Talk about rare! This is the second harp guitar now known by pre-Epiphone House of Stathopoulo.
As you recall, historian Paul Fox did our last HG of the Month on the first infamous H.O.S. discovery – the black top double-neck above.
The new one was recently unearthed (at a local auction) by Epiphone archtop collector and rock & roll photographer Peter Corrigan (pictured, with his treasure), who kindly shared these amazing photos with us.
The similarities to the black one are obvious, while the differences are fascinating. The single fretboard is affixed to a single neck – or is it a conjoined double neck? (with two separate “V” shapes) It was clearly meant to be a 6+6 harp guitar, but perhaps with additional chromatic fretting options intended (or just a byproduct of the design?). Only the last two strings are floating.
No label on this one – only the stamp on the back of the headstock. This one will probably have us scratching our heads like the other regarding the timeline, dating (late ‘teens?) and other provenance. Meanwhile, enjoy the photos!
Congratulations on such a wonderful find.
Best wishes to you and kind regards all the way from Melbourne, Australia.
Peter Stathopoulos
Gregg, do you still have that Windsor (?) tenor? Did you decide it was really an Epi too?
Notice the 10th fret inlay 😉 For a Frenchman???