Guitar God Posted June 30, 2019 Posted June 30, 2019 Years ago, when I was a little kid, I had a neighbor who played guitar. Super cool guy who was about 10 or 11 years older than me, I believe. He had some cool guitars. One was a Gibson Les Paul Standard or Classic that he had repainted purple, a home made Strat style, an Epiphone acoustic, and an Epiphone electric that I've never seen before or since. I don't know what the model was, but it was red and the closest thing I could find that looks like it is a Gibson US-1. My question is was there an Epiphone version or equivalent to a US-1 or one similar? I've been trying to find out what model the Epiphone he had was for years. Can't ask him personally because it has been years since I last seen him or I would. Quote
pippy Posted July 1, 2019 Posted July 1, 2019 12 hours ago, Guitar God said: ...He had some cool guitars. One was.........an Epiphone electric that I've never seen before or since. I don't know what the model was, but it was red and the closest thing I could find that looks like it is a Gibson US-1. My question is was there an Epiphone version or equivalent to a US-1 or one similar?...... It all depends on how close, exactly, you are thinking. There have been a great number of Strat-style Epi's released over the years and especially the 1980's - I have one (SSS) myself as a matter of fact - but I've never seen one exactly the same as that; i.e. made from Chromyte and with a figured top. I think I am correct in saying that Gibson coined the name 'Chromyte' to try to make Balsa-wood (hence the light weight as mentioned) seem more acceptable to their buyers. The closest I have seen to the one pictured is probably the Epi X-1000. Have a google... https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrCwPPt.BldHiYAXiQPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=epiphone+x-1000&type=1653128145&hspart=pty&hsimp=yhs-pty_extension¶m1=20190509¶m2=e46f5c25-37a3-45d7-8cbb-15fba3e7347b¶m3=email_~GB~appfocus1¶m4=d-ccc3-lp0-r2-cp_1653128145-bb8-dc2~Firefox~epiphone+x-1000~D41D8CD98F00B204E9800998ECF8427E&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-pty-pty_extension Pip. Quote
rct Posted July 1, 2019 Posted July 1, 2019 Chromyte didn't last long at all, probably didn't sell well enough to warrant a less expensive version. rct Quote
pippy Posted July 1, 2019 Posted July 1, 2019 57 minutes ago, rct said: Chromyte didn't last long at all, probably didn't sell well enough to warrant a less expensive version. rct Very possibly but it might have been a good idea. It all came about when Henry and his chums were trying out different weight-relief ideas. One Chromyte dead-end was the Les Paul Lite (and assorted variations thereof) and folks who have them really rate them highly. If there WAS an Epi like the US-1 it might be worth a punt. The resale value for Epi Strats isn't going to stretch anyone's purse-strings. Mine (mentioned above), bought through a south London dealership a few years ago, cost $120. Pip. Quote
Guitar God Posted July 5, 2019 Author Posted July 5, 2019 On 7/1/2019 at 8:14 AM, pippy said: It all depends on how close, exactly, you are thinking. There have been a great number of Strat-style Epi's released over the years and especially the 1980's - I have one (SSS) myself as a matter of fact - but I've never seen one exactly the same as that; i.e. made from Chromyte and with a figured top. I think I am correct in saying that Gibson coined the name 'Chromyte' to try to make Balsa-wood (hence the light weight as mentioned) seem more acceptable to their buyers. The closest I have seen to the one pictured is probably the Epi X-1000. Have a google... https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrCwPPt.BldHiYAXiQPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=epiphone+x-1000&type=1653128145&hspart=pty&hsimp=yhs-pty_extension¶m1=20190509¶m2=e46f5c25-37a3-45d7-8cbb-15fba3e7347b¶m3=email_~GB~appfocus1¶m4=d-ccc3-lp0-r2-cp_1653128145-bb8-dc2~Firefox~epiphone+x-1000~D41D8CD98F00B204E9800998ECF8427E&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-pty-pty_extension Pip. I think that possible could be what it was. Quote
