plays perfectly with 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret, strung with 54w-12 gauges. The truss rod works but the neck has a hair of relief even dialed-in "bang-on." It's not obvious and doesn't affect playability.

Scale length: 25 3/8"

Nut width: 1 9/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 3/8"

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/16"

Body length: 20 1/8"

Lower bout width: 16"

Waist width: 10 3/4"

Upper bout width: 11 1/2"

Side depth at endpin: 4 3/4"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid mahogany

Neck wood: mahogany

Bracing type: x

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: rosewood, rosewood-family (can't remember species) saddle

Neck feel: slim C-shape, ~12" board radius

Condition notes: there are old repairs to cracks on the lower bout, tons of finish weather-checking and crackle, evidence of an old bridge reglue job (not the best but still holding fine), and plenty of small bumps, nicks, and dings throughout the body and back of the neck. The neck has an old, lower-heel-crack repair.