Epiphone is one of the widely known guitar manufacturers. Originally an independent brand, Epiphone was bought by Gibson Guitar in 1957. As opposed to a brand such as Fender, whose guitars are either made in America or Mexico, Epiphone's guitars can come from a number of different factories in a variety of countries. For this reason, it is not as easy to know where each guitar comes from or when it was made. Epiphone stamps each guitar with a serial number, however, which when deciphered can tell a guitarist all he needs to know about the guitar.

Where Are Epiphone Guitars Made
Epiphone Made In Japan Years
Epiphone Casino Made In Japan

Aside from guitars, Epiphone also made. For the first several years of production in Japan, Epiphone guitars were actually. Epiphone Serial Numbers.

Locate the serial number on the back of the guitar's headstock (the top of the neck where the strings are attached). The serial number will generally be nine to 10 digits long, with the first being a letter.

The Elitist Series was made at the Terada and Fuji-gen factories in Japan. Originally called the Elite Series, Epiphone was forced to change the name because of a conflict with an Ovation line of guitars already bearing the Elite moniker. 2005 Epiphone Elitist Les Paul 57 Gold Top Made in Japan with Gibson Upgrades Mint Condition with Hardshell Case.

Identify the first letter in the serial number. This letter represents in which country the guitar comes from, as well as the company who manufactured it. If the guitar was made in Korea, it will either have an 'I,' which stands for Saein; a 'U,' which stands for Unsung; an 'S,' which stands for Samick; or a 'P,' which stands for Peerless.

If the guitar was made in China, it will be denoted with a 'DW,' which stands for DaeWon; an 'EA' or 'EE,' which stand for Gibson's Qingdao factory; an 'MC,' which stands for Muse; a 'SJ' for SaeJung; a 'Z,' which represents Zaozhuang Saehan; or a 'BW,' which just stands for China itself.

If the guitar was made in Japan, the letters printed to represent it are either a 'F' for FujiGen or a 'J' or 'T,' which stand for Terada. A Japanese-made Epiphone can also have no letter, in which case the serial number would just start with numbers.

If the guitar was made in Indonesia, it will have a 'SI,' which stands for Samick's Indoesian factory.

Analyze the first two numbers in the serial. These two numbers represent the year the guitar was made. Simply, if the first two numbers are '08,' the guitar was made in the year 2008. Windows 10 problems. Similarly, the next two numbers in the serial represent the month in which the guitar was made. If these two numbers are '05,' they denote that the guitar was made in the month of May.

Locate the last four or five numbers in the code. These numbers represent the ranking of that guitar in the production process. If the serial number were to end with the digits '5473,' it means the guitar was the 5,473rd guitar of that model manufactured.

Tip

Putting all of the information together, an example of a Epiphone serial number could be F0508384. Breaking it down, this serial number would mean the guitar was made in FujiGen, Japan in August of 2005, and it was the 384th guitar made in that model.

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Epiphone
Subsidiary
Industry	Musical instruments
Founded	1873; 146 years ago in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (now İzmir, Turkey)
Founder	Anastasios Stathopoulos
Headquarters	,
Area served	Worldwide
Jim Rosenberg (President)^[1]
Products	Electric, acoustic, archtop & resonator guitars Basses Banjos Mandolins Ukuleles Amplifiers Effects units
Parent	Gibson
Subsidiaries	Dobro
Website	Epiphone.com