1935 Epiphone Electrophone
Electric instruments were a rare and obscure novelty for
the first half of the 1930s, but sales started to pick up around the middle of
that decade. A few electric lap steels started to trickle onto the market in 1935
with offerings from Audiovox and National-Dobro. These early designs would prove
to be workable and toneful, but subsequent alterations would improve their
functionality over time. The same can be said of another company’s product:
debuting in November 1935 was a steel and amp set bearing the Electrophone name
(electric instruments were usually sold as sets back then, as there were no
manufacturers that just made guitar amps). This was, in fact, a product of the
Epiphone Company. In the uncertain salad days of electric amplification,
Epiphone evidently felt sufficiently uncertain about their new product’s
viability to put their own name on it.
Then, the Gibson ES-150 and EH-150 appeared in 1936 and
became the first commercially successful electric instruments. Suddenly, every
manufacturer under the sun tried to grab a piece of the fledgling electric
market. Epiphone/Electar replaced the Electrophone with the Models M and C lap
steels and introduced a corresponding line of Spanish-style instruments. The
last Electrophones actually bore the Electar name printed on a metal tag which
was nailed to the headstock; as a result, they are sometimes referred to as
“Electar Hawaiian guitars”.
The Electrophone overtly displayed the influence of
earlier electric steels, particularly Rickenbacker’s Model A (commonly known as
the “frying pan”). The teardrop-shaped body clearly recalls that design, while
the black Bakelite top was probably influenced by Rickenbacker’s
recently-released Model B steels. The chrome-plated horseshoe magnet is another
clear nod to Rickenbacker, though the rest of the pickup is constructed quite
differently. While these features were probably intended to give the
Electrophone a trendy appearance, they also indicate a somewhat rushed design
that focused largely on aping another company’s products.
The body appears to have been built around a neck blank
for a conventional acoustic guitar; wooden “wings” were glued to the sides to
build out the body and headstock. I believe that mine is built of pine, which
would have been cheaper than the maple or mahogany usually used for guitar
necks; with an opaque black finish, nobody could tell unless they took the
guitar apart. The fretboard is bakelite (and is separate from the bakelite body
top); the fret lines and markers were scribed and then crudely painted. Later
Electrophones would have rosewood fingerboards and colored markers in place of
the screws; this reflected a move towards the later Electar designs.
I suspect that my particular Electrophone was a
prototype. I can’t prove anything, but there are a number of details that I
present as evidence. The hardware is a mishmash of nickel tuners, chrome
horseshoe magnet and brass bridge, with both brass and nickel screws holding the
instrument together. There are extra holes under the tuners, but the machines on
there are found on other Epiphones from the mid '30s. These may result from
experimentation at the factory. The tuners currently on the steel do not have
post holes wide enough for ferrules, but other Electrophones have the same
ferruled tuners as early Electars.
The bridge is identical to the one that I've seen on
other Electrophones, only without chrome plating. It has two extra screws
holding it down (one broke as I took the guitar apart, which is why one appears
to be missing), but the extra holes appear to have been drilled at the same
time. Curiously, there is an extra hole in the plastic top that doesn't match up
with the bridge or the wood underneath. The bridge is located about 1mm
off-center, enough to be visually noticeable; this was rectified by offsetting
the string slots. The bridge is also located closer to the neck than other
Electrophones, resulting in a 22" scale (my Electar has a 22.75" scale). I
wonder if the builders misplaced the bridge but corrected its location on later
production instruments.
The lack of a name on the headstock is also suspicious,
as most had “Electrophone” stenciled in flowery script across the top. A few had
metal “Electar” tags, but this is the only one I’ve seen without any name at
all. The finish has been touched up in places, but it’s generally pretty obvious
with close examination, and I don’t see any evidence that the name was painted
over. The pickup’s coil is significantly different than the coil in my
1936 Electar M; it is wider and shorter, and the
winds are separated with paper as in a transformer. There are also individual
pole pieces at the center of the coil, unlike the split blades in my Electar.
Later Electrophones would also have an end pin, while mine does not. All of this
adds up in my mind to an experimental instrument, possibly a prototype. It
certainly seems to have more “primitive” features than most of its kind.
Unfortunately, there are few other Electrophones around with which to compare.
Otherwise, the steel is in very good shape. The knob
doesn't match what I've seen on other Electrophones, but it is very old and the
pot appears to be original. The chrome has flaked off part of the pickup, as
sometimes happens with wear. The “wings” in the headstock were reglued, and
there are currently no structural problems. Someone drilled a hole in the
headstock, presumably to hang the instrument on a wall. More unusual is the
chunk of wood that seems to have been intentionally removed from the back of the
headstock, and the recessing of the input jack that seems to serve no purpose.
The output is very loud – it must have driven contemporary amps to distort low
on the volume dial. The sound is clear and bright, with some similarity to
contemporary Rickenbackers but with a bit more cutting power. The instrument
sustains forever – longer than any other steel I own.