sexygibson Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I found this on Craigslist this evening. They claim it is a USA Epi SG. The serial number checks out through the Guitar Dater Project but I've never known of ANY Epi SGs built in Nashville. I hope the buyers will be very weary of this one. http://columbia.craigslist.org/msg/1095425457.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I found this on Craigslist this evening. They claim it is a USA Epi SG. The serial number checks out through the Guitar Dater Project but I've never known of ANY Epi SGs built in Nashville. I hope the buyers will be very weary of this one. http://columbia.craigslist.org/msg/1095425457.html Not to give anyone any ideas, but stamping tools are not that expensive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrmatt Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Your right, never seen one of those stamped Made in the USA and I would almost swear that you can see a small gold 6 to the left of the m in made but it's hard to tell because of the pic resolution. mgm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Flick Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I found this on Craigslist this evening. They claim it is a USA Epi SG. The serial number checks out through the Guitar Dater Project but I've never known of ANY Epi SGs built in Nashville. I hope the buyers will be very weary of this one. http://columbia.craigslist.org/msg/1095425457.html It's possible it's a 1982 Special made in Kalamazoo. From Vintage Guitar 01/25/2006: At the time this guitar appeared' date=' the Gibson company was on the ropes. It and other American companies had suffered a pummeling from Japanese competition during the '70s "copy era." Plus, Gibson was owned by Norlin, part of a South American conglomerate that had lost some of its interest in making guitars. Quality control was not what it once was. Part of Norlin's survival strategy - like so many companies in the '70s - was to begin to shift its production away from expensive unionized workers in the North to cheaper, non-union labor readily available in the primarily agrarian South. In 1974, Gibson opened a second guitar factory in Nashville and began to slowly move production out of its historic Michigan plant in Kalamazoo. By the early '80s, the transition was almost complete. Most Kalamazoo workers had been laid off. But in '82, Gibson decided to produce a few models of its "budget" Epiphone line in Michigan, and called some of its craftsmen back to work. At that time, most Epiphones were being made either in Japan or (with some of the Genesis models) Taiwan. It's not known if the plan was focused on boosting the Epiphone line in a period of economic recession or simply to give some work to hard-hit former employees. Anecdotal information suggests that, for reasons unknown, the Gibson brand name could not be used at the Kalamazoo plant, but that seems a bit odd and it's more likely that they wanted to pump up Epi sales. The principal Epi models produced in the U.S. were the one-and two-pickup Spirit models, nice little utilitarian double-cutaway guitars reminiscent of, but different from, the Les Paul Special. Another American-made Epi at the time was the Special, basically an SG variant. Most, it's believed, have serial numbers indicating that they were made in the latter half of '82. They were not promoted after September, though some were made at least into October.[/i'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Thats the real deal right there, there was also a les paul model produced around the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrmatt Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Thanks for the info, you learn something every day. mgm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Flick Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 It's possible it's a 1982 Special made in Kalamazoo. I just found some photos of an '82 Special' date=' this ain't one of them. It should have a Gibson style headstock with Epiphone USA, no pickguard, a badass style bridge, Kluson tuners, dots not blocks. The faux Bigsby and tuners look Asian to me, the same ones used on guitars like Jay Tursers, not what you would expect from Gibson USA. [img']http://donereachwest.com/guitar/images/sg/sg3.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Good catch Jerry.... The 82 epi spirits and the one in the previous post have similar headstocks like my 72 SG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvarsel Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 This is why I read this forum. Itelligent, informative and good guitar porn! Very nice. Does anyone know what those models go for these days (if you can find one)? Don't usually go for double cutaways but that Spirit is a very good looking axe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Good thing Jerry is back. He is a repository of guitar information (and, for that matter, guitars). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexygibson Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 It's possible it's a 1982 Special made in Kalamazoo. From Vintage Guitar 01/25/2006:[/i] Good thinking Jerry but I'm not convinced yet, although I didn't know about the " Special " that was USA built. As mentioned, the guitar does not have the correct Gibson style headstock as I've seen all the USA Epis and the serial number comes back to the Nashville plant, 2002. I say fake. Heres the info from Guitar Dater. Your guitar was made at the Nashville Plant (Gibson),TN, USA May 23 2002 Production Number: 384 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timandbob Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I hope the buyers will be very weary of this one. http://columbia.craigslist.org/msg/1095425457.html I hope I never get weary, but I will be wary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexygibson Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 I hope I never get weary' date=' but I will be wary. [/quote'] Point taken ! My wife gets me all the time about my typing and spelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexygibson Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Just listened to some of your tunes timandbob. Sounded great ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Flick Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I hope I never get weary' date=' but I will be wary. [/quote'] Nobody gets woolly. Women get weary. They don't get woolly. - Crash Davis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Does anyone know what those models go for these days (if you can find one)? Don't usually go for double cutaways but that Spirit is a very good looking axe. I've seen them go as high as $1000 in average condition8-[ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvarsel Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Yeah saw an '82 LP Junior. not my cup of tea but BIN was $799. Anyone one know how many of the two p-up double cuts were made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Flick Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Good thinking Jerry but I'm not convinced yet' date=' although I didn't know about the " Special " that was USA built. As mentioned, the guitar does not have the correct Gibson style headstock as I've seen all the USA Epis and the serial number comes back to the Nashville plant, 2002. I say fake. Heres the info from Guitar Dater. Your guitar was made at the Nashville Plant (Gibson),TN, USA May 23 2002 Production Number: 384 [/quote'] Yep, it's not an '82 Special. I knew they made one when I wrote my original post, but it wasn't till later that I found a photo of one and it's entirely different. The "Bigsby" and tuners appear to be Asian, not something you would expect on a USA Gibson made product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muskank Sally Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 The cutaways aren't right..... neither is the pickguard. Block inlays? Usually trapezoids aren't they? The neck joint is interesting but at the distance it looks mocked up. That Ain't no Kalamazoo Epi. Looks like a rebadged Turser...it's too eerily similar to a JT-50 And that is definitely an Asian aftermarket B-7 type Bigsby copy with no logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungrycat Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Why would someone fake an Epi? I mean, even a USA model used would bring no where near the money a Gibson would. I know some of the Vintage Epis are worth quite a bit, but nothing from Norlin era Gibson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar Chico Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 That looks kinda fake to me... Those horns seem a little too straight to me... GC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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