Epiphone Coronet, Cherry (1961)

Epiphone's Coronet model has its roots planted firmly in the company's rich and storied history dating back decades prior to the solidbody variant that was settled on in 1958. A Coronet in the 1930s would identify as one of the company's lap steels, and would change again to a small body archtop in 1941. After Gibson acquired Epiphone in 1957, however, the Coronet name would take on an entirely different model and style of instrument, just like the one you see before you.

This 1961 Epiphone Coronet just came in on consignment, and it's one of the finest playing examples you'll ever come across. The reason? This came in from luthier and vintage restoration expert Laurent Brondel's personal collection, and he's given it the full spa treatment.

A refret along with some finessing of the guitar's original geometry has really elevated the feel of the guitar. The original neck set was on the shallower side, so Laurent elected to replace the original P90 ring with a lower profile ring that would allow for better string clearance without impacting action and pickup distance to the strings. The P90 rout was slightly altered on the edges so that the mounting tabs could recess slightly.