I have an '81 E2 in the finish below which I picked up in the late 90's for £450. I've never been able to find much information out about the E2 online, so I'm very grateful to have found this thread. I've also never seen another picture of the E2 in the same finish as mine, as yours is in the picture. I had no idea mine was the rarer beveled maple version.
EDIT: I just plugged the serial number into http://www.guitardaterproject.org/gibson.aspx and it came back with:
Kalamazoo Plant, USA
May 10th, 1981
Production Number: 10
The fourth digit is a little hard to read, so it could be May 11th.
Mine is pretty beaten up, it wasn't in good shape when I got it and I will admit I haven't looked after it particularly well as I wasn't aware of its rarity until fairly recently. It was modified before I bought it, with an active EMG and another pickup split between a rail and poles. Both pickups have brass mounts, and the nut, selector switch and electronics cover are also brass. The fine tuning bridge's finish is flaking and it's missing a couple of the fine tuning knobs (again, like that when I bought it). The only mods I've done to it are to add strap locks (as it wouldn't stay on the originals!) and to tidy up the electronics a bit. the volume pot for the bridge pickup is a bit dodgy and only works on full volume.
I've often wondered about getting it professionally restored, as there are lots of dings and nicks in the finish, some caused by me, others from the previous owner. I would appreciate some feedback on that. It's an amazing guitar to play, but I've retired it from stage work as it's just too heavy to use onstage (I'm a small guy!).
