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So, what is your DREAM "Epiphone!"


charlie brown

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If I ever gonna buy an Epiphone, because it's an Epiphone, it's gotta be a Prophecy SG GX. I haven't tried one, but I know I want one.

 

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An Epiphone with a nice body and dirty fingers. What can go wrong? If i ever find one, I would buy it =D

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Lots of different companies built Epiphones with Gibson's permission.. This thread I thought was about your favorite Epiphone.. If it has an Epiphone logo on the headstock its an Epiphone.. :)

 

FYI... One of the first uses of the Big Epiphone "E" or "epsilon" (ϵ ∈ Ɛ) was on the Pickguard of the 1950 Epiphone "Emperor Regent" below..

50emperorregentok.jpg-for-web-xlarge.jpg?etag=%226067-4fb6b80b%22&sourceContentType=image%2Fjpeg&ignoreAspectRatio&resize=376%2B800&extract=0%2B0%2B369%2B799&quality=85

 

More FYI... read for yourself at http://www.epiphone.com/History.aspx [thumbup]

 

EPIPHONE AND GIBSON

 

14_Les&Mary.jpg20_UpBassAd.jpg

 

In the early '50s, Epiphone's former champion and favorite late night tinkerer Les Paul became a household name with a television show, a radio program, and chart-topping hits, all played with his name-brand Gibson Les Paul. Les had been perfecting his solid body guitar design in the Epiphone factory and when Fender emerged with their Telecaster, Gibson President Ted McCarty made Les Gibson's first solid body electric guitar endorser. As Epiphone's fortunes continued to decline, Les suggest McCarty reach out to Epiphone. McCarty took the advice and reached out to Orphie, expressing Gibson's interest in Epiphone's critically acclaimed upright bass division which Gibson had not picked up again after World War II. When Orphie replied in 1957, McCarty was offered the entire Epiphone company, including the remaining inventory of the Philadelphia factory, for $20,000. McCarty accepted on behalf of Gibson. The Stathopoulo family was out of the instrument business.

 

Though McCarty's original intention was to bring the Epiphone bass models into the Gibson catalogue, by 1957, he changed his mind. Instead, as McCarty wrote in a memo that year, the Epiphone brand would be revived with a new line of instruments.

 

McCarty's marketing plan was to offer Gibson-made Epiphones to dealers who were keen to win a Gibson contract, but had not yet proven themselves as profitable dealers. (The right to sell Gibson models was hotly contested between dealerships at this time). It was the perfect solution. Dealers would get a Gibson-quality product without treading on the toes of dealers who already sold the Gibson line. The entire Epiphone operation was relocated to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Epiphone was back in business.

 

Thank you. After you made your post I remembered that I have a pickguard (from an Epiphone Zenith I thought but I just went and looked at it and it's identical to the one on the Emperor so maybe it's worth something) in my parts drawer with an aluminum epsilon. Thanx for answering that.

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To be more accurate, maybe, the first Epiphoine Coronet's were patterned after the more popular Telecaster..

 

58/59 Coronet, I had one of these in the 70's.. wish I had it now..

 

epiphone-Coronet-1959-Black-big.jpg

The Strat didn't win over the hearts and minds until it was almost dropped from production and Jimi Hendrix showed us what it was capable of..

 

The big body was more angular like the Tele, before they rounded the edges of the Coronet and shortened the lower horn. The Batwing headstock (which I love) came much later..

 

This Coronet design with its fast easy access neck (22 frets before it joins the body), like the LP DC, paved the way to the SG design. [thumbup]

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The Strat didn't win over the hearts and minds until it was almost dropped from production and Jimi Hendrix showed us what it was capable of..

 

I don't agree. The whole Buddy Holly, Hank Marvin, Beach Boys and then surf things all happened and were long over before Hendrix. Strat was part of all of it and to the best of my knowledge there was no consideration of dropping it at all.

 

"Three pickups is great, they'll love FOUR PICKUPS!!". Leo said that. Fortunately, George made it the Strat that it became.

 

rct

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I don't agree. The whole Buddy Holly, Hank Marvin, Beach Boys and then surf things all happened and were long over before Hendrix. Strat was part of all of it and to the best of my knowledge there was no consideration of dropping it at all.

 

"Three pickups is great, they'll love FOUR PICKUPS!!". Leo said that. Fortunately, George made it the Strat that it became.

 

rct

 

I was about to mention the same thing...

