What is Your Opinion on Epiphone Guitars?
You can gauge the age and knowledge level of a burgeoning axeman by asking their opinion on Epiphone guitars.
Some may say that the company makes a decent electric that is more than serviceable onstage.
Others may scoff and consider the line simply a bunch of Gibson's generic offerings.
A true player, however, knows that Epiphone is at once one of the oldest and most respected guitar companies in history.
Few are aware that Epiphone dates back to the 1870s in Old World Europe.
All the same, the company was a mere drop in the bucket compared to what it is now.
One thing it had in those days, though, was its own identity.
The company become wildly popular in the middle of the 20th century because of its expertly made archtop guitars and banjoes.
The archtop market had, up to that point, been dominated by Gibson.
Epiphone, however, offered models like the super famous Triumph and Emperor that were less expensive and, in some cases, better than Gibson's similar models.
The respective companies were rivals from then on, until 1957 when Gibson bought Epiphone.
If you can't beat 'em, pay them to join you.
To be fair, Epiphone never reached the grandeur it still has to this day until Gibson was in the picture.
The company's (arguably) most popular guitar is in fact the first model put out after Gibson took over: The Epiphone Casino.
Here, again, we can gauge the age of our six-string slinging ilk.
Those born too late to fully realize the effect of Beatle Mania need only know that the Casino, based on Gibson's own famous ES-330 became an overnight sensation much like the fab four itself when not one but THREE Beatles (Mccartney, Lennon, and Harrison; the good ones) began using the Casino as their axe of choice and continued to do so for much of the band's lifespan.
It wasn't a fashion choice, though the Casino and the ES-330 did have that retro large body that was in vogue at the time.
It was more because of the heavy rhythm sound that the Casino had thanks to its hollow body and single coil, non-humbucking P90 pickups.
The Casino still sounds amazing today, giving a very thick, deep pluck and amazing reverb.
Epiphone still makes its own classic archtop guitars but it is more widely known now for its Gibson copies that sound nearly as good as the originals but cost far less.
There are Ephiphone copies of the Les Paul and Explorer, naturally, and there are even Firebird, Flying-V, Hummingbird, and LP knockoffs.
This is a good thing, to most burgeoning guitarists, because a decent Gibson Les Paul can fetch a price of anywhere from three to ten thousand dollars or more and a Epiphone Les Paul can be found brand new for less than five hundred dollars.
One of Gibson's most popular models and one of the most famous acoustics ever made, the Hummingbird, can be bought as an Epiphone model for more than fifteen hundred dollars less in even the most generous of circumstances.
Epiphone may have lost its original voice in light of Gibson's buyout, but Gibson has arguably done more for the Epiphone name than anything made previously by the company.
Some may say that the company makes a decent electric that is more than serviceable onstage.
Others may scoff and consider the line simply a bunch of Gibson's generic offerings.
A true player, however, knows that Epiphone is at once one of the oldest and most respected guitar companies in history.
Few are aware that Epiphone dates back to the 1870s in Old World Europe.
All the same, the company was a mere drop in the bucket compared to what it is now.
One thing it had in those days, though, was its own identity.
The company become wildly popular in the middle of the 20th century because of its expertly made archtop guitars and banjoes.
The archtop market had, up to that point, been dominated by Gibson.
Epiphone, however, offered models like the super famous Triumph and Emperor that were less expensive and, in some cases, better than Gibson's similar models.
The respective companies were rivals from then on, until 1957 when Gibson bought Epiphone.
If you can't beat 'em, pay them to join you.
To be fair, Epiphone never reached the grandeur it still has to this day until Gibson was in the picture.
The company's (arguably) most popular guitar is in fact the first model put out after Gibson took over: The Epiphone Casino.
Here, again, we can gauge the age of our six-string slinging ilk.
Those born too late to fully realize the effect of Beatle Mania need only know that the Casino, based on Gibson's own famous ES-330 became an overnight sensation much like the fab four itself when not one but THREE Beatles (Mccartney, Lennon, and Harrison; the good ones) began using the Casino as their axe of choice and continued to do so for much of the band's lifespan.
It wasn't a fashion choice, though the Casino and the ES-330 did have that retro large body that was in vogue at the time.
It was more because of the heavy rhythm sound that the Casino had thanks to its hollow body and single coil, non-humbucking P90 pickups.
The Casino still sounds amazing today, giving a very thick, deep pluck and amazing reverb.
Epiphone still makes its own classic archtop guitars but it is more widely known now for its Gibson copies that sound nearly as good as the originals but cost far less.
There are Ephiphone copies of the Les Paul and Explorer, naturally, and there are even Firebird, Flying-V, Hummingbird, and LP knockoffs.
This is a good thing, to most burgeoning guitarists, because a decent Gibson Les Paul can fetch a price of anywhere from three to ten thousand dollars or more and a Epiphone Les Paul can be found brand new for less than five hundred dollars.
One of Gibson's most popular models and one of the most famous acoustics ever made, the Hummingbird, can be bought as an Epiphone model for more than fifteen hundred dollars less in even the most generous of circumstances.
Epiphone may have lost its original voice in light of Gibson's buyout, but Gibson has arguably done more for the Epiphone name than anything made previously by the company.
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