Mystery Epiphone 12 string

[tbonebrew]

I need help identifying a vintage 12 string. The headstock has the Epiphone logo on it -- a gold decal. There is also a crescent moon with a star inside it and a dot (planet?) below the moon decal. The headstock does have a characteristic Epiphone shape. The truss rod cover says "Gibson." Nut and saddle are bone. The neck is Mahogany (two-piece, with the splice up near the headstock, as usual).

The fretboard has the white rectangular markers with abalone triangles inset -- like the Sheraton Elite, for example. Both headstock and fretboard are bound with iveroid plastic.

The top is solid Spruce, and has abalone inlay inside the binding. The sound hole also has abalone inlay. The tortoiseshell pick guard is shaped like the one on the Masterbilt DR-500M. Again like the Masterbilt it does not have the typical Epiphone "E" on it.

It has a solid spruce top and what appears to be solid back and sides as well. Back and sides are Rosewood. It has a three-piece back like a Martin D-35. The three pieces have wood parquet inlay between them.

If anyone can help me identify the model and estimate the year I would appreciate it.
Stephen Brewer

View photos at the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stephencbre ... 2String02#

[VintAxe]

A mystery indeed Stephen.

I'm far from an expert on Epiphone acoustics but I only recall seeing that crescent-star logo on one other Epiphone, the EO-2.

I found an EO-2 online at Elderly. It's a 1992 model. The trussrod cover looks the same as your guitar. I would start with the assumption that they are from the same era and search for early 90's Epiphone acoustics that match your instrument. I can't find any evidence to suggest that your guitar was made between the 1960's-80's.

[Spud1950]

I found it.It's a model PR-775-12. For confirmation,here's one that was for sale.



As for the date, I found your exact guitar in the 1991 Epiphone catalog in the VintAxe collection, page 22. Along with the six string PR-775-S version,they are described as being the top models of the Epiphone acoustic line. It doesn't appear in any of the earlier catalogs in the collection. The same model number appears in the 1994 catalog, page 24,which is the next closet dated catalog in the collection. There's no 1992 or 1993 catalog. What's interesting is that the 1994 version, although having the same model number, looks totally different. Different body shape, headstock inlay, fret board inlays and it has a mustache style bridge. Without the 92' or 93' catalogs can't tell when the style change took place, so I guess your version couldn't have been made for more then three years, possibly only in 1991. It's a beautiful guitar. How does it sound?

[VintAxe]

Thanks for actually looking this one up Spud1950. I got Laaaazee

[tbonebrew]

Wow! Thanks. I was having no luck finding it. Bearing in mind the likely date of manufacture (91 - 93) It could well be that the number stamped inside on the heel block does mean something. The first number, remember, is 93. So that's probably the year of manufacture. Could be that this instrument was made in Korea. I think in 1994 Epiphone no longer used their Korean guitar makers, which could account for the change in the PR-775 look and style.
You definitely solved the mystery. I do appreciate your work in doing this research.
Steve