Guitar God Posted July 5, 2019 Author Posted July 5, 2019 On 7/1/2019 at 9:51 AM, pippy said: Very possibly but it might have been a good idea. It all came about when Henry and his chums were trying out different weight-relief ideas. One Chromyte dead-end was the Les Paul Lite (and assorted variations thereof) and folks who have them really rate them highly. If there WAS an Epi like the US-1 it might be worth a punt. The resale value for Epi Strats isn't going to stretch anyone's purse-strings. Mine (mentioned above), bought through a south London dealership a few years ago, cost $120. Pip. On your US-1 comment. I wasn't saying it was an Epiphone version of it, just saying it closest resembled the Epiphone my old neighbor had and was wondering what model it could have been. Quote
SG-12 Posted July 5, 2019 Posted July 5, 2019 Premiere Guitar has article on 1980's Epiphone "S" Series. https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/epiphone-s-800-1 Reverb has 1986 Epiphone catalog listing that you may be interested in. https://reverb.com/item/5195785-epiphone-by-gibson-catalog-1986 Quote
Rabs Posted July 5, 2019 Posted July 5, 2019 Surely you want one of these? (that red one at the end) Go to 13:35 Quote
Guitar God Posted July 7, 2019 Author Posted July 7, 2019 On 7/5/2019 at 4:59 PM, Rabs said: Surely you want one of these? (that red one at the end) Go to 13:35 I've always thought about getting an old school Kramer just because I've always ben a fan of the '80's hair and glam stuff, but I have an '86 Charvel Model 4, so that serves me well. But, I'm just really curious about what Epiphone model he had was ever since I first seen it when I was 11 or 12. Never seen another one like it. Like I said, the closest thing I've seen that comes close to looking anything like it was the Gibson US-1 model. I wish I was still in contact with the guy so I could ask him. Quote
M-T-Pockets Posted December 18, 2020 Posted December 18, 2020 I think I found out the answer to what guitar Epiphone made that was almost identical to the Gibson US-1, and it is........ The Epiphone S-900 1 Quote
mihcmac Posted December 18, 2020 Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) Also the S-600 was very similar Edited December 18, 2020 by mihcmac 1 Quote
merciful-evans Posted December 19, 2020 Posted December 19, 2020 A PM to GG might help, though knowing him he likely has found & bought something by now. 1 Quote
M-T-Pockets Posted December 21, 2020 Posted December 21, 2020 On 12/18/2020 at 11:12 AM, mihcmac said: Also the S-600 was very similar It was similar too, but the s-900 has the exact same knob/switch layout. Only the bridge is different (among other obvious gibson/epiphone differences). Quote
M-T-Pockets Posted January 25, 2021 Posted January 25, 2021 Check it out!! This one was posted near me, so I had to get it! On 6/30/2019 at 4:51 PM, Guitar God said: 1 Quote
Guitar God Posted February 6, 2021 Author Posted February 6, 2021 On 12/19/2020 at 6:20 AM, merciful-evans said: A PM to GG might help, though knowing him he likely has found & bought something by now. LOL. No, I haven't found one, yet. Quote
Guitar God Posted February 6, 2021 Author Posted February 6, 2021 On 1/25/2021 at 3:47 PM, M-T-Pockets said: Check it out!! This one was posted near me, so I had to get it! This looks like it, but I don't recall his having the weird locking tremolo. I don't think he played that guitar much at all, because I only seen it once or twice and that was the one guitar he was picky about letting me play then. He would let me play his Gibson Les Paul all day long back then, though, haha. Been curious about the model of that Epiphone since I was 11 or 12. Quote
M-T-Pockets Posted February 11, 2021 Posted February 11, 2021 (edited) On 2/5/2021 at 10:38 PM, Guitar God said: This looks like it, but I don't recall his having the weird locking tremolo. I don't think he played that guitar much at all, because I only seen it once or twice and that was the one guitar he was picky about letting me play then. He would let me play his Gibson Les Paul all day long back then, though, haha. Been curious about the model of that Epiphone since I was 11 or 12. Right after I bought this one, another one popped up on Reverb, a really nice white on in better shape than this one (but it still had the tremolo issue that plagues these). I kinda wish I bought that one..lol I actually have parts on order from Germany to repair this one. I'm gonna bring it back to it's full glory and rock this bad boy!!! Also, I've seen these with a different tremolo, I believe the alternate one was called the "Epiphone Bennder" Edited February 11, 2021 by M-T-Pockets Quote
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