
Close-up #4: 1934 Tudor SN 7453
A pretty special guitar that is part of Epiphone's Vintage Collection – acquired as part of the Jim Fisch Collection. I took most of the pictures below when I inspected and documented those instruments at the Epiphone HQ in Nashville TN in 2014.

As the label says this is an Epiphone Tudor model with serial number 7453. The Tudor first appeared in the 1934 catalog as the second highest model below the DeLuxe. The Tudor's price of $225 was $50 less than the DeLuxe, and $50 more than the Broadway.

The Tudor had a carved maple back like the (higher) DeLuxe ...
... and similar style fancy inlays – except no marker at the first fret.

The headstock sported a vine inlay identical to the (lower) Broadway model, with the Epiphone name in block letters – a short-lived feature.

Note the gold-plated Grover G-98 tuners with scalloped buttons. This
variety with clipped-end plate and riveted cog (no screw) was only
used until 1935. These tuners had a gear ratio of 6:1.

The Epiphone Tudor is one of Epiphone's rarest archtop models – only a handful examples are known to exist, and only 3 other examples have been documented with their serial number: SN 7449 and SN 7452 (from the same 1934 batch as 7453), plus SN 9082 from 1935. Of all known examples, 7453 appears to have survived in the finest, all-original condition.
Talking about rarity: In the world of collectors, rarity is often presented as a desirable feature. However from the perspective of musical instrument history the Epiphone Tudor is rare because it didn't sell when introduced in 1934 – the model must have been what we call a total flop! We can only speculate about the reasons: Perhaps there was just no real market for a model between the $275 DeLuxe and the $175 Broadway.
In 1930s market for professional quality archtop guitars, the main competitors Gibson and Epiphone delivered a head-to-head race, carefully pitching model features and pricing against each other – see table below (based on 1934–1936 catalogs).
Gibson |
Epiphone |
Price |
Super 400 | Emperor | $400 (incl case) |
L-5 | DeLuxe | $275 |
– | Tudor | $225 |
L-12 | Broadway | $175 |
L-10 | – | $150 |
L-7 | Triumph | $125 |
L-4 | Spartan | $100 |
L-75 | Blackstone | $75 |
L-50 | Zenith | $50 |
L-37 / L-30 | Olympic | $37.50/$30 / $35 |
Interestingly, Gibson did not offer an equivalent model at the Tudor's price point.
(Oct 2, 2016 – with later additions)