swamprock Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 It's been quite the week for me, for guitar acquisitions. First off, I picked up a fairly beat black 2002 Epi Junior for next to nothing. It's a plywood, thicker neck model that has has the neck joint reglued. The repair was done quite well, although it's a bit rough playing in that area and will need some sandpaper. I've already installed the Dream 90 I had in my '11 Sunburst Junior (replaced with a Mean 90), a PIO cap, new nut, vintage-style amber knobs, and new strings, and she sings just fine. She will be my stage backup in case of... well, in case... Tonight, I was given a project guitar to work on for a friend. It's a S101 Telecaster copy that I'll be upgrading. For a cheapo Chinese copy, it's actually a pretty solid guitar and doesn't sound too bad, but could use some upgrades. As payment for my labor and the parts I'm donating to the Tele copy, he gave me what appears to be an Epi E-Series Basher in beautiful condition! I say "what appears to be" because, although it has the E-Series headstock, the body is a vintage sunburst, like a Special. The specs all match, and running the serial tells me that it was Korean-made in December of 2000, but none of the colors sold as Bashers match. I wonder if it IS a Special, and the neck had been replaced at one point. Regardless, it's actually a really nice guitar, even though it also appears to be plywood (I can see the plys through the finish, I think...). Dunno what I'm going to do with this one yet. I may slap some Duncans on it and turn it into a raging metal monster, then sell it. Then again, if it's some rare bird, I may just keep it. I dig the E-Series headstock art on it... EDIT: Just thought about this: maybe if I took one or both of the pickups out, if there'd be some info in the cavities of either. I'll have to check... EDIT #2: found it: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/epiphone-e-series-player-pack ... must have been a "Player Pack" exclusive, since this color wasn't available in the stand-alone model, as far as I can tell. Another project I was given, by our vocalist, for me to use when it's done, is a 2002 Gibson SG Faded Brown. I absolutely *love* how this guitar feels and plays, although I think it could use a new bridge pickup. It has some tuning issues that I have to sort out, but other than that (and a not-so-uncommon headstock snap repair and reinforcement), it's in great shape. I hope I can talk him into selling it to me... So that's been my week. Pictures below: The four suspects. The Gibby. The Junior. The Player Pack E-Series Basher. Wonder if this is particularly rare...? The project. Guess I better get busy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Congratulations swamprock! Great find! Nice week you had there. Yep, that SG is cool. I had a friend that had one of those. I loved it. And that tele looks pretty cool too. Good luck with all the mods. Thanks for the pics. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 EDIT: Just thought about this: maybe if I took one or both of the pickups out, if there'd be some info in the cavities of either. I'll have to check... EDIT #2: found it: http://www.musicians...ies-player-pack ... must have been a "Player Pack" exclusive, since this color wasn't available in the stand-alone model, as far as I can tell. Very interesting. I had no idea that this color existed in a Player Pack. Curious as to why this is still on the MF website also. When I was researching the E-Series, this never came up. Thanks for the link. I'll be updating the wiki with this info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamprock Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Very interesting. I had no idea that this color existed in a Player Pack. Curious as to why this is still on the MF website also. When I was researching the E-Series, this never came up. Thanks for the link. I'll be updating the wiki with this info. Yeah... it was hard as hell to find ANY info about that guitar. Eventually, I just entered "Epiphone E-Series" into Google and the MF link came up, as well as a couple of Craigslist ads (both expired, but Google still had the pics cached). That's all I could find. I'm doing a pickup swap on it today, so I'll update you with what I find under the cavities, as well as snap pics of the back of the pickups, and see if there's anything on the neck joint as well... The date has me somewhat intrigued as well. Epi didn't start selling the larger E-Series line until 2001 (not sure which month), and the date this one was built was late 2000. It could be that they were ramping up production on the full line in late 2000, but the date that the larger E-Series intro was done would be a big factor in determining whether this was an early, fairly unique version, or just part of the ramp-up. In any event, I'll do some more research once I've had my coffee :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamprock Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Not much information out there, but I did find a couple of sites that have some noteworthy information: (Disclaimer: I have no idea of the reliability of this information or the reputation of the sites referenced) http://bluebookofguitarvalues.com/Electric_Guitar_Values/Guitar_Manufacturer_Models.aspx?id=EPIPHONE_ELECTRIC_E_SERIES "BASHER- Les Paul style laminated alder/maple body, bolt-on hard maple neck, rosewood fingerboard with dot position markers, 22-frets, 2 open coil humbucker pickups, chrome hardware, 3-per-side tuners, available in Vintage Sunburst, Just Black, Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Blood Stain, or Bruise Purple finishes, mfg. 2001-02." Apparently, there was a cherry sunburst, similar in appearance to the Special II in that color, as well. The color was referenced with the same text on multiple sites (probably all from the same source), but no pics. I looked around for that one and found nothing. I wonder if it actually existed. http://burlapandblues.com/index.php?topic=6267.0 - a fairly ugly thread, but the vintage sunburst is described pretty well here... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epiphone-E-Series-Guitar-/280912392833 - and one for sale on eBay. ----- Going by the info uncovered, I would guess that we're on the mark as far as the vintage sunburst being a Player Pack exclusive. I'll have the pickup and neck pocket/joint pics taken later on tonight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamprock Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Nothing special in the pickup cavities or neck joint/pocket. Standard plywood body, standard "Epiphone F" and "Epiphone R" pickups. I won't bother snapping pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I know that most of the E-Series had what they called "E-Series HOT Humbuckers". I dont know if that included the Basher and Bully. Typically, those pickups were chrome covered with an Epsilon "E" engraving on them. But the Basher and Bully were the bottom of the line E-Series guitars, so I wouldnt be surprised if they had standard Epiphone pickups. If MF is showing this guitar on their website, then I have no doubt that it is a Basher. All in all, its pretty neat find. Its basically a Special II with a maple neck (which I personally prefer). So the big question on my mind is, how is the maple E-Series neck compared to a common mahogany Epiphone neck? Does it feel cheap or comparable to a standard Special II neck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamprock Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 I know that most of the E-Series had what they called "E-Series HOT Humbuckers". I dont know if that included the Basher and Bully. Typically, those pickups were chrome covered with an Epsilon "E" engraving on them. But the Basher and Bully were the bottom of the line E-Series guitars, so I wouldnt be surprised if they had standard Epiphone pickups. If MF is showing this guitar on their website, then I have no doubt that it is a Basher. All in all, its pretty neat find. Its basically a Special II with a maple neck (which I personally prefer). So the big question on my mind is, how is the maple E-Series neck compared to a common mahogany Epiphone neck? Does it feel cheap or comparable to a standard Special II neck? I wonder if the HOT 'buckers are comparable to those old EMG Selects that other companies have used. I have a couple of those lying around... The stock standard pickups are pretty blah. I might swap in the EMG Selects, or I have a pair of spare SH-4 Duncans lying around that I might put in it. I think it would be a decent metal axe with a few upgrades. The neck doesn't feel cheap at all. The thickness is comparable to a '50s style neck. The quality of construction on the neck is quite nice; no jagged fret ends, nice straight fretboard, smooth finish that doesn't "grab" your hand. The previous owner didn't play it much in its decade of life, so the frets/fretboard don't need any special attention. The tuners are obviously the standard die-cast pieces of crap. I've played a few Chinese-made Special IIs & compared to those, this Basher is definitely a nicer guitar. The necks on the Specials just seemed "dry" or "stiff" to me, and the quality varied widely between the 3 or 4 I played. This is all subjective, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamprock Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 She now has Duncans, and is a tone and sustain-packed screamer. I used a Trembucker in the bridge and a SH4 in the neck. Love how she sounds. I'll definitely keep her now... As an aside, I'm amazed at how tight the neck joint is, even after sanding the little bit of paint she had in it. Great bond for a bolt-on. Setting her up was also painless, and she stays in tune great. Got lucky with this one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.