[28] pp. With 13 color photographs, each w/ facing product and description list, all preserved in mylar sleeves, with black paper dividers between photos and printed leaves; housed in black vinyl 3-ring binder.
First edition of this exceedingly scarce photographic salesman sample catalogue for the Epiphone guitar, banjo, and mandolin lines at the end of the 1970s.
The electric guitars sections are of special interest for the Epiphone Scroll Series, and Genesis Series guitars. The Epiphone Scroll was named for the scroll on the upper bass cutout of each model, and they also had a carved edge around the top of the body (German Carve), These Japanese-made models included the Epiphone SC-350, SC-450, SC-550 and SC-11B which were manufactured by the Matsumoku Company. They were produced in walnut, natural, and ebony finishes from 1976-1979. The Genesis Series guitars were designed in 1978 by Jim Walker, one of the original builders of the early Hamer guitars, to revitalize the Epiphone line. He built the prototypes with John Montgomery, and these powerful and versatile guitars were intended to put Epiphone back on top, and the blueprints were sent to Shiro Arai for manufacturing, but the guitars were actually produced in the Pearl Drums plant in Taiwan. The Mahogany Body with carved top featured a double cutaway, and the coil tap switch which turns the humbuckers into a single coil, improving versatility over the normal Les Paul guitar. The guitars were produced in Ebony, Vine Red, and Dark Sunburst, and were produced until 1981, making them quite sought after by collectors. This catalogue also features acoustic guitars such as the A-Series, C-Series, FT-Series, and the Epiphone Preservation Series, as well as banjos and mandolins. Epiphone was founded originally in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos, and began producing banjos in 1924, and its first guitars in 1928. Eventually the company was purchased in 1957 by their main rival Gibson Guitars. See: Epiphone: 140 Years, Epiphone, Performance is our Passion (2013); Epiphone Genesis lovers, the History of the Epiphone Genesis, March 30, 2010.