Sorrentino : serialnumbers

Fox Guitars wrote : “In the long history of the House of Stathopoulo and Epiphone Guitars there were only two other brand names produced by the company during the 1930s. They were the ‘Howard’ (≠ Howard Roberts) and ‘Sorrentino’ (≠ Sorrento) brand of archtops guitars. A rare Sorrentino brochure also indicated that Epiphone made mandolins using that brand as well, but no known examples exist. There were a total of 6 different Sorrentino models (Luxor, Premier, Artist, Avon, Lido, Arcadia) that were sold through distributor Chicago Musical Instruments (C.M.I.) and appeared in their general catalog number 35.”  see CMI-catalog

Sorrentino guitars were roughly equivalent in quality and similarly priced to their Epiphone counterparts. The major difference between the two brands was the lack of a truss rod in the neck of the Sorrentino guitars. see  Sorrentino guitars

According to Wiedler Epiphone produced around 200 Howards & Sorrentinos of which now 20 Sorrentinos  have been registered.

Pictures Sorrentino Luxor s/n unknown
Pictures Sorrentino Luxor s/n 8110
Pictures Sorrentino Artist s/n 7852
Pictures Sorrentino Arcadia s/n unknown
Pictures Sorrentino Lido s/n 8499

References:
C.M.I. general catalog 35, pp. 115-123
Felix Wiedler, Sorrentino model specifications
Paul Fox, Epiphone-made brands
Paul Bechtoldt, Epiphone by an other name: Sorrentino
Jim Fisch & L.B. Fred, The House of Stathopoulo, 1996, pp. 24, 92, 259-260
Walter Carter, The Epiphone Guitar Book, 2012, pp. 48, 94, 126, 159

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