Epiphone "Inspired by 1955 Custom" (black on black custom with p90's)

[claytus]

I was at GC today and noticing how terribly pale and dry all the gibson rosewood finger boards looked- The $1500 ones only looked slightly better than the lower end models and SG's- The over $2k ones looked "okay". Then I noticed this nice dark fingerboard black satin finished paul- and I was like oh ****!?!? that's ebony on the 2nd rack!" (within reach) I looked up and it was an epiphone.

Wow. This guitar blows away any gibson less than a les paul standard. Nice 50's beefy neck- beautiful aesthetics and binding- EBONY fingerboard- if you dont know about ebony fingerboards and youre used to the fingerboards gibson has been putting out in the last 10 years- go play this guitar. The tuners and nut were perfect- setup was perfect- frets were wayyyy better than most gibson nashville stuff I've played- It said "Hand made in China" on the back of the headstock so I suppose thats different than "made in china" it definitely got a lot more love than most american guitars thats for sure.

Anyways- this thing has gibson USA pickups and is $800. I would have bought it right then and there if it werent for the p90's. I am just not a fan of p90's. I dont own a british or tweed amp. Just not my style.

My question is... Does epiphone make anything else of this caliber? If this thing had humbuckers or mini's I would be floored. I cant even begin to think how sexy this would be with some aged brushed aluminum hardware- a wrap around bridge or a bigsby. phew.

Please tell me they make more of this caliber? Its a difficult term to search on google!

Thanks!

 

[Scozz]

Hey Claytus,,, did you see "Sevens" thread? He bought the 55 Custom.

 

[claytus]

Hey Claytus,,, did you see "Sevens" thread? He bought the 55 Custom.

yeh i saw it. I'm asking everyone here if epiphone makes any LP's or SG's of equal quality? I mean the frets, nut, setup, pots, etc on this thing were out of this world. Are all the limited ed. epi's this good?

 

[Scozz]

yeh i saw it. I'm asking everyone here if epiphone makes any LP's or SG's of equal quality? I mean the frets, nut, setup, pots, etc on this thing were out of this world. Are all the limited ed. epi's this good?

I don't know about the new Ltd. Ed. but I've got a 1999 Korean Ltd. Ed. 56 gold top that's real nice.

 

[Caretaker]

The Joe Bonamassa is right there.
GREAT guitar, not just for the money. Just a great guitar.
BTW, you cn always drop some minis right in there. Perfect P90 swap.

 

[elephantrider]

take a look at the tribute plus, as well..
along with the joe b version, as stated !

 

[Cardinalcomb]

Epiphone traditional pro has the fat neck and satin finished back with humbuckers.

 

[claytus]

im surprised how few of you epiphone fans have played this guitar. it absolutely destroys a LOT of gibsons. And I mean the wood feels better. The fretboard is obviously miles beyond any rosewood gibson is putting out besides the 5k plus custom shops.

How about the epiphone elitist 61 SG? the japanese made one from early 2000s? those look pretty bad ass

 

[paruwi]

im surprised how few of you epiphone fans have played this guitar. it absolutely destroys a LOT of gibsons. And I mean the wood feels better. The fretboard is obviously miles beyond any rosewood gibson is putting out besides the 5k plus custom shops.

How about the epiphone elitist 61 SG? the japanese made one from early 2000s? those look pretty bad ass

The '55 Custom' isn't that long in the stores......

and most of us know about MiJ Elitists,
the bad thing is they are mostly overpriced as used guitars.....
the good thing is, the search got me to the FGN brand, which are basicly new Elitists, just better and cheaper

 

[PierM]

The '55 Custom' isn't that long in the stores......

and most of us know about MiJ Elitists,
the bad thing is they are mostly overpriced as used guitars.....
the good thing is, the search got me to the FGN brand, which are basicly new Elitists, just better and cheaper

Cheaper? hmmm...over here a FGN, with similar spec as the Epi 55, is still around 1.6K...and it comes without a case. (..and it has that edgy horn...)...

 

[paruwi]

Cheaper? hmmm...over here a FGN, with similar spec as the Epi 55, is still around 1.6K...and it comes without a case. (..and it has that edgy horn...)...

