Named After the Street of Dreams!
For over 80 years, Epiphone archtops have been the first-call for musicians looking for timeless sound and classic style in one guitar. During swing's golden age in the 1930s, New York City was the music capitol of the world and the capitol of the archtop guitar world, too. Artisan luthiers and old world craftsmen were plentiful and many instruments from that era are now serious collector's items, including classic Epiphone designs like the Emperor Regent, De Luxe, and Olympia. But while most New York City archtop builders retired from the business or ran for cover when rock and roll hit, Epiphone never stopped refining the classic designs that made Epi Stathopoulo the king of archtop manufacturers. Epi was determined to make distinguished and great sounding archtops with quality materials that were affordable to working musicians. He insisted that a great guitar belonged on stage, not on a wall in a glass case. So, Epi’s Epiphone showroom on West 14th Street in Lower Manhattan put the leading guitarists of the day like Les Paul and George Van Eps in the shop window to show the world that an Epiphone was an affordable work of art.
