Step By Step Restoration-1953 Epiphone Century
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Considered the greatest guitarist of the 20th Century, Django Reinhart & his 1950's Epiphone
Archtop appear on television during his first and only American tour.
This guitar is a forgery! It seems that sometime during
the past fifty years, the owner of this classic Epiphone
archtop guitar (Django Reinhardt played one like it)
decided that he really wanted a Gibson Electric Archtop.
Cunningly using the primitive tools of the guitar-forgery
trade, the owner placed a fake Gibson sticker inside the
f-hole. The label proclaimed this guitar as a Gibson
Model 400...a product that never existed! Going further,
the beautiful tortoise pickguard, New York pickup, and
the headstock were painted black (poorly). The
crowning achievement of the forger was the removal of
the stamped-metal Epiphone nameplate and the carving
of a Gibson logo into the headstock (very poorly).
During the next several pages, we will restore this
classic archtop to it's rightful beauty. This restoration
will not be a return to like new condition, but rather a
restoration to the way it should look today if it had been
well maintained.
This classic archtop is a
similar model to the one
played by Django Reinhardt
during his American tour! The
owner decided that he'd
rather have a Gibson...
First, lets remove that forged Gibson label. The best
product I've ever used for removing adhesives and
stains, and leaving no residue is Bestine. Load a
syringe with Bestine and soak the label completely.
After a few seconds, use hemostats or needle nose
pliers to carefully pull off the phony label.
The Headstock has really been mutilated. To make sure
the truss rod cover is the correct shape and size, I
created this template using a photograph of a pristine
Epiphone Zephyr (same headstock as the Century).
Just download it and enlarge the image to 8.5 X 11
inches. The template shows the location of the
Epiphone logo nameplate and the size and location of
the truss rod cover. We will check that the original size
and location of the headstock parts are correct in the
next steps. The original holes will re revealed!
Oh, what a tangled web
we weave...when we try
first to deceive! The
forger created and
applied this label over the
original Epiphone New
York label. Can you spot
it peeking out from the
bottom?
Here is the original Epiphone
label which was hidden. Just
as we suspected...it really is an
Epiphone Century! The serial
number confirms the
manufacture date of 1953.
Bestine is the most
amazing stuff! It
removes adhesive,
grime, and gunk
without disturbing
ink or leaving a
residue. Clink on
the image to visit
the Bestine
website.
