Odd truss rod cover.

[ehaataja]

I have a 1982 Epiphone Spirit.  I have had this guitar for a good many years, and recently learned it is rather valuable.  There is something rather odd about the truss rod cover.  Most of the other similar guitars I have seen pictured, the cover just says "Spirit", and nothing else.  Mine says "Spirit", but underneath that it says "MADE BY GIBSON" in all caps for some reason.  I have had to search pretty hard to find something similar, but I found a 1982 Spirit 1 (the single humbucker version) that has it, and a 1982 Gibson Spirit that has it as well.  The headstock is rather redundant looking on the latter one.  It says "Gibson" on the headstock, and "MADE BY GIBSON" on the same headstock.  That is rather silly if you ask me.  

 

So, the serial number is 834025539, which indicates it was manufactured at the Nashville facility, but everything I have read says that all Spirit guitars were made in Kalamazoo.  I am wondering if maybe a few were made in Nashville, including mine, and that is why the cover looks a little different?  If anybody know anything about this, please let me know.

 

 

[Red 333]

In 1982, he Spirit was produced at the Kalamazoo factory and badged as an Epiphone.  It had the "Made by Gibson" truss rod cover to tell consumers Epiphone was a Gibson product.

Gibson bought Epiphone in the late fifties. Epiphone had been a major competitor for decades, especially of archtop guitars, and made a similar quality instrument that commanded similar prices.  After the purchase, Gibson used the Epiphone name to sell variations of their products to stores that were often inside the exclusive territory of Gibson dealers. Dealers had agreements that said only they could sell Gibson instruments within X number of miles. Gibson could add new dealers into that territory by offering them nearly identical instruments, only with Epiphone on the headstock. That tactic increased sales without technically violating their distribution agreements. These Epiphones were manufactured right alongside their Gibson counterparts in Kalamazoo, MI, and were offered at similar prices. Eventually, Epiphone would also offer some totally distinct designs, as well.

In the early Seventies, Gibson shut down Epiphone production in Kalamazoo, and outsourced manufacturing to various offshore companies. Epiphone was repositioned as budget brand.

1982's Spirit was an attempt to sell a higher-quality and higher-priced made in the USA Epiphone again. The "Made by  Gibson" truss rod was used since quality had decreased with the lower price point of the previous decade's products. That's also why the Epiphone logo says "Epiphone U.S.A.," to distinguish Spirit from the outsourced Epiphone badged products.

The story goes that the Spirit was not a big seller, so Gibson decals were put over some completed guitars that already had  Epiphone on the headstock.  This explains why some guitars say Gibson on the headstock, and also have "Spirit Made By Gibson" truss rod covers. 

Right around that time, Gibson was in the process of phasing out production in Kalamazoo and starting up production in Memphis. Spirit production was moved to there, and these guitars have Gibson on the headstock and just "Spirit" on the truss rod cover. 

The headstock was changed to the Explorer style hockey stick shape around 1985, and the bridge was changed to a Khaler tremolo. 

Production ceased around 1986.

Red 333

 

Edited February 7 by Red 333

[ehaataja]

Thank you, Red.  Good information, but one thing looks a bit contradictory. The first thing you say is "In 1982, the Spirit was produced at the Kalamazoo factory and badged as an Epiphone."  But further down you said that Epiphone production at the Kalamazoo facility was shut down in the early seventies.    I am a little confused as to how both statements could be true.

Edited February 6 by ehaataja

[ksdaddy]

Gibson shifted production of the Epiphone brand to Japan around 1970 but there have been a handful of instances where Gibson has made a specific Epiphone model in the US, typically a small or special run. 

[Red 333]

2 hours ago, ehaataja said:

Thank you, Red.  Good information, but one thing looks a bit contradictory. The first thing you say is "In 1982, the Spirit was produced at the Kalamazoo factory and badged as an Epiphone."  But further down you said that Epiphone production at the Kalamazoo facility was shut down in the early seventies.    I am a little confused as to how both statements could be true.

At that time, Epiphones were imported from overseas. The Spirit was an attempt to build an Epiphone in the US again, and it sell it at the lower end of the Gibson price range.  Import Epiphone solid-bodies had $160  to  $350 (ish) list prices in the '70s, where the Spirit was $400-$650.  As ksdadyy said, they experimented with this (and still do) from time to time.

Red 333

Edited February 6 by Red 333