Now here some pictures of mine - it's an odd bird in some details. Also the books by Fisch/Fred or Gruhn don't seem to be fully reliable/complete regarding the details about the earliest Epi mandolins (no wonder since these are rather rare).

I noticed that the mandolin pictures in the mid-30s Epiphone catalogs weren't updated (they kept showing the first ones) until the 1939 catalog. The pickguard shape and color also changed over time. 1939 the headsock changed to the center dip style.Īlso all the early Epi mandolins (like their archtop guitars) had 3-segment f-holes, they changed to 'cello' style f-holes in c. 1935 there was a script logo with 'tail' decal. 1934 the rounded peak got more pronounced, with a banner logo/Masterbilt decal like the Olympic guitar. 1932 version Adelphi had a headstock with a softly rounded peak, with Epiphone+Masterbilt banners, model name in between.

If your Adelphi was made prior to 1934, the label would be a silver oval, and would not mention the model name (also, the serial number would not be on the label, but would instead be stamped into the wood next to it).Īdelphi model: From what I know only the early Strand and higher models had the asymmetric dip headstock. 5 hours ago Epiphone guitar serial number decoder Find out when your Epiphone guitar was made This tool decodes the serial number from Epiphone electric guitars. If your label says 'Masterbilt', I'd guess that you have a brown paper label with black lettering, and that the dip in your headstock would be offset towards the treble side: this would be 1934-1938 (although some instruments retain these features in 1939). You'll note that the label in mine has the bright green border (and it says 'Guaranteed' in the largest font), and that the dip in the end of the head stock is in the center: these features date to 1939-1942 (mine's a 1940).

I'm not sure how to attach pics here, so I'll just provide links:,. I too have an Adelphi mandolin, and I have previously owned a couple 2-point Strands.

Epiphone serial numbers lookup