JefferySmith Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Yes' date=' they will be made in Japan, but NOT as "Elitist," or even Epiphone. Tarada and FujiGen guitars will be made under their own or other's brand names. Head stocks will be slightly different...non Elitist, Epiphone, or Gibson, due to patent concerns. But, "Elitist" quality, is still very much alive, in Japan. We may have a tougher time, getting them here...save the Japanese E-bay dealers, or if someone here in the US sets up a/or more distribution center(s). With some solid marketing, they could do well. Eastman could fill the void, too...if they'd promote thier guitars more. I too, hope that Epiphone (China) will up it's already good QC, and create a "Custom Shop." to fill (maybe even surpass) the "Elitist" void. But, Gibson may not want that...as it will certainly infringe on their own "mid level" sales....if you can call 1500 to 3000 dollar guitars, "Mid Level?" LOL! CB[/quote'] I was hoping that Kyoko would sell them, but they suddenly have NOTHING for sale on fleabay now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan 58 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hey Djrmusic, I'm glad you got a nice one, but i'll stick to what I said. I would be curious to hear what Spud has to say on the subject of 70s Gibson quality. Stan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I was hoping that Kyoko would sell them' date=' but they suddenly have NOTHING for sale on fleabay now.[/quote'] Hmmm....I wonder if that seller was just selling off "overstock," and has "moved on?" Or, maybe he's just temporarily out of stock? Who knows? Glad we got our '61 SG's, when we did... ;>) CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 The Slash models (which are priced similarly to the Elitists LPs--my Guit Center has the flame top for $999) are the obvious first forays by Epiphone/Gibson's own Chinese factory into learning to produce an Elitist quality instrument. I wasn't super impressed with the first one (build-quality wise), but the pics of that Goldtop look pretty nice. It will be interesting to see what develops. I sure hope high quality, affordable archtops continue to be available. My Korean Broadway is built every bit as well my Elitist Byrdland; the materials just aren't as good. If Epiphone thinks enough people will pony up for them, I'm sure they'll find someone who can build a high quality guitar using high quality materials, or do it themselves. I don't want to see the Elitist series die (or for them to stop making them in Japan), but, as it seems they're heading in that direction, let's hope that Epiphone China will get the hang of producing Elitist and Eastman quality guitars predictably and consistently. Red 333 Epiphone Elitist Dot Epiphone Elitist Byrdland Epiphone Elitist Casino Epiphone Elitist John Lennon Casino Epiphone Elitist Revolution Casino Epiphone Elitist Les Paul Honeyburst Epiphone Elitist Les Paul Vintage Sunburst Epiphone Elitist SG Epiphone Elitist Texan Epiphone Elitist McCartney Texan Epiphone Elitist J200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 The latest Epiphone news flash just arrived in my inbox!! Another "Slash" model, this time a goldtop. [yawn] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderstruck507 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I have played many Gibsons that weren't as good as elitists, and as far as price...new ones sell for $1000 or less here. Which sure is within a couple hundred bucks of a used Gibson, but I'd rather have a used Elitist for $500-700 :) Half the price of a Gibson counterpart and plays as good or sometimes better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hmmm....I wonder if that seller was just selling off "overstock' date='" and has "moved on?" Or, maybe he's just temporarily out of stock? Who knows? Glad we got our '61 SG's, when we did... ;>) CB[/quote'] Moved on seems to be the right phrase. Kyoko is no longer an ebay member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 It was just a question of time. The way the colours and models were disappearing from the available options it was obviously in the cards that eventually the line would be dropped altogether. Perhaps we shall see some interesting clearance pricing as dealers and distributors divest themselves of any remaining stock. All I can say is that I'm glad I got mine when I did. MF probably won't be doing that...they seem to be backordered on all but a few models. They have Dots in natural and some Les Pauls. The rest are all backordered, including the Elitist Casinos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 The latest Epiphone news flash just arrived in my inbox!! Another "Slash" model' date=' this time a goldtop. [yawn'] Yeah, I got one, too. What's with all this "signature" stuff, anyway? Aren't the normal line guitars "good enough?" Do they have to resort to paying some "rock god," a percentage just to sell their guitars? I'd MUCH rather them put the money/effort and quality, into making the "regular" line, that much better, and let US decide what we want to "mod" (or not), if we need to have a guitar like our "hero's." It's like Gibson, with their VOS line...why don't they make ALL their guitars RIGHT, to begin with...since they sure want to charge for it, anyway. GREED! ;>( CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Yeah' date=' I got one, too. What's with all this "signature" stuff, anyway? Aren't the normal line guitars "good enough?" Do they have to resort to paying some "rock god," a percentage just to sell their guitars? I'd MUCH rather them put the money/effort and quality, into making the "regular" line, that much better, and let US decide what we want to "mod" (or not), if we need to have a guitar like our "hero's." It's like Gibson, with their VOS line...why don't they make ALL their guitars RIGHT, to begin with...since they sure want to charge for it, anyway. GREED! ;>( CB[/quote'] I've never bought anything based on its having been endorsed by Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Ed McMahon, or Wilford Brimley. And remember that Snickers was the official junk food of the Olympics! I bought my Texan before I knew that Paul McCartney had one. And when I bought my 335, the only person I knew played that model was Chuck Berry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I've never bought anything based on its having been endorsed by Michael Jordan' date=' Tiger Woods, Ed McMahon, or Wilford Brimley. And remember that Snickers was the official junk food of the Olympics! I bought my Texan before I knew that Paul McCartney had one. And when I bought my 335, the only person I knew played that model was Chuck Berry.