Close-up #48: Pickups, part 2 / 1946–56
In this two-part overview we look at the pickups Epiphone used in their electric guitars between 1935 and 1956.
Part 1 was dedicated to the pickups of the pre-war years – until 1942, when production of electric instruments was temporarily discontinued due to wartime material restrictions. This Part 2 covers the years from 1946 (when Epiphone relaunched electric instruments production after WW2) to 1956.
General remarks
After WW2, Epiphone introduced new pickup models which were more compact in size – due to much smaller magnets. This allowed the units to be mounted from the top – no longer requiring an access door in the back, as seen on pre-war electric instruments.
All post-war pickups were typically made in adjustable and non-adjustable versions: Adjustable poles were reserved for higher-end instruments, while low-end electrics came with simpler units.
4. Black surface-mounted pickups (1946–48/49)
The first type of surface-mounted pickups looked similar to some of the the pre-war "Master pickups" (see part 1, 3.) – with an oblong, rounded, black plastic cover, and adjustable pole pieces for each string. However the construction was very different.
Since this pickup variant doesn't seem to be mentioned in any Epiphone advert or sales brochure, we don't know its "official" name.
Below the pickup on two 1946 Zephyr Spanish examples – note the large poles, without slots in these early versions.
Soon the pole pieces were slotted – for easy adjusting with a screwdriver – as seen below on a 1947 Zephyr Spanish.
As the disassembled unit below demonstrates, those large pole pieces were the actual single magnets – with threaded ends to be screwed onto a base plate: Their height could be raised/lowered individually by turning the pole pieces.
Below the top of a 1947 Zephyr Spanish with the pickup removed – note the small holes for each pole piece, allowing the threaded ends to move, plus an additional hole for the wires.
On the Zephyr Hawaiian lap steel, pre-war style Master pickups (see part 1, 3) were used until c. 1947. The new pickup with large, adjustable magnets and a black plastic cover – below on a 1947 example – was only briefly used on this model, until 1948. Note the handrest.
The low-end Century models came with a non-adjustable version of the new surface-mounted pickup: The same black plastic cover, but one thick blade/bar magnet, instead of adjustable single magnets. This pickup required just one small hole for the wires drilled through the top.
Below a 1946 Century Hawaiian – non-adjustable version, with handrest.
Below a 1949 Kent Hawaiian – still with the black, non-adjustable pickup (handrest removed).
5. Tone Spectrum pickups (1948–52)
In 1948, Epiphone published adverts featuring the newly announced Zephyr Deluxe Cutaway model with the "Tone Spectrum Pick-Up" – pictured below. This pickup again used adjustable pole screws rather than individual magnets.
The earliest versions of the Tone Spectrum pickup had the cover attached to the ring by 4 screws – as seen below on a Zephyr Spanish and a Zephyr DeLuxe, both from 1948. Some examples with white cover on a black ring, some black on a white ring.
The 1948 Zephyr DeLuxe shown below sports a pickup with a big whitish/cream-colored ring around a black cover – like in the advert above.
Units with a white cover are more common – below on a 1948 Zephyr Deluxe.
Below the inside view of a 1948 Tone Spectrum pickup showing the design of the single coil, magnets and adjustment screws.
Tone Spectrum pickups on a Zephyr Hawaiian and a Duo Console, both 1948 models – note the tortoise plastic pickup ring which typically has a more rounded shape on lap steels. The Zephyr Hawaiian are the "serrated" type control knobs which Epiphone typically used in the 1946–1949 era.
The 1948–49 Zephyr Hawaiian below sports a transitional pickup with a goldish cover under the tortoise plastic ring.
Below a c. 1948 Alkire Eharp – with a 10-string Tone Spectrum unit. Note the rounded, two-part pickup ring.
By 1949, a redesigned version of the Tone Spectrum pickup appeared – with a large, square metal cover, as seen on the 1949 Zephyr DeLuxe below. Note that this is a single-coil pickup – although often mistaken for a twin-coil humbucker, because of its large size.
The pickup requires just one small hole drilled, for the wires – as seen below on a 1948 Zephyr Spanish.
Below two 8-string units on a 1948 Duo Console – with black pickup rings (handrests removed).
Below the 10-string version on a c. 1950 Alkire Eharp – with a two-part pickup ring around the metal cover which is painted white.
On the low-end Century models, a simpler version of the Tone Spectrum pickup was used – without adjustable poles, typically with tortoise plastic ring. Below a 1948 Century Spanish – note that this pickup is always mounted in the neck position on this model.
Below the non-adjustable version on a 1948 Century Hawaiian – note the rounded shape of the tortoise plastic pickup ring, as typical with lap steels.
By 1949, the large metal-covered Tone Spectrum became also available in a non-adjustable version – typically seen with black pickup ring, as shown below on a 1949 Kent Spanish. This pickup was used on the Kent Spanish model until 1951 – always in the bridge position.
