es 175 / es 295 question

[jc28]

Besides the Hardware are the es 175 and the es 295 the same body ? Thanks.

[carverman]

I would say so. The rest is p_up style, tailpiece and marketing.

[Red 333]

According to Epiphone, the ES 295 has a laminated maple body. The ES 175 has a laminated mahogany body (which is the confusing part--you'd expect it be maple like the Gibson version). Both have laminated maple tops.

 

The Zephyr Regent also has a laminated mahogany body, so it's more likely that the ES 175 and Zephyr Regent share the same body.

 

Also, the ES 175 is coming out of Indonesia, while (I think) the ES 295 is still made in Korea.

 

Red 333

[carverman]

According to Epiphone' date=' the ES 295 has a laminated maple body. The ES 175 has a laminated mahogany body (which is the confusing part--you'd expect it be maple like the Gibson version). Both have laminated maple tops. Red 333[/quote']

 

Confusing? Sure is. I would expect they (Epiphone) would have made it the same way as the Gibson ES-175 which are made in the Memphis plant.

 

Laminated mahogany back and sides (if that is the case) will give it a slightly different tone

from the Gibson version. While they both (ES-175 models) are made of plywood, the plywood is different

composition. I just hope they are not using Luan plywood....

the stuff I see used for flooring at H-D and even then, I was advised once not to

use the imported stuff due to voids and possible delaminations for flooring underlay,

but to use the poplar underlay made in NA. It would be nice to do a A/B comparison.

[Red 333]

 

Confusing? Sure is. I would expect they (Epiphone) would have made it the same way as the Gibson ES-175 which are made in the Memphis plant.

 

Laminated mahogany back and sides (if that is the case) will give it a slightly different tone

from the Gibson version.

 

I would imagine the mahogany Epi body might lend a little warmth and darkness, which may be required to make it sound closer to a Gibson, given the many differences in materials, manufacturing, and especially the pickups. The pickups are CERTAINLY going to be the biggest contributer to a differnce in tone (though numerous other small differences will definitely have an impact).

 

Perhaps the ES 175 and Zephyr Regent have mahognay bodies to seprate them more tonally from the Broadway and Emperor, which are also large, laminated, arch topped, single cutaway boxes (one with dual humbuckers, one with a floating pick up, just like the 175/ZR). Given that Epi uses the same quality of pickups in each, and uses similar value-oriented materials and construction techniques, how different could they sound unless something major (body composition) was changed?

 

People like me might not have an incentive to collect 'em all unless there was SOME difference they could point to as a way of justifying their madness: "See honey, I don't have too many guitars. You just don't understand why I HAVE TO HAVE this many. This one's MAHOGANY. It's darker. That one's MAPLE. It's brighter. Different songs require one but not the other, see? It's not absurd to have a Broadway and an ES 175, or an Emperor and a Zephy Regent. It would be musically irresponsible NOT to have them all."

 

Red 333