1967 Epiphone FT-79 Texan (Gibson) Slope Dreadnought Guitar (Repost)

Overview: If you like long-scale guitars but also like Gibson-sounding boxes with a little bit more chunk to them, these old US-made Epiphone Texans are a great option. They've got extra bling, cool sunbursts, and a J-45 sort-of palette but a bit more chime. This one has the typical late-'60s, ultra-thin, narrow-nut-width thing going on. If you like thumbing-over or closed-position chording up the neck all day long, this is a good fit for you.

Repairs Update: Last year in May was when this guitar first arrived at the shop. It had some old repairs to the headstock which were on the massive side -- big splines bridged under the second fret right into the headstock proper. All we had to do at the time was level and dress the frets, cleat a couple of old repairs to top cracks under the bridge, and set it up. It was good to go for a long while but in late summer I came into the shop one day to find the old headstock repair starting to separate. Unfortunately, the old reinforcements just weren't strong enough for the job. I've repaired a lot of old parlor guitars with similar damage and I knew the best way about it was to give it more rigidity and a "core" that ran farther into the headstock. The plan of attack was rather brutalist but the neck has, indeed, been saved and has remained stable in service since repairs almost 4 months ago, now. The new repair included pulling the fretboard, removing the original truss rod (whose adjustment only served to pull the headstock apart), and then I routed and installed two carbon fiber rods and a Martin-style non-adjustable steel center rod with yet another carbon fiber rod glued-up inside it. This was all epoxied-up and made rigid and the center rod runs into the old truss rod cavity (which is also filled) to give it a lot more strength. The bummer, however, is that the (already fragile) neck finish flaked-off in many areas on the back of the neck. I've blended it and buffed it up so it doesn't feel horrible but it doesn't look the best and has a bit of a textured feel, of course.

Interesting features: The longer, Epi-style headstock shape is definitely its own thing. The cloud-like inlay in the headstock and the parallelogram inlays in the fretboard are all pearl and give a smart look. The thin and '50s-looking Epi-style pickguard is an improvement (to my eyes) over the big old Gibson countrified pickguards found on same-era J-45s.

Repairs included: I re-repaired the failing old headstock repair, removed the adjustable truss rod in favor of three non-adjustable carbon fiber rods and a non-adjustable square-tube steel rod, reglued the fretboard, gave it a fresh level/dress job, and set it all up. I'm only greenlighting the neck for 52w-11 (as I usually do for these anyway as the necks are so dang thin) but it sounds excellent with them.

• Weight: 4 lbs 13 oz
• Scale length: 25 3/8"
• Nut width: 1 9/16"
• Neck shape: slim C
• Board radius: 9 1/2"
• Depth at first fret: 13/16"
• Depth at seventh fret: 15/16"
• Body width: 16"
• Body depth: 4 7/8"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
• Bracing type: x
• Bridge: rosewood
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 52w-11
• Truss rod: non-adjustable (replaced w/steel & carbon-fiber rods)
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: jumbo/medium-height

Condition notes: There are two repaired hairline cracks on the top, lower-bout. We added cleats in the past. The adjustable bridge has been modified into a drop-in saddle bridge. The bridge pins are replacements and the strap button at the heel is non-original, but otherwise the hardware and parts appear original throughout. The neck no longer has adjustable rods and has a twice-repaired break running from the 2nd fret area into the headstock proper. It's been splined and I've taken it completely apart and put it back together again with additional reinforcement. The finish on the back of the neck is rather ugly, now, with patches of clearcoat missing or diminished and some flaking here and there. It's been buffed-out and fudged to feel better but has a bit of a textured feel to it. I don't mind uneven neck feel but I know many people who do. It could certainly just be sanded-down and speed-necked. In addition to the headstock repair, there is also a thin hairline crack down the center-back of the neck running to about the 5th fret position that's also repaired.

It comes with: It's got a decent hard case -- newer and nothing to write home about.

Consignor tag: DVCH