Conference napalm::guitar

    There's a note in here somewhere about Epiphone guitars.  I think they
    are great values.  They are basically a "low end" Gibson with their
    copies of the more popular Gibson electrics.  There's a noter here who
    has an Epiphone Les Paul and I remember him having quite positive
    comments about his purchase. Anyone else?
    
    Steve

    
    Try notes 1629 and 1808. I think today's Epi's are made in Korea and
    though the company is owned by Gibson. Epi's used to be made in
    Kalamazoo...
    
    JP

    Note 1808 discusses the current Epi guitars.
    
    Here's a thumbnail history (probably not 100% accurate on dates):
    
    Epiphone was independent of Gibson in its early days, and built fine
    archtop guitars.  
    
    In the mid-late fifties, Gibson bought them out and for a while Epis
    were made on the same lines as Gibsons, often using the same parts. 
    Some Epis were almost exactly like Gibson models, such as the Rivoli
    bass and Riviera guitar often seen used by UK rock bands during the
    first British Invasion.  
    
    By the 70s, Gibson had moved the Epi name over to imported guitars
    which in general were not copies of particular Gibsons.  The emphsis
    was on flattop acoustics, though they did make some elctrics (only
    model I recall from this period was the Genesis).
    
    Finally, just a few years ago Gibson decided to emulate Fender's
    successes with the Squier line by introducing imported Epiphone
    versions of hot Gibson models (SGs, Les Pauls, Firebirds, etc.).  They
    also reissued some classic Epi models like the Sheraton semi-hollow. 
    In addition the line includes some Fender clones and some modern
    looking solidbodies that are unique to the Epi line.
    
    							Brian

    FWIW: The Jay Lenno Show featured a band called X (Exine was there, but
    I don't know what John Doe looks like, so he probably wasn't. They
    sounded like the same old X) whose lead guitarist used an Epiphone
    solid body & a Marshall half stack. It sounded really clean & bright
    with a lot of upper middle maybe like a Strat with a Gibson LP Deluxe
    pickup.
    
    Paul

    
    	Great deals on Epiphones at Acton Music on rt 27.  Tons of 'em.
    
    

    		I've been asked to do some restoration pearl
    		work (cloud inlays) for some Epi's.
    
    		Arch tops and mandolins are super.
    
    		Good axes for people who play real music -- 
    		i.e. -- not rock electric.  In other words, can you 
    		spell "Country Gentleman" vs. "tele" and "strat"?
    
    		A "really" good Epiphone is up there with a good
    		D'Angelico or a Maceferri.
    
    		Does anyone out there play or appreciate acoustic anymore?
    
    		      
    
    		An old folky -- banjos a specialty,
    
    
    		Ralph
    
    
    		(Custom pearl, banjo, and folk restorations)
                                                            

>>Good axes for people who play real music -- i.e. -- not rock electric
    
    interesting comment.......is electric blues not real music?  How about
    electric southern rock?  How about Steve Morse's contributions to
    electric guitar 'music'?  Interesting comment......
    
    Steve

    Re: .7
    
    Hey, can we avoid a rathole here?  Let's stick to the Epiphone topic,
    OK?
    
    						Brian

re: .3

    
>                                                                      They
>    also reissued some classic Epi models like the Sheraton semi-hollow. 
    
I had been under the (apparently mistaken) impression that the Sheraton
was an ES-335 clone.  It certainly *looks* alot like one.  Which existed
first, the Sheraton or the 335?

-Hal

    I have an Epiphone SG copy, and it's a nice-playing guitar.  They go
    for around $300 new at Daddy's (greater Boston area).
    
    Dave

    RE: Sheratons and 335s
    
    Actually, I think it is both a re-issue and 335 clone.  The original
    Sheraton was (I believe) a post Gibson buyout / pre Orient guitar.
    It was constructed similar to the 335 (probably even at the same
    factory?), but sold as an Epiphone, and it had its own distinctive
    headstock and other appointments.  The current Sheraton is a copy of
    the original Sheraton, which was sort of a 335 variant.
    
    Jim

    Actually, the Sheraton was the Epi version of the 355, not the 335.
    
    Epi never built semi's pre-Gibson: all '50's & '60's Epi thinlines were
    built in the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo.
    
    Danny W.

    The guitar used by the player in X was a Crestwood I believe.  These
    are sort of an Epi variant of the Gibson SG, with a more squared off
    body style.  Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes has been seen using one
    of these lately as well.  Most interesting of these (from a collector's
    point of view) have a "batwing" (self explanatory) headstock design.
    
