Before the sale to ECL, the possibility of producing Epiphone product in Japan had been taken under consideration and by 1970, Epiphone production in the United States shut down and moved to Matsumoto, Japan. However for the first few years of production, Epiphone guitars made in Japan were actually rebranded designs already produced by the Matsumoku Company. The Epiphone line was now a virtual orphan in the guitar world.
Models gradually improved. In 1976, Epiphone introduced the Monticello, a series of scroll-body electrics, the Presentation, a new range of flat tops, and the Nova series of flat tops along with the Genesis solid body line. By 1979, the Epiphone product list was gathering speed, with over 20 steel-string flat tops and electrics