Rare 1965 Crestwood Custom

1965 Epiphone Crestwood Custom SB-332

This super little 'custom color' guitar weighs in at a very light 6.80 lbs. and features a 13 inch wide, 1.35 inches deep, one-piece solid mahogany contoured body finished in Polaris white**. One-piece mahogany neck with a very comfortable nut width of just over 1 9/16 inches, a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches and a 'graduated' thin to thick neck profile of 0.80 behind the first fret rising gently to 1.03 inches behind the twelfth fret. Single-bound rosewood fretboard with 22 medium (.09)* frets, oval inlaid pearl position markers and small black side-dot markers. Black-faced "Batwing headstock" with scalloped edge and inlaid pearl "Epiphone" script logo. Dome-shaped, three-layer black over white plastic truss-rod cover secured by two screws. Double-line Kluson Deluxe closed-back strip tuners with oval metal buttons. Two perfectly balanced patent number mini-humbucker pickups with black plastic surrounds and outputs of 6.85k and 6.84k, the bridge pickup with a rectangular black label "Patent No. / 2,737,842" on the underside (the neck pickup label has disintegrated as is often the case). The solder joints on both pickups are untouched. The pickups are set in the original black plastic pickguard with ten screws, as are the four controls (two volume, two tone) and three-way selector switch. The potentiometers are all stamped "134 6534" (Centralab, August, 1965). We have re-attatched the earth wire from the tailpiece to the bridge tone pot. Clear plastic control knobs with ribbed sides with red markings on top. Original Tune-O-Matic 'retainer' bridge with metal saddles and Epiphone Maestro vibrato tailpiece with rosewood insert and Epiphone stylized "E". There appears to be no serial number on the back of the back of the headstock. On these guitars the serial number was very lightly stamped and is often very difficult to see - but there is no evidence on this particular example of any such stamping**. *We believe that the guitar has been re-fretted. There are a few small chips on the lower edge and some fine finish checking. There is some light playing wear to the first few frets and a few small divots on the fretboard. The guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition and is  housed in the original Epiphone three-latch, dark gray hardshell case with blue plush lining and black leather ends (9.00).

**When we purchased this guitar we were told that the lack of the serial number was possibly due to a re-finish. We have taken the guitar completely apart and have carefully studied every part of the body and neck under ultra-violet light. We see nothing to suggest a re-finish - to the contrary, all the 'hidden' areas show just as they should…IF the guitar was re-finished it was almost certainly done at the Gibson Kalamazoo factory in the sixties. We have priced this fine instrument accordingly…

Introduced in 1958 (with two New York pickups), and then from 1959 with two mini-humbucking pickups, the $265.00 Crestwood Custom was Epiphone's two pickup equivalent of the $365.00 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom. The 'contoured' body and 'batwing' headstock shape, as here offered, was introduced in early 1963 and lasted through to 1970. Many players find the three pickup layout of the Gibson Custom rather awkward to play, and so the Epiphone Crestwood Custom is a good alternative for some players.