    Btw, that was John Doe on bass for X.  Anybody have an idea what that
    bass he was using is?
    
    /orville humbucker

    >>Hey, can we avoid a rathole here?  Let's stick to the Epiphone topic,
    >>OK?
    
    It would have been a debate, Brian, not a rathole...but, (sigh) you're
    right, no rebuttles in this topic....
    
    Actually, it didn't offend me, I just wanted to pursue the line of
    logic.  I love acoustic guitar music....as much as I love all kinds of
    electric guitar music...and it's *all* real to me!
    
    I apologize for my poor etiquette, but not for my comment in .7
    
    
    Steve 
                                                    

    >>I have an Epiphone SG copy
    
    Why Dave, ididn't know you played the 6 string as well.  I'm not
    surprised it's shaped like an SG!
    
    8^)

>    Why Dave, ididn't know you played the 6 string as well.  I'm not
>    surprised it's shaped like an SG!
    
    You been talking to my wife?  That's exactly what she said when I
    bought the SG, "I guess you really like that body shape, huh?"
    
    Well, what can I say?  After playing an EB-0 for 23 years I guess I'm
    used to the neck, size, weight, all that.  At least the SG's a slightly
    different color from the bass - not as nice, but OK.
    
    The main reason I bought it was because I got a good deal on it used,
    and it's a pretty good guitar overall.  However, I don't claim to be
    able to play it - notice which one I brought to Blind Willy's that
    night - just that I'm learning.
    
    Dave

    Bring that SG copy next time I'm up......*I'll* give it a workout!
    It'll remind me of old times......8^(
    
    Steve (who had one SG, but playing style was too 'heavy' for the
    neck/body joint)

    
    
    
        If I had a chance to do it all over again - I wouldn't buy a new
    Epi.  A used acoustic maybe, for not more than 100 to 150.  Get it home
    and play the absolute hell outta it.  Throw it in the back seat every-
    where you go.  Use for what it is, a beater.  
    
        I have an Epi acoustic/electric, single cut away.  You can try it 
    if you want to.  This guitar does not impress me, but then the measure
    stick is the Guild.  (I also do not care for the bright plywood top
    sound anymore.  But WTF.  Try it for a week if you want.)  
    
        Rick.  
    

>    Steve (who had one SG, but playing style was too 'heavy' for the
>    neck/body joint)
    
    You must play like the guy I bought it from - he used to whammy notes
    by bending the neck back and forth.  Guess I'm lucky it's still in one
    piece.
    
    Dave

    I told my wife that they certainly *sounded* like John Doe & Xcine,
    bingo.
    
    I played a decent Epi acoustic at a flea market a while back. I was
    hoping the guy selling it didn't recognize the name (not Gibson, Guild,
    Martin, etc.), but no such luck. He was the original owner & it was
    around 30 years old.
    
    BTW: RE: .8 ... Nice catch, Brian.
    
    Paul
     

    
    Does anyone know if the SG is actually marketed as the "Epiphone SG",
    or does it go under another name? 
    
    I was looking at a catalogue from last year, and there's no mention of
    an Epiphone SG. The Epiphone guitars listed are the following:
    
    - S310
    - G310
    - Sheraton
    - Emperor
    - T310
    - G400
    - 435
    - Les Paul Custom
    - Les Paul Standard
    
    I always imagined it was a legal hitch that prevented Fernandes, Tokai
    and co. from marketing their Strat. copies as (for example) "Fernandes
    Stratocaster", but I'm sure no such problem would exist between
    Epiphone and Gibson.
    
    Cheers, 
    
    Dom

    re:-1
    
    I lost my Epi flyer, but I recall the SG shaped Epi having a model #
    with no reference to the SG initials.  BTW, what does SG stand for?
    (Danny ?)
    
    RE:-1 SG neck flex.....I couldn't keep my ES335 for the same
    reason....I seem to subconciously 'press' with my right elbow when I'm
    playing and this action kinda 'levers' against my left hand and the
    neck flexes the axe right outa tune!  I should learn to relax, I'd
    probably live longer!  No prob with strats or les pauls!
    
    big dawg....

    
    	According to the AMS catalog, the SG Epi is the G-400.
    
    	349 includes case.
    
    

FYI: This is what I found in last years Epi catalog:

G-100

  With great fingerboard access and a fat, nasty, tone, the SG
is a basic musical weapon for rock, blues, and metal.  The G-400
is Epiphone's authorized version of Gibson's famous SG '62, with
vintage style and tone and at a price to fit your modern wallet.
This is the guitar many of today's rock legends first played
professionally.