[/quote'] LOL! Yeah, exactly! I remember thinking, when I saw McCartney's Texan..."Why didn't he buy a Martin, or at least a J-200...he can afford it!" Of course, once I HEARD the Texan, I understood. Great guitars...truly! I never saw Chuck Berry with a 335...I did see him with 355's, usually "Red," but I'm sure he used 335's, 345's,...ES-175's...whatever. "Signature" guitars? "It's all ****!" (John Lennon) ;>) CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince a Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I'm fortunate to have an Elitist LP, but had to wait until I could actually afford to purchase one. If this story is true, I'm a bit saddened for those individuals that won't be able to get one down the road. Our lead guitar players in our band all use Gibson LPs, and though I play bass in this band, I've brought my Elitist LP in several times for jamming. The Gibsons are not Custom Shop models, but are Standards or Classics . . . and to me the Eltist is a much, much better guitar! Fit, finish, playability, and sound! The other guitar players have even remarked about how good they really are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muskank Sally Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 It's hard to imagine that they think Qingdao and other plants are reaching such heights in QC that the Elitist line is no longer needed due to the 'upgrade' and higher price of the current Epi line. I saw for myself first-hand today the jump. An Ultra II is now $799, Lucille is $699, Tony Iommi G-400 is $599, G-400 $399, LP Custom $799, LP + Top $649...etc.etc. The only ones I didn't see a jump on was the Korina V, and the Casino. Maybe tomorrow. If I could get an Elitist custom for $1099 as opposed to a Chinese made LP Custom for $799, who wouldn't come up with the $300 difference? OK Juskovitz (sp) what's the deal with raising the prices twice in one year??!??! (the first climb happened here in January '08 right after the holidays, now Sept 1st. That's two Epi price hikes in 10 months!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne_buddy Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 The Elitist line offered the best bang for buck ratio with the hollow and semi-hollow body guitars. I got my Elitist Riviera for $999 and I don't think you can find another semi-hollowbody quite so nice at that price. Are they gone for good? Who knows? But even if the value of this Riv goes up high enough that I can trade it for a Gibby 335, I'm not going to do that deal (unless that 335 happens to have mini's!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Strum Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Here is what I received from Gibson last night, they would not address my question of (why?) Thanks for the email. The Elitist line has been discontinued. There are no plans currently of other Elitist models. However, the Elitist Casino has not been discontinued and is still in production and available for order. Thanks again. Best regards, Gibson Customer Service 1-800-4GIBSON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Lets face it. The Elitist-line were just too good for Gibson to maintain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphs1978 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 that kinda makes me a lil mad.. i guess ill be trying to hunt one of them down sooner then i was planing.... ( GOD WILL THE GAS EVER GO AAAWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! ) yea... it will if i stop hanging out here... lol and i dont see that happing anytime soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Strum Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Lets face it. The Elitist-line were just too good for Gibson to maintain. That's basically what I was driving at when I e-mailed customer service. My words were something like - rumor on the street is that the Elitist line was phased out because it was cutting in to Gibson sales. As you see, that part wasn't addressed. To there credit, I did get a response back in less than 30 minutes. I wonder if we will see some Gibson's popping up in that price range that take the place of the Elitist, but with a little more (read - way more) cost for the name on the headstock? I'm not familiar with Gibson pricing from top to bottom, so I have no idea if the have anything close to the Elitist line in price. Time will tell - in the mean time hang on to your Elitist and lock them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Sentry Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 The reason Epi Elitists are gone? Gibson has 14 solid body guitars on the market (15 if you include the Melody Maker) for under a 1000 dollars. And there you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Th3bklyndream Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Umm what if it was cost of Manufacturing? Remember when Epiphone said they was going to raise guitar prices on September 1? I fine its a outrage! Like not offending but wouldn't canceling Elitist and all the other Discontinued Guitars make the price GO DOWN? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Well, it's "Official," I guess! Damn! That's too bad.... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Here is what I received from Gibson last night' date=' they would not address my question of (why?) Thanks for the email. The Elitist line has been discontinued. There are no plans currently of other Elitist models. However, the Elitist Casino has not been discontinued and is still in production and available for order. Thanks again. Best regards, Gibson Customer Service 1-800-4GIBSON This is what I was referring to...LOL! Don't know why it did post, within my answer???? Weird! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtoons Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I've placed an order for a white LP custom with Sweetwater in the hopes that they have access to one before they're all gone. I'll let you guys know what happens. You might want to cancel that order! You can get an ebony one until stock runs out but that's gonna be it. There's a mint red wine one on eBay right now... Curt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Or alternatively' date=' you might just prefer to pick up a Yamaha SA2200 for $1500... [/quote']I was looking at that baby in the Yamaha catalog the other day. What a gorgeous piece of work. A little more expensive than the Dot was, at $1,680 Canadian, but all the same, all the same... ...and before anyone compares it to an ES-335, note that it has a flame top, nice split block fret markers and an ebony fingerboard. More like an ES-355 than a 335. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hey Djrmusic' date=' I'm glad you got a nice one, but i'll stick to what I said. I would be curious to hear what Spud has to say on the subject of 70s Gibson quality. Stan.[/quote']Well, they're still Gibsons, and some of them are OK. I have a '78 SG and while it has many things that make it less appealing, it's still a good guitar and to tell the truth I really love those flat wide ultra-jumbo frets. Th estock pickups were pretty so-so but a little help from Seymour Duncan cured that. However I've heard of and seen a lot of seventies Les Pauls that are just pathetic, overweight monsters with no great tone and crappy pickups. Good news is that you will be able to pick up a seventies Gibson for low cost for quite some time yet. And now that the LP Standard Faded is no more, Gibson has nothing that can compete with the Elitist LP Standard Plus in terms of price/performance. Either you settle for a Studio (yuck) or you shell out the bucks for a Standard (ouch). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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