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I don't agree. The whole Buddy Holly, Hank Marvin, Beach Boys and then surf things all happened and were long over before Hendrix. Strat was part of all of it and to the best of my knowledge there was no consideration of dropping it at all.

 

"Three pickups is great, they'll love FOUR PICKUPS!!". Leo said that. Fortunately, George made it the Strat that it became.

 

rct

 

During that era the Mustang and Duo Sonic were the most popular Beach Band guitars. Buddy Holly did introduce the crazy looking Strat, but nobody cared he wasn't a guitar players guitar player. Tele's were king with the western players. None of my freinds were buying Strats during that era. I saw the same Strats hanging on the music store walls in southern California year after year. It was very difficult to keep the Strat in tune with the new tremolo, we didn't have electronic tuners in those days and needed guitars that could stay in tune for more than one song.. I was there and had a Wilshire..:)

 

 

Jimi had said that he was dissatisfied with his live performances, possibly had something to do with having to develop the ability to tune on the fly and his comment that "only cowboys stay in tune".

 

 

Some of the most common guitars in the early 60's were Silvertone (Sears Dan Electrode), Harmony, Stella, Teisco Del Ray, Kay and even Ricks which were relatively cheap.. A lot of young people had these guitars, possibly because parents bought them.. Most of these were very hard to play except the Ricks that were on a level with Fender, Gretch, Gibson and ....... Epiphone..

 

 

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I already own 2 of my dream Epi's.

 

50th anniversary 1962 Sheraton.

Sheraton II (modded with Elitiest Pickups and Bigsby B7

39486528415_d951563ae1_k.jpg

 

And no I don't care what factory built these There are epi designs and therefoe Epiphone Guitars, we don't stress over where in teh world other household things are made.

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I already own 2 of my dream Epi's.

 

50th anniversary 1962 Sheraton.

Sheraton II (modded with Elitiest Pickups and Bigsby B7

39486528415_d951563ae1_k.jpg

 

And no I don't care what factory built these There are epi designs and therefoe Epiphone Guitars, we don't stress over where in teh world other household things are made.

 

A beautiful dream and can easily see the lineage design connection to the 1950 Emperor Regent in my earlier post.

 

the 1950 Epiphone "Emperor Regent" below..

50emperorregentok.jpg-for-web-xlarge.jpg?etag=%226067-4fb6b80b%22&sourceContentType=image%2Fjpeg&ignoreAspectRatio&resize=376%2B800&extract=0%2B0%2B369%2B799&quality=85

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Not a poor copy, beautiful Epiphone Coronet [thumbup]

 

From your incredibly annoying posts I have you pegged as a 7 year old aspiring guitarist who can just about play open E, A and D chords. Your parents bought you an Epiphone Les Paul Special II for your birthday which you can't figure out how to play, so you say it's a piece of junk. You long to one day own a 'real' Gibson because all your favourite players own one, but you have yet to realise that a lot of modern Epiphones are perfectly great guitars. One day if and when you become an adequate player you might realise this. Only someone starting out, a cork sniffing snob, or somebody who sounds bad on any guitar would think that modern Epiphones are not worthwhile guitars. Also why post pictures of guitars on other threads claiming they are yours when everyone here knows they are not?

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From your incredibly annoying posts I have you pegged as a 7 year old aspiring guitarist who can just about play open E, A and D chords. Your parents bought you an Epiphone Les Paul Special II for your birthday which you can't figure out how to play, so you say it's a piece of junk. You long to one day own a 'real' Gibson because all your favourite players own one, but you have yet to realise that a lot of modern Epiphones are perfectly great guitars. One day if and when you become an adequate player you might realise this. Only someone starting out, a cork sniffing snob, or somebody who sounds bad on any guitar would think that modern Epiphones are not worthwhile guitars. Also why post pictures of guitars on other threads claiming they are yours when everyone here knows they are not?

I have a little different take on him....

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I'd say Deniz Tek's (Sonic Smith) Crestwood Deluxe.

 

Actually I could have my luthier friend turn my old 69 Epi into an approximation of that - maybe even just keeping the one pickup and lacking the binding...just paint it off white and add the Crestwood pickguard with one set of controls like a Coronet...a unique take on a 60's Epi. Hey I'm actually thinking about it for the first time...maybe throw a P90 in for a middle or neck pickup and have dual controls from a Crestwood/Wilshire.

 

I'm going to think seriously about that! Punk/alt rock heaven?!

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