  * Solid mahogany body and slim taper mahogany neck.
  * Gibson deisnged exposed coil high output humbuckers.
  * Chrome tune-o-matic bridge and stop bar tailpiece.

G-310

  With the look of the great '67 Gibson SG, the G-310 has unbeatable
fingerboard access and a fat nasty rock sound.  If you like your music
heavy and your guitars light, the G-310 is your best bet for affordable
performance.

  * Two Gibson-designed high output exposed humbuckers.
  * Traditional Gibson controls and hardware with chrome plated
    tune-o-matic bridge and stop bar tailpiece.
  * Lightweight mahogany body, bolt-in solid mahogany neck.

    I knew my Epi wasn't designated as any kind of "SG", but I didn't know
    what they did call it, and it's clearly an SG copy so that's what I
    call it.  I didn't know Epi made two models; wonder which one I've got?
    The only difference between .24's two descriptions seems to be the
    "bolt-in neck", which mine does not have.  (I thought all SG necks were
    glued in.)
    
    BTW, the descriptions of the pickups are accurate as far as they go
    (high output, exposed coil humbuckers), but they fail to mention that
    something is missing in their output: tone, or treble, or something.  I
    liked them fine when I first got the guitar, but lately have come to
    realize that they sound pretty flat.  If I had the bucks, I'd put some
    PAF clones on there.
    
    And Steve, "SG" stands for "Stupid Guitar".  %^)  No, really, it stands
    for "Solid Guitar".  Pretty clever name, eh?
    
    Dave

    Well, I had another look at the catalogue after all this talk about
    prices and it makes strange reading. Can anyone hazard a guess as to why 
    the Emperor costs nearly six times as much as the Sheraton (I won't bother 
    listing the prices as they're in Italian lire)?
    
    Both guitars appear to have:
    
    - Maple bodies
    - Rosewood necks
    - 2 humbuckers (type unspecified)
    
    Mysteries of the Epiphone pricing policy...or a simple misprint?!
    
    Dom
    
     
    

    RE: -1
    
    The Emporer comes stock with platinum strings?

    
    
       Just taking a stab at it I would think the difference between
    them would be along the lines of a 330 vs a 335.   (Which would 
    kinda make sense, but not really six times worth of sense.) 
    
    
       Rick. 
    
    
        

    
    I stopped by Acton Music yesterday and was told that the Rivieria
    (ES335 clone) and Sheraton (ES355 clone) are now being made in the US
    at a Gibson plant.  It felt and played ok but there was nothing really
    exciting about it. The sticker price was something like $550.  The
    US-made Rivieria had a strange-looking trapeze tailpiece that sort of
    put me off:
    
       |   |   |   |   |   |
       |   |   |   |   |   |  <--- strings
       |   |   |   |   |   |
       |   |   |   |   -----
       |   |   |   |   X   X
       |   |   |   |   X   X
       |   |   |   |   X   X
       |   |   |   |   X   X
       -------------   X   X
       X   X   X   X   X   X
       X   X   X   X   X   X
       X   X   X   X   X   X
       \-------------------/
        \                 /
         \               /
          \             /
           \           /
            \         /
             \       /
    
    
    
    
    JP

    I got an Epiphone booklet from the music store in Chelmsford, MA (where
    Hamel Music [RIP] used to be) & it has Epiphone's address as:
    	GIBSON GUITAR CORPORATION
    	641 Massman Drive
    	Nashville, Tennessee 37210-3781
    	USA
    	PHONE: (615) 871-4500
        FAX: (615) 889-5509
    Office Hours 8:00 - 5:00 CST
    The booklet is dated 1991 & contains historical info & specs & pictures
    of about 20 different models including electric, acoustic & bass
    guitars.
    
    My favorite page is the one showing (former) President George Bush
    "shredding" with one of their "Strats" at the 1989 Inauguration
    Banquet. Now *there's* a product endorsement deal !
    
    Paul
    

    Re: .30
    
    When Bush later toured the Peavey plant in Mississippi, they gave him a
    Peavey guitar to play, pointing out that the Epi was made in Korea...
    
    							Obi Wan Nabee

    Wow, George Bush playing an Epiphone Strat - there must be some
    symbolism there...
    
    Dave

    Hey, did GP cover this angle?  Shred is out, and so is ole George.
    Coincidence???  I don't think so!
    
    James Charvelle

    Uh oh.  Where does that leave me and my Epiphone?
    
    Dave