mgrasso Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 (edited) I finally found the new Epiphone Masterbilt Frontier. She will be a great sister to my Masterbilt DR-500PNS. This has the Indian Laurel fret board. I have not had the chance to add some lemon oil to it yet and hope it darkens up a little. The bridge is also pretty dry. The comparisons are fairly similar except the DR has a rosewood fretboard, the neck is a little wider. The Frontier has a thinner and narrower neck, but not a deal breaker. They both ring like only solid maple does. I have Rosewood and Mahogany backs and sides on Dreds and Advance Jumbos, and love them, but maple has a great, different sound. Also notice the differences in the bridge orientation. Not sure why they rotated the direction. And this is my only electric acoustic maple dread. ( and $4k less than a Gibson Dove). Fit and finish are great. The back and side wood pattern is fairly pedestrian compared to the 500PNS, but the first Masterbilts are impeccable. Musician's Friend got 3 and this is one of them. Sweetwater still has them on back order. And for some reason, Guitar Center cannot sell these. The rep could see them from the GC site to the MF site, but she could not sell it to me on my GC card. So I had to open an MF card. $17 month same as cash for 48 months. It will be paid off sooner, but I like buying that way. Also, almost all Epiphone hard cases are on back order from all outlets. That surprised me. Luckily, I have an extra dread case. More photos when I can in natural light. Edited October 26, 2020 by mgrasso 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 4 hours ago, mgrasso said: I finally found the new Epiphone Masterbilt Frontier. She will be a great sister to my Masterbilt DR-500PNS. This has the Indian Laurel fret board. I have not had the chance to add some lemon oil to it yet and hope it darkens up a little. The bridge is also pretty dry. The comparisons are fairly similar except the DR has a rosewood fretboard, the neck is a little wider. The Frontier has a thinner and narrower neck, but not a deal breaker. They both ring like only solid maple does. I have Rosewood and Mahogany backs and sides on Dreds and Advance Jumbos, and love them, but maple has a great, different sound. Also notice the differences in the bridge orientation. Not sure why they rotated the direction. And this is my only electric acoustic maple dread. ( and $4k less than a Gibson Dove). Fit and finish are great. The back and side wood pattern is fairly pedestrian compared to the 500PNS, but the first Masterbilts are impeccable. Musician's Friend got 3 and this is one of them. Sweetwater still has them on back order. And for some reason, Guitar Center cannot sell these. The rep could see them from the GC site to the MF site, but she could not sell it to me on my GC card. So I had to open an MF card. $17 month same as cash for 48 months. It will be paid off sooner, but I like buying that way. Also, almost all Epiphone hard cases are on back order from all outlets. That surprised me. Luckily, I have an extra dread case. More photos when I can in natural light. So glad you found one and like it. It's good to learn how it compares to the excellent original Masterbilts. I hope you enjoy it for years Red 333 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrasso Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 Thanks Red. I was very disappointed with the Century Masterbilts. I bought the deluxe, but for $900 (initially), They felt cheap compared to the original Masterbilts. Plus for that price point to have laminated back and sides, well, it just was not for me. Even Loar can produce an under $1K archtop with solid backs and sides. This was a sigh of relief. I cannot wait to get the Excellente. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Great to see the reissued Excellent and to read your feedback as an owner. Good to see Epiphone reissuing more guitars from their heritage, too! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 Very nice, priced well also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagull Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 I really wanted to get my hands on one of these. Sweetwater told me I just needed to go ahead and order one and I could return it later if I didn't like it. That was before the black plague hit. I am within driving distance and wanted to try first. Glad you like it, they remind me of a hummingbird. Play the tare out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrasso Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 The funny thing, if you can call it funny, these were in stock at Musicians Friend and I bought it, 2 weeks before my rotator cuff surgery (last Friday). So She is waiting for me to pick her up again. But at least I got one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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