1993 Epiphone Montana Series EM-20

[pohatu771]

I just added another unusual Epiphone to my collection: A 1993 Montana Series EM-20.

These were made (along with the EM-10 and EM-30) by Gibson Acoustic in Bozeman, and allegedly only 57 of this particular model were ever produced.

At a glance, it looks like a typical import square-shoulder dreadnought, but then you start to see the details.

The label is different than any other American-made Epiphone:

Two-screw truss rod cover:

"Made in USA" stamp

The major departure from a typical dreadnought, though, is the back.

There is very little information about these online, and Epiphonewiki is, once again, incorrect. Rather than the rosewood back and sides it states, the EM-20 has a laminate mahogany back, pressed into an arch like an election archtop. It has no back braces. I can't tell if the sides are laminate or solid. This guitar shares all construction with the 90s Gibson Gospel, with a different headstock, different color pickguard, and inverted binding, with black on the outside instead of ivory.

This is actually the first Epiphone I own with a clipped dovewing headstock, despite being my ninth Epiphone guitar. The sound is different than my Texan or J-45; the bass is more defined while maintaining its volume. It's somewhere between the Texan and Cortez.

[QuestionMark]

Beautiful guitar!

 

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff