Premier E-722 Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (2025), made in New York City, serial # 03, cherry lacquer finish, mahogany body, rosewood neck, original black tolex hard shell case.
The original scroll-body Premier guitars are some of the coolest and quirkiest 6-strings ever to come out of the New York area, but in the late 1950s-early '60s had only a very short shelf life. These unique instruments have now been lovingly recreated right here in New York by the revived Multivox company, inheritors of the original Premier Mojo. We are thrilled to have several of the very first and coolest examples of the reborn line here in our showroom.
The original 1950s Premier guitars were a product of the Peter Sorkin company, a large distributor in New York City. They established a satellite electronics company named Multivox; the guitars have this name on a plaque on the back of the headstock. Sorkin's 1959 catalog featured Premier solid-body "scroll" solidbody guitars in several different finish options and pickup combinations with or without a Bigsby Vibrato. By 1962-3 they had already been redesigned and cheapened, and they disappeared after 1965.
The guitars are supremely visually striking, then and now. The unique solid mahogany body has a Gibson mandolin like scroll carved into the upper bout, the cutaway below curving downward in a gentle arc. The top is bound into the scroll area, accented with a celluloid dot in the center. Another unique feature is the neck itself, fashioned from solid rosewood with a bound fingerboard. These now models are built with an adjustable truss rod, something the originals unfortunately lacked. The neck has a chunky deep-C profile, substantial but very comfortable. The 3-on-3 headstock is adorned with an engraved and painted Premier logo and torch emblem.
Premier's trademark gold-sparkle pickguards and sparkle-topped knobs are exactingly re-created on the new versions. Also perfectly reborn are the original pickups, in the 1950s a product of Fransch electronics in Woodside, NY. Both the distinctive stamped metal covers and original windings have been meticulously recreated from the ground up, using original examples as the template.
This cherry-finished Model E722 is a recreation of the original standard model with two pickups and no vibrato. The "dogbone" Bigsby bridge was called the "Sorkin" model back in the day as they were a catalog option factory-fitted. Despite their local origins, we rarely see original Premier solid-bodies today. These recreations are superbly done, and we are proud to feature them in out showroom. Come in and try one!
Overall length is 37 3/4 in. (95.9 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 9/16 in. (4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 23/32 in. (44 mm.).
This guitar is new, unsold with the tiniest touch of handling wear and some vintage-y relic scuffing to the pickup covers. This is a superb playing guitar and a proud revival of a lost New York classic guitar newly revived for the 21st century. Near Mint Condition.
