Martin Ukulele Update

Well here it is finished and strung.

 A couple of things still to work on. One of the tuning peg screws does not hold and will need to be replaced. Good luck finding that... And when I was taping off the bridge my knife slipped and put a little mark in the finish that you can see in the picture. Other than that she looks pretty good and sounds great!

Guitar Build Update 6-17-11

I am thoroughly convinced that the reason for taking up this work is to keep me humble.

I believe that I have made every mistake that one can make during the building of this instrument. Despite my shortcomings and inabilities the project is moving forward albeit not quite the instrument that I had dreamed it would be.

 I have managed to put the body together, hopefully learning from my mistakes along the way.

My hope is that no matter how disfigured it may be that it plays beautifully when finished.

I will continue on, bindings and neck work next.


In the mean time I have already started thinking about the next instrument. I have brought in a 000 model for making some templates, and have selected some woods to use for it. The back and sides will be Bubinga with a Cedar top. I guess I am hooked...

Epiphone PR600N MIJ

I have not found much information on this guitar, so here is some basic info on this Japanese made Epiphone model. I find the guitar to be of good quality and sound, easy to play, and in my opinion underrated. If you are looking for a nice inexpensive small body guitar and can find one in decent shape I would recommend it. The price seems to run between $100 - $200 dollars.

Basic Info:
Epiphone PR600N (natural finish)
Light brown label reads Epiphone Kalamazoo Michigan with Made in Japan on lower right hand corner
000 size - 14- 5/8" lower bout, 10-7/8" upper bout, 9-1/8" waist, 18-3/4" length

14 Fret and 25.4 scale - mahogany one piece neck with truss rod
Unbinded rosewood fretboard with inlay fret and side markers
Spruce top with mahogany sides and back
Black single back stripe with black plastic binding front and back

5 stripe purfling on front only
3 stripe rosette with herringbone center stripe
Imitation tortoise shell pickguard

Plastic nut and 2 layer black/white truss rod cover
Epiphone inlaid in script on headstock

Closed chrome tuners
Spruce x bracing and spruce back bracing and kerfing

This particular guitar has some discoloration on the front top that I cannot explain. It shows up good in this photo, but under normal light it looks like normal aging. There is no crazing or checking, the finish is solid, but underneath something happened. The back and sides are in mint condition.

From Wikipedia;
"Epiphone Japan was first established by Gibson in the early 1970s with the dealership mostly being managed by Aria in cooperation with Gibson. The Matsumoku guitar factory in Japan was used to make the Aria Epiphone Japan guitars. In 1983, Epiphone export production moved from Japan to Korea

The Aria Epiphone Japan models that were made by Matsumoku from the early 1970s and ending before 1987 do not have a reliable serial numbering system but can be approximately dated using their Epiphone label colours."

Blue label: early 1970s-1980
Light brown label: 1980-1985
Brown label: 1985-1987

Thats all I have for now, hope it helps solve some of the mystery on these guitars.