What's the best Epiphone guitar you've ever played?

[kayd_mon]

@bucksstudent

 

Nice!

[Buttcrust]

I have changed my mind. That Broadway is super nice, but this one is probably the finest sounding, best set up "out of the box" guitar I've ever owned. It is a 50th anniversary 1962 reissue Sorrento (number 811 of 1962). This is the best Epiphone I've ever played.

[AJ6stringsting]

My Gal gave me money ( $600.00) to buy a guitar in 2007 .... she said , "Buy a guitar without a Floyd Rose , you sometimes sound like Vai or Satriani on acid or peyote".

I bought an nice Alpine White Epi Les Paul Custom, put on Schaller bridge with fine tuners , dropped in some Dragon Fire Vintage Golds Screamers, did a truss rod adjustment and put new caps in it. The Epi Custom wails as much, but with more growl than my 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom.

 

[SOLARPIMP]

I have owned several Japanese made Elites and Elitists that are ridiculously well made instruments. Of those, several Les Pauls and an SG were all tremendous. I also owned a Chinese made Bonamassa Sig that was great. But the prize goes to an Elitist Japanese made J45 acoustic that I bought on C list for $450. I sold a Gibson Y2K Yoakam Sig because I thought the Epi easily was better.

[Imthere]

'97 Unsung 

[docjeffrey]

I've played a bunch of recent Epis in guitar shops and I've always been impressed with the bang for buck factor, especially the LP's and 335's. I played a vintage Coronet awhile back at George Gruhn's shop with a really hot P90. I already had purchased another guitar on that trip, so I passed on the Coronet. 

This is one of the best electric 12's I've ever played (OK--I've played very few, but still...). I have a Rick 360/12 and this very cool Epi Riviera 12 from the Elitist collection. These are made at the Terada plant in Japan where a lot of the higher end Gretsch 6120's and Duo Jets are made. It's a very low tech factory with skilled craftspeople who do a lot of the work with hand tools. Terada guitars rule. I have 4 of them.

[docjeffrey]

Here's a video of Terada where Epi Elitist hollow and semis are made:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

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Phil O'Keefe wrote:

This thread about Squiers

caught my attention... and got me thinking about Gibson's budget brand - Epiphone. So in the interest of equal time, what is the best Epiphone guitar you've ever played?

For me, I think the prize would have to go to my 2001 MIK Epiphone Casino. It was made in the Peerless factory in Korea, and man if they didn't get everything "right" with that guitar. The neck is fantastic - it's thin, fast, and comfortable, but not too narrow - it's exceptionally easy to play. And it sounds fantastic too. It's definitely a keeper!

 

How about you? What's the best Epi you've ever played? Pics are always welcome!

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Mine's a Peerless too.

 

 

[Buttcrust]

I'm going to show some pic's of Epiphone guitars I have had in the past and presently do have and some comments.

 sold or traded for something else. 

heres a Broadway from around 1996 and an Emperor Regent from around 1993 or so. I took off the bridge and stuck a intonateable one on there, and I changed the knobs. Also the amp, an "stereo chorus" SC 210. This guitar and amp combo did sound  really good (to me). I sold this (and the Emperor Regent) to a friend of my youngest son who was in the high school jazz band with him. His friend attended Berkeley School of Music in Boston. Both of these guitars are big things. I enjoyed playing them but the Emperor Regent was really more suited to traditional jazz or big band music, or blues, certainly not rock or metal (the Broadway was a great blues guitar, nice low action, easy to bend the strings). I had flat wound strings on the Emperor and "half flats" on the Broadway. The Emperor had the "old style" pick up and scratch plate controls. Some say the "old style" wasn't so good because the control knobs are improperly placed and got in the way. I never had a problem with that though.

 

Here is a Les Paul and a Les Paul Special 1. I sold these and put the cash into a couple of Gibson LP's. They played and sounded as good as any Gibson (well, maybe a little less sustain, not much). Also were set up properly, really no buzz to speak of. TV yellow

Now here's another, a $79.00 "LP Junior" red Limited Edition Custom Shop, cool little LP, again, sold towards the Gibsons., along with a DeArmond M-55

I also no longer have any of those instruments. They were all fun as heck to play, punk, fusion...and rock..

The action on all 3 was low, the DeArmond buzzed, just a little (not an Epiphone)

Here's a Casino I got for $125.00, (with case) had my guy glue it up perfectly for another $100.00 . Not bad, $700.00 worth of guitar for $225.00. It was a great guitar, again...towards Gibson LP's

[Buttcrust]

"I especially like the Sorrento."

 

Toi be honest, I have been playing the guitar since I was 8 years old, I'll be 60 in about a week. I was a roadie for several local bands in the 70's ( The "Lemmy" lol.) I loaded my old station wagon many times. My band friends were a few years older than me and they all had great stuff, USA Strats, Teles, Jaguar, Jazzmasters, SG's and LP's, all "60's" guitars and amps. My back still aches from lifting the old Ampeg bass amp lol .Ya, I did play and practice with my buds, but they did most of the real work (booking). The guitars I have shown all are as good as those, maybe even better. And a comment about the Sorrento Royal Olive 1962 reissue. I have said it before, but I do believe that that particular Epiphone guitar is the finest playable guitar I've ever played, really, I dig it that much. 

 

Oh, and a thing about being a "roadie", while the band played, I was scouting out the ladies... lol

 

 

That was a long time ago