6. "New Yorker" pickups (1949–56)
In 1949, the large, metal-covered Tone Spectrum was again redesigned – receiving its final, more compact form: Actually named "Spectrum pickup" in the 1950 catalog (see picture below), this unit is commonly dubbed "New Yorker pickup" among guitar aficionados – probably to distinguish it from the later mini-humbuckers used in Kalamazoo-made Epiphone models.
On high-end models the pickup cover was gold-plated – pictured below on a 1950 Zephyr DeLuxe and a 1951 Zephyr Emperor Vari-Tone. Note the extra spacers to raise some of the pickups.
Below a nickel-plated version from a 1951 Zephyr Regent. Note the open bottom of the mounting ring.
Below a pair from 1955 – now with rings of different height, instead of spacers. Their bottom is now closed, with a round hole for the wires. The opened unit shows a single coil lying on its side, with lateral bar magnets – one with pole piece screws.
Here a few odd ones: A smaller variant with 4 pole pieces on a 1951 Zephyr Mandolin, ...
... and gold-plated units with 4 pole pieces on a 1951 Zephyr Emperor Regent Tenor – a custom-ordered instrument, possibly one-of-a-kind.
The pickup ring is cream-colored on the majority of "New Yorker" units, but there are also some (nickel-plated) examples with black ring – see below on a 1952 Zephyr Regent.
Below a New Yorker pickup with 8 adjustable pole pieces on a c. 1954 Zephyr Hawaiian – no pickup ring, screws in two corners of the cover. Note the "ashtray"-style handrest with E-logo.
Lower-end models such as the Century and Kent sported versions without adjustable pole pieces – on the Century always in the neck position, see the 1953 example below.
Most non-adjustable units came with a cream-colored pickup ring, but examples with black ring are not uncommon – see below on a 1954 Century.
Non-adjustable New Yorker pickup on a c. 1949 Century Hawaiian – no pickup ring, screws in two corners of the cover. By c. 1950, the Century Hawaiian was upgraded to adjustable poles.
Finally, adjustable New Yorker pickups were also available in a pickguard unit to electrify acoustic archtops – similar to Gibson's so-called "McCarty" pickups – in 4 versions, as shown in the 1950 pricelist pictured below: one or two pickups, either for cutaway or non-cutaway body. In 1949–50 pricelists, the Triumph Regent model was offered in versions with factory-installed single or double pickup pickguard unit.
7. DeArmond pickups (1954–56)
Around 1954, Epiphone began to use DeArmond pickups on some of their electric models – however not exclusively: also New Yorker pickups (see 6.) were still installed – we see instruments with either pickup type often within the same batch. By c. 1955 DeArmonds seem to have been used exclusively.
Below gold-plated DeArmonds with adjustable poles on a 1954 Zephyr DeLuxe Cutaway. Note the pearloid pickup cover.
This 1954 Zephyr Emperor Regent sports 3 gold-plated DeArmonds with adjustable poles, selectable by a 6-pushbutton-switch. Note the clear barrel knobs for tone/volume – typically seen on Epiphones with DeArmond pickups.
The picture below is from an excellent website about DeArmond pickups – www.musicpickups.com. According to this source, Epiphone used a special version of the DeArmond Model 2000 pickup.
The picture below of a standard DeArmond 2000 pickup shows the spring-loaded magnets which can be raised/lowered by turning the adjustment screws next to them.
Below a 1955 Zephyr Cutaway – adjustable poles, chrome finish, black pickup cover. (Detail picture from www.musicpickups.com)
Below a non-adjustable DeArmond pickup – on a 1954 Century, ...
... and on a 1955 Volpe. On the Harry Volpe model, this pickup was used exclusively.
Summary – pickups 1946–56
The table below summarizes the pickups used in Epiphone electric instruments after WW2. For earlier pickups see summary part 1. For detailed pickup info of any Epiphone model see models.
| Model | 4. Black surface-m. | 5. Tone Spectrum | 6. New Yorker | 7. DeArmond |
| Century Hawaiian | 1946–48: non-adjust. | 1948–49: non-adjust. | 1949–54: non-adjust. or adj. poles | |
| Century Spanish | 1946–48: non-adjust. | 1948–49: non-adjust. | 1949–54: non-adjust. | 1954–56: non-adjust. |
| Zephyr H. + Console | 1946–48: adj. poles | 1948–49: adj. poles | 1949–54: adj. poles | |
| Zephyr Spanish | 1946–48: adj. poles | 1948–49: adj. poles | 1949–54: adj. poles | 1954–56: adj. poles |
| Zephyr Deluxe | 1946–48: adj. poles | 1948–49: adj. poles | 1949–54: adj. poles | 1954–56: adj. poles |
| Kent Hawaiian | 1949–51: non-adjust. | |||
| Kent Spanish | | 1949–51: non-adjust. | 1952–53: non-adjust | |
| Zephyr Emperor | | 1949–54: adj. poles | 1954: adj. poles | |
| Volpe | 1955–56: non-adjust. | |||
| Alkire Eharp | 1948–50: adj. poles |
Note: This overview is subject to updates whenever new evidence surfaces.
(Mar 3, 2019; with later updates)