Epiphone Coronet SB-533MV Solid Body Electric Guitar (1962)
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Item # 10479
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Epiphone Coronet SB-533MV Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1962), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 55087, cherry lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, black gig bag case.
The Coronet is the Epiphone-brand equivalent to Gibson's SG Junior, designed primarily as a student guitar but fully professional in sound and feel. To this day the unsung Coronet remains a somewhat unexploited treasure in the Kalamazoo-made fold with similar sonic characteristics to the familiar the Les Paul/SG junior. It is built on a slightly larger double-cutaway mahogany body, the Coronet is a very comfortable, easy handling and powerful sounding little guitar. This second-generation example dates to early 1962 features the familiar Gibson cherry finish on the body and neck, topped off with a 3-layer white pickguard.
The lone pickup is the standard Gibson single-coil P-90, still under the old "dogear" black plastic cover used since the 1940s. The earliest 1959 Coronets used some actual New York made Epiphone parts, but by the time this one was made those had been exhausted. The neck is wider at the nut than later models, with a fairly flat profile that still has some meat to it. The Kluson Deluxe tuners on the wide single-sided headstock are the integral strips with plastic buttons. These symmetrical-bodied early '60s Epiphone solids were phased out at the end of 1963, replaced by the newer more Fender-like models.
The "Maestro vibrola" on this guitar was a catalog option at the time. In 1962 the company charged an extra $27.50 for a vibrato on this model, otherwise it came with the simple stop tailpiece. Only 54 vibrato equipped SB-533MV models are recorded as having been shipped in 1962, alongside 499 without it. These are very small numbers compared to the 2395 SG Juniors the Kalamazoo factory sent out the same year! This is a neat and very functional early 1960's Epiphone solidbody, cool looking, great playing and offering the typical rampaging tone of these light-bodied mahogany P-90 guitars.
Overall length is 37 1/2 in. (95.2 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a nice example overall of this Epiphone rarity, played in with some wear but not abused. The finish is somewhat faded (mostly on the face0 but retains better color than many. It is fairly clean overall with some broad checking and a collection of dings, dents and scrapes, most notably a worn-away spot on the upper back edge, a couple of longer scratches on the top and a small curly cord burn on the back.
The guitar remains original with unchanged hardware except the knobs are correct style repros. There is typical shrinkage to the pickguard, with both upper corners broken off and secured with small washers under the original screws. The vibrato handle is intact; many of them have been removed and lost over the years. The Maestro Vibrola works as well as it ever did; while not one of Gibson's greatest creations it is still functional for period styles, at least.
The neck joint is very solid (many are not!) and there are no cracks or breaks on the instrument. The neck angle is very good (which is not always the case with these) which enables the vibrato to function with decent angle over the bridge. Overall this is a nice example of a fairly rare Epiphone Coronet variation, bearing the mark of a defunct New York institution o9n the back of the headstock and equipped with an older gig bag from the same shop. Overall Excellent - Condition.
The Coronet is the Epiphone-brand equivalent to Gibson's SG Junior, designed primarily as a student guitar but fully professional in sound and feel. To this day the unsung Coronet remains a somewhat unexploited treasure in the Kalamazoo-made fold with similar sonic characteristics to the familiar the Les Paul/SG junior. It is built on a slightly larger double-cutaway mahogany body, the Coronet is a very comfortable, easy handling and powerful sounding little guitar. This second-generation example dates to early 1962 features the familiar Gibson cherry finish on the body and neck, topped off with a 3-layer white pickguard.
The lone pickup is the standard Gibson single-coil P-90, still under the old "dogear" black plastic cover used since the 1940s. The earliest 1959 Coronets used some actual New York made Epiphone parts, but by the time this one was made those had been exhausted. The neck is wider at the nut than later models, with a fairly flat profile that still has some meat to it. The Kluson Deluxe tuners on the wide single-sided headstock are the integral strips with plastic buttons. These symmetrical-bodied early '60s Epiphone solids were phased out at the end of 1963, replaced by the newer more Fender-like models.
The "Maestro vibrola" on this guitar was a catalog option at the time. In 1962 the company charged an extra $27.50 for a vibrato on this model, otherwise it came with the simple stop tailpiece. Only 54 vibrato equipped SB-533MV models are recorded as having been shipped in 1962, alongside 499 without it. These are very small numbers compared to the 2395 SG Juniors the Kalamazoo factory sent out the same year! This is a neat and very functional early 1960's Epiphone solidbody, cool looking, great playing and offering the typical rampaging tone of these light-bodied mahogany P-90 guitars.
Overall length is 37 1/2 in. (95.2 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a nice example overall of this Epiphone rarity, played in with some wear but not abused. The finish is somewhat faded (mostly on the face0 but retains better color than many. It is fairly clean overall with some broad checking and a collection of dings, dents and scrapes, most notably a worn-away spot on the upper back edge, a couple of longer scratches on the top and a small curly cord burn on the back.
The guitar remains original with unchanged hardware except the knobs are correct style repros. There is typical shrinkage to the pickguard, with both upper corners broken off and secured with small washers under the original screws. The vibrato handle is intact; many of them have been removed and lost over the years. The Maestro Vibrola works as well as it ever did; while not one of Gibson's greatest creations it is still functional for period styles, at least.
The neck joint is very solid (many are not!) and there are no cracks or breaks on the instrument. The neck angle is very good (which is not always the case with these) which enables the vibrato to function with decent angle over the bridge. Overall this is a nice example of a fairly rare Epiphone Coronet variation, bearing the mark of a defunct New York institution o9n the back of the headstock and equipped with an older gig bag from the same shop. Overall Excellent - Condition.