Epiphone FT-98 Troubador Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1964), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, natural lacquer finish, maple back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, hard shell case.
One of the more unusual flat-tops to come out of Gibson's Kalamazoo factory in the 1960's, the Epiphone Troubadour is a product of the early '60's "Folk Era". This guitar is a bit of a hybrid, with a Gibson square-shoulder Jumbo body mated to a 12-fret classical-width neck topped with the standard Epiphone steel-string headstock. This was intended as a folk balladeer's guitar, with the wide fingerboard catering to players weaned on a classical neck and two flamenco-style white pickguards protecting the face from random strums! It's also a fairly fancy guitar, with a multi-bound top and gold-plated keystone button Kluson tuners.
While advertised as suitable for silk-and-steel strings, the FT-79 is fairly stoutly built and handles steel strings fine. With a Jumbo maple body and standard (non-adjustable) rosewood bridge it actually has quite a powerful sound with plenty of punch. There are very few comparable high quality 12-fret guitars from this era; while the 2" wide neck feels odd at first, but is not hard to get used to. Oddly enough, the Troubadour and its Gibson equivalent the FJ-N feel more like a converted 1930's Gibson Roy Smeck Hawaiian Jumbo than any other Gibson. Definitely not your standard 1960's flattop but a very cool instrument nonetheless!
Overall length is 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm.), 15 7/8 in. (40.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 5 in. (12.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 2 in. (51 mm.). Splendid all original condition; no cracks or repairs, there is some very light play wear and one old scratch to the top but really overall this is an extremely clean guitar. Plays perfectly and sounds excellent-a lovely example of this somewhat eccentric and rather obscure Kalamazoo creation. Excellent + Condition.
