frenchie1281734003 Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Hi,mplsscott.The catalogue scans that Jerry posted earlier are from Walter Carter`s book"Epiphone the complete history"page 81,and they were actually part of a card collection,showing the various Epiphone models,which were available in 82/83.The Matsumoku reissue archtops(the ones that actually bore a resemblance to the old Epiphones!)were produced between 1976-86,and were mainly intended for the Japanese market,although in the early to mid 80`s these became available in certain other countries(US,UK and West Germany spring to mind).Of interest,and i don`t think this has been mentioned before,they skimped a little on the details of the guitars sent to the US,whether this was down to GIbson or not i don`t know!,as an example the US Casino,came with Chrome hardware,and a plain Black scratchplate,as well as a plain Black three screw truss rod cover,whereas the UK version,got Nickel hardware a three ply W/B/W pickguard with "E"logo as well as the original two screw truss rod cover with "E"logo.These changes were only cosmetic and affected the guitars in no way,but of interest non the less.You are right about your tuners,they have been replaced,the originals would have looked like Schallers,with Grover type kidney bean keys,and would have had an "E"stamped on the back of each one.The original pickups on these were probably MMK75`s(should be stamped on the underneath,the Sheraton carried these as well,but i thought the MMK61`s found on the Riviera was a better pickup(the MMk 75`s being a bit too syrupy).Gibson have always been a bit evasive about the Matsumoku years,and in Walter Carters book the early to mid eighties Japanese guitars are credited to Terada and not infact Matsumoku,who only get the blame for the lower quality post Kalamazoo guitars.I quote from page 80 of Walter Carter`s book"In 1982,at a time when Gibson had discovered great market interest in reissues of fifties Les Pauls,four names from the old Gibson-Epi days were revived in the Epiphone line.Bill Nothdorft recalls these ,like all the more expensive Epi`s,as being made by the Terada company,at the top of the line once again was the Emperor,available in a full-depth or a thin body version-both 17"wide rather than the 18"of the original,below it were the Sheraton,Riviera,and Casino.At prices ranging from $595.95 for the Casino to $989.95 for the Emperor,these guitars were reasonably priced,but certainly not aimed at the buyer on a budget".These guitars were Matsumoku!!.hope all this helps,and congrats on having such a nice and fairly rare guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mplsscott Posted June 1, 2008 Author Share Posted June 1, 2008 Hi Frenchie - thanks for this very intersting and thorough info! It's really a shame that Gibson is so evasive on information about this period of Japanese production. But you're correct, they are. I contacted Gibson shortly after this guitar found it's way to my home, hoping for information. Instead, I recieved a very short response saying they had no definitive information for that serial number. IMO, Gibson should be proud of these guitars, as the quality is quite high. If anything, they should be hiding information on the early years of Korean manufacture! :-/ I'll have to check the bridge pickup to see what it is (it's in storage at another location), but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I may yet replace the pickups. haven't decided yet, but they aren't balanced as I'd like now with one being a Gibson and the other an Epiphone. I'm not particularly talented with soldering, so haven't rushed into anything! :-) Thanks Frenchie, for all the information. This has been a lot of fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mplsscott Posted June 1, 2008 Author Share Posted June 1, 2008 that is one fine guitar...epiphone should reintroduce that one...in lefty ha! I agree dubstar, even the lefty part! :~) This one deserved better than to just fade away, as seems to have happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binky Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 I never knew this guitar existed until I found one and bought it just a few short weeks ago. It's kinda awesome, and a lot cheaper than a Gibson L5 CT. After I change the pickups it will get a lot of playing time. For what it's worth, I do believe that your bridge is original. I have a PDF of a 1977 catalog that shows it pretty clearly. Mine has a replacement tune-o-matic and the travel is too short to properly intonate some of the strings. When it's time to sell, call ME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mplsscott Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 I never knew this guitar existed until I found one and bought it just a few short weeks ago. It's kinda awesome' date=' and a lot cheaper than a Gibson L5 CT. After I change the pickups it will get a lot of playing time.For what it's worth, I do believe that your bridge is original. I have a PDF of a 1977 catalog that shows it pretty clearly. Mine has a replacement tune-o-matic and the travel is too short to properly intonate some of the strings. When it's time to sell, call ME! [/quote'] Congratulations on your find, Binky! From what I can gather, you were lucky to find one. Mine was 'dumb luck', since I didn't set out to find one, and didn't know what an unusual bird these really are. Anyway, I hope you do get lots of playing time on yours! BTW, I'm thinking of changing pickups on mine also, but have not decided on what pickups to move to. I like the Gibson 498T/498R combinations, and may go that route. Part of me wants to go to a more jazzy sound though, even though I don't currently play jazz really. Have you had any thoughts on what you might move to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binky Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 BTW' date=' I'm thinking of changing pickups on mine also, but have not decided on what pickups to move to. I like the Gibson 498T/498R combinations, and may go that route. Part of me wants to go to a more jazzy sound though, even though I don't currently play jazz really. Have you had any thoughts on what you might move to?[/quote'] I have BurstBuckers in my Elitist Byrdland and they're very good. If you're looking for a softer, jazzy tone I suggest Pickups with Alinco II magnets. Ceramic magnets have a sharper attack and can sound good if you're doing 70's rock through a Marshall JMP, but even Slash and Billy Gibbons prefer Alnico II in their favorite pickups (SD Alnico II Pros and SD Pearly Gates respectively). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mplsscott Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 I have BurstBuckers in my Elitist Byrdland and they're very good. If you're looking for a softer' date=' jazzy tone I suggest Pickups with Alinco II magnets. Ceramic magnets have a sharper attack and can sound good if you're doing 70's rock through a Marshall JMP, but even Slash and Billy Gibbons prefer Alnico II in their favorite pickups (SD Alnico II Pros and SD Pearly Gates respectively). [/quote'] Good info Binky - thanks! I knew there were different materials used, but you've given more info than I had about the relative sound differences. Thinking about it, some of my favorite guitars had pickups with Alnico II magnets, so I'll probably check those out. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbirchett Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 You know, they could do it in red with a Gold Bigsby and have a George Gobel model Epiphone! Seriously, that is a beautiful guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertgen Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I used to own one of those, I hope to find another one someday, its a great guitar. Where did you find it? Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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