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epiphone elitist


gman70

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How come Epiphone stopped making the Elitist line of guitars?I have the Jay Jay French model, I think it's a great guitar.Epiphone needs to bring back the Elitist guitars, or at least have pro series line of Les Pauls.Whats your opinion?

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Various theories abound. Perhaps their quality was good enough that they were biting into Gibson sales. Epiphone might have wanted to shift its market focus from baby-boomers to the grandchildren of baby boomers (who would be more likely to buy a cheaper Chinese Epiphone). It's also possible that Japan wanted out of the deal due to the US dollar sliding in value. Epiphone has been quite tight-lipped, but their focus certainly does seem to be a younger group of buyers who would rather have a goth axe than a jazz instrument.

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It cost too much to make them for the price the public would pay. Many people still can not overcome the stigma of the Epiphone name on the headstock, as they associate it with poor quality imports af the past. This is despite the fact that the MIJ Elitists are excellent quality instruments and a relative bargain when compared to USA versions of the same guitars. Even the limited edition Epiphones made in the USA by Gibson during the last decade have not held their value as well as similar, Gibson badged models. That's the power of a brand. The Elitists have a great reputation among Epiphone customers like us, and it seems to be gettig even stronger, but among the general guitar buying public, they are largely (and sadly) unknown and ingored.

 

The next generation of Elitist-like guitars is being made in China, where labor is chaper than Japan. We've already seen the Slash LPs. Next comes the Roy Orbison 12-String. If that is made up to or better than past Masterbilt standards, it should be a good guitar. I'm very interested to see the Thunderbird Pros. If they are successful, I theorize that the "Pro" designation will replace Elitist on the high-end, Chinese made instruments.

 

It's not too much to hope for that we could see nitro-finished products for near the same price as the Elitists; I've seen some fine, nitro finished, Chinese-made Loar and Recording King acoustics in that ballpark. Some of the Eastmans can be had for Elitist prices, too.

 

Red 333

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No; I believe it's simpler than that. They just weren't selling. Basically, at that price point, people want to see 'Gibson' on the headstock. For a set amount of money, buyers would prefer a Gibson LP Studio to an Elitist Standard, or an SG Special Faded to an Elitist '61 reissue. This was only reinforced by the dealers that were too afraid to stock the guitars so that potential buyers would get the chance to try them out and see how great they really were. #-o

 

Too bad for those that missed this golden opportunity to get a world-class guitar at a bargain price. =P~

 

Unfortunately Gibson was too afraid that Japanese Gibsons would impact their USA sales... so they tried to market them as high-end Epiphones. Turned out to be a big mistake. Fender has already demonstrated that a low-end product line can sell very well without impacting the higher-end product sales (MIM Fenders versus American Fenders). Unfortunately Gibson either ignored, or simply could not comprehend, this simple truth. =P~

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Unfortunately Gibson was too afraid that Japanese Gibsons would impact their USA sales... so they tried to market them as high-end Epiphones. Turned out to be a big mistake. Fender has already demonstrated that a low-end product line can sell very well without impacting the higher-end product sales (MIM Fenders versus American Fenders). Unfortunately Gibson either ignored' date=' or simply could not comprehend, this simple truth. '](*,)

 

This brings up a discussion from about a year ago now. The stock MIJ Epiphone line with the right headstocks and correct bevels should just be brought into the US as is.

 

I don't have a problem with Gibson protecting its' name as US only produced product. Produce the exact same thing and I don't care if it is poly like on the Elitists, make the Epiphone's imported clones and badge them Epiphone's and let us choose.

 

Yes I will still own my Gibsons. Will I sell off my G400s and the rest of the Epiphone's other than my Riviera or Casinos and replace them? Yes!

 

As usual Spud you are correct Fender figured this out years ago and let the consumer choose. It has not hurt the US sales one bit. Though I am not a big Strat guy and my MIM is fine for now I will buy an American made one at some point because I want one.

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