New FGNs usually are cheaper than used Elitists,
at least it was my experience when I searched for Elitists

 

[fry]

It's a pretty new model, I just saw one in person a couple weeks ago. I was surprised by the flat finish, not what I expected. Not saying it's bad. The neck is real fat for sure.

 

[Roshy Boy]

I just saw one yesterday too at GC.

Very very nice. If you're into that black and gold. And fat necks. Really fat necks.

It was tempting. But I resisted and left with a Vintage Sunburst Casino.

 

[ScottMarlowe]

Anyways- this thing has gibson USA pickups and is $800. I would have bought it right then and there if it werent for the p90's. I am just not a fan of p90's. I dont own a british or tweed amp. Just not my style.

My question is... Does epiphone make anything else of this caliber? If this thing had humbuckers or mini's I would be floored. I cant even begin to think how sexy this would be with some aged brushed aluminum hardware- a wrap around bridge or a bigsby. phew.

You could always buy one, sell the gibby pickups and buy some nice mini humbuckers for it. Did that with a 1961 SG Special 50th reissue. Sweet sounds from it.

 

[cybermgk]

Inot my style.

My question is... Does epiphone make anything else of this caliber? If this thing had humbuckers or mini's I would be floored. I cant even begin to think how sexy this would be with some aged brushed aluminum hardware- a wrap around bridge or a bigsby. phew.

Please tell me they make more of this caliber? Its a difficult term to search on google!

Thanks!

Lee Mailia Sig
Tommy Thayer sig
100th Anniversary Custom
Joe Bonamassa Sigs
Gelotte Sig
60s Tribute

MIJ Elitists

 

[PierM]

The 1955 model with minihumbucker would look, imho, silly.

I would pick, same price range, a Bjorn Gelotte custom which has 81/85 EMG as stock pups. You can easily swap with another HH set you like, remove the signature trussrod cover, and get a beautiful custom, ebony fretboard, 59' neck profile, full mahogany.

 

[paruwi]

.............

My question is... Does epiphone make anything else of this caliber? ..............
Please tell me they make more of this caliber? Its a difficult term to search on google!

Thanks!

Yes, they do

SPECIFICATIONS

• Body Mahogany
• Top Mahogany
• Neck Mahogany
• Neck Shape 1960s SlimTape™
• Neck Joint Set
• Frets 22
• Headstock LP Custom style design with "2014" Limited Edition Logo in gold” (back)
• Binding
  Body: white, 5-layer (white-thick outer/black/white/black/white)
  Neck: white, 1-layer
• Headstock: 5-layer (white/black)
• Truss Rod Adjustable
• Truss Rod Cover Gold Metal with engraved "Tak Matsumoto"
• Scale Length 24.75”
• Fingerboard Material Ebony
• Fingerboard Radius 14”
• Bridge Pickup Gibson Burstbucker-3
• Neck Pickup Gibson Burstbucker-2
• Controls
  Bridge Volume
  Neck Volume
  Master Tone
• Knobs Black Top Hat with Black Toggle Cap
• Bridge LockTone™ Tune-o-matic/StopBar
• Nut Width 1.68”
• Hardware Gold
• Machine Heads Deluxe with Tulip Buttons
• Output Jack Gold (square)
• Strap Buttons Epiphone Strap Locks
• Includes Certificate of Authenticity and hard case with Tak Matsumoto DC and signature in gold
• Color Ebony (Gloss)
• Typical Weight (+/- 5%) 7.9 lbs
• Strings D’Addario® 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46

 

[fry]

Epi also made one like it a couple years ago with humbuckers. Gibson 490R /498T, I believe. They were open coil, black with gold poles. I think it was called the Custom Classic?

 

[paruwi]

Epi also made one like it a couple years ago with humbuckers. Gibson 490R /498T, I believe. They were open coil, black with gold poles. I think it was called the Custom Classic?

Yes, though the tobacco-yellow aged binding looks terrible to me

and no Ebony fretboard....

 

[fry]

I had forgotten about that orange/yellow binding. It is kind of an odd choice, not a big fan.