fazeka Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Hi all, Looking to acquire the new Epiphone Wilshire. I basically am interested in modding it to use Gibson parts wherever possible and short of major surgery. I am hoping for "plug and play" and am mainly concerned about sizing of the various parts and what is available from third-party vendors. Just wanted to preface by saying I've never had a post-1970 Epiphone before and I've been trying to do research on these Asian Epiphones but different recent eras have different details about them and it gets difficult to keep everything straight. So I appreciate your time and knowledge. I want to have an ABR like an original Wilshire would have had and yes I know that the ABR post would go straight into the wood. I thought I saw a conversion post that will screw into the metric bushing and provide the skinny ABR post? I can't seem to find the vendor that provided this, anyone know? Also want to confirm the holes are distanced the same as a Gibson ABR bridge? Furthermore, I would suspect the tailpiece is going to have a similar issue where Gibson studs will not retrofit but that someone makes a conversion stud OR a bushing to fit, where I can then fit the Gibson stop and studs. I can't seem to find anyone that has such for sale? Also want to confirm the distance between the studs/bushings would be different than that of the Gibson? https://i.imgur.com/MgGMTS2.png Again, I'd rather not drill/dowel the guitar to get Gibson parts to fit. Hoping there's a third-party making stuff to retrofit these Gibson components. Finally, I have been looking online at the pics of the new Wilshire and was wondering if there was any scarf joints on these? I heard a rumor that the Chinese factory would do away with them if they can get the tooling to do the neck all "in one pass" but not sure if its true. The pictures I have seen make it a little difficult to see (and I know that some models indeed had a different type of scarf than the more obvious ones of the past) but I can't really see it?!? Maybe it's just wishful thinking? What say you? https://i.imgur.com/uv05VvU.png https://i.imgur.com/OkGXmjs.png Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fazeka Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 OK, I found it again: I think this will work for the bridge? https://www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/abr-1-bridges/abr-1-parts/import-conversion-posts-install-abr-1-on-epiphone-other-import-guitars-nickel/ I presume that the Epi posts are an M8x1.25 thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt4356 Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Without one in hand, I and nobody can really answer the hardware question. We would just be guessing from pictures the same as you. With regards to the scarf joint, whilst you and I know a one peice is 'better' a scarf joint is stronger. I would be surprised to see epiphone change from scarf joints simply due to the waste being so far less compared to a one peice neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fazeka Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Yup. Re: the scarf joint, you are probably right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fazeka Posted November 28, 2020 Author Share Posted November 28, 2020 (edited) Actually, I just got the Wilshire today: no scarf! 😁 (at least, I can't see a scarf) Edited November 28, 2020 by fazeka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 Mine is coming Monday, yay to no scary joint.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fazeka Posted November 29, 2020 Author Share Posted November 29, 2020 Another thing I noticed: no visible fret ends. They are apparently undercutting the fret tang upon install. Although not like the originals, I kinda like it! Check out the upper left corner on this vintage original (Crestwood, but you get the idea): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 (edited) Almost all current Epiphones have binding on the neck, my cherry G400 also has a neck blinding that looks like wood but isn't. I will check my Wilshire tomorrow when it gets here. Not a good shot for the neck binding, but it does look just like yours.. Another image from the web, this really does look like a binding, which would be quite normal for Epiphone, specially when you zoom in. Edited November 30, 2020 by mihcmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fazeka Posted November 30, 2020 Author Share Posted November 30, 2020 (edited) Huh. I guess you're right. Had to put on the ol' specs so I could see up close... Wonder why they are doing that? I mean, they're "binding" it with wood, but... the originals never had ANY neck binding. Plus, it's more work than just simply installing frets, which I suppose means more expense? Edited November 30, 2020 by fazeka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 (edited) Epiphone does binding on all of its necks as a standard method of construction, at least on everything with a set neck. My red SG binding looks like wood but its not. All of my Epi's have binding. Edited November 30, 2020 by mihcmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 (edited) The woodgrain binding on my Wilshire is exactly the same as my Cherry G400. Edited December 2, 2020 by mihcmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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