For sale is an exceedingly rare pre-war, pre-Gibson 1940 Epiphone model FT-30, made in USA (NY).
Built by Epiphone prior to their acquisition by Gibson in 1957, when they were a small team of artisan builders producing mainly jazz guitars out of New York City. Gibson found them to be such a commendable foe that they purchased them and lent the name to their own guitars during the 1960s.
This is further a 'Pre-War' guitar (that being prior to America's involvement by December 1941) and dates to 1940. A few features help determine this, firstly the serial sitting comfortably in the 16,000 range (used up to the end of 1940) and further the Waverley tuner style used (specifically, the fixtures have 'round' backs rather than 'square' ones - which changed by 1941). Atop of this, this one of the first FT-30 models ever bult (they were only produced by Epiphone NY 1940-45) as it features a reinforced neck without a truss rod - again the adjustable truss rod came into play around 1941-42.
I believe this is potentially the cleanest and most original example of an FT-30 in existence, atop of being a first year model. The only comparable example I've found is significantly more worn / worked on and is in America, priced at around the £5000 mark. This one however is in excellent cosmetic condition for its age and retains nearly all of its original parts, including its even rare original Epiphone 'Big E' case - identifiable by the Epiphone 'E' to the inner.
Rarer still, it includes its original factory tags/papers with the correct corresponding serial, as well as a printed note/quality guarantee bearing Epi's name.
If I'm not mistaken, the FT-30 (FT = Flat Top) was Epiphone's first venture into flat top acoustics, having previously been better-known for producing many archtop jazz guitars. This model would later become the Caballero/LG-0 under Gibson, and has since been reissued in recent years. This however, is the original, from the first year of production.
Very similar to a contemporary Martin 00-17, it features an all mahogany body, though as contemporary Epiphone catalogues note, a Cherrywood neck. Fingerboard is a dark rosewood (naturally, Braz - this was simply what was available to American builders in the 40s), as is the bridge. The bridge is holding strong and doesn't show any signs of lift, etc.
One string pin is a decent aged repro and I believe that is the only non-original part on the guitar. Free of cracks, breaks, a neck reset or anything to that effect. There is a small repair to the high E string pin area (as pictured). Despite being 86 years old, the neck angle is very good and the neck is relatively straight, thanks to the inclusion of an (albeit, non-adjustable) metal rod within the neck. The action sits fairly comfortably at around 3.25mm at the 12th fret - we have to hold in mind that players in the 40s weren't looking for razor-thin actions, these were jazz players that were transitioning into the exciting world of flat tops. The rosewood saddle itself even appears original, though appears to have been worked on (assumably, to take the action down by a thread). There is a small amount of wiggle room in there to go a little lower, though I've left this as-is to prevent the strings hitting the bridge itself. The neck angle is very good, I can't see any evidence of work or a reset. I will note that the string alignment for the low E means it runs slightly closer to the end of the board on the higher frets - though I imagine this could be attended to with a new saddle (they're not 'notched) - but again I'm reluctant to touch this and it plays fine as-is, and I'm giving it some grace owing to it being a guitar from 1940.
Free of splits, the centre seam is solid with minimal 'bellying' to the top - again I'm forgiving this owing to its 86 years of age.
A few of the (original) tuners have bends to them, but all work as they should. This is theoretically 'fixable' but given the age and capacity for error, I've also left them as-is.
A beautiful, incredibly rare and playable American-made guitar dating from 1940. An equivalent Martin may command twice, maybe three times the price of this - this is far rarer and in my opinion - far more interesting and a true piece of history.