The Epiphone Deluxe was the top of the line 17-inch Epiphone archtop of the big band era.  The Deluxe model was Epiphone's direct competitor to the Gibson L-5.  The model featured gold plated hardware and an even more upscale appearing fretboard than the L-5 with cloud inlays and white strips along each E string.
 
This 1945 Deluxe features a thinly carved spruce top that is completely free of any cracks.  The back is all lightly flamed birdseye maple, a feature that is quite rare on archtop guitars.  The back is also completely free of any cracks.  The sides are flamed maple.  The neck is 5-ply maple with stringers that appear to be mahogany.  This neck is topped with a rosewood fingerboard.  The guitar has the original rosewood bridge.
 
The guitar was just professionally refretted since the original frets were worn all the way down to the tangs.  Now the guitar plays beautifully with lots of room to adjust the action either up or down as the player prefers.  The neck has a very slight V-shape near the headstock that quickly becomes a C-shape.  The guitar had not been played for many years, but now with the new frets and a couple of days on a ToneRite this Deluxe is fully back to life with a big, full, punchy voice that one expects of a classic Epiphone archtop.
 
The finish appears original with the light, faded sunburst that I have seen on several other Epiphones of this era.  The neck appears to show some light, clear lacquer overspray.  The tailpiece is a chrome plated replacement with the appropriate, large archtop style  mounting plate.  All other hardware, including the tuners, bridge, and pickguard (including mounting hardware) appears original.  The pickguard is the classic, highly desireable tiger stripe celluloid of the era.  It does have holes in it from a prior floating pickup and an associated jack hole that had been added in the usual spot on the side.  The side between this tailpiece and the jack hole has a stable crack.  The binding around the f-holes shows some minor shrinkage.
 
Weight - 5.9 pounds
Nut width - 1.70 inches
1st fret depth - 0.91 inches
9th fret depth - 1.00 inches
Scale length - 25.5 inches
 
The case appears era correct and may be original to the guitar.  The latches and hinges all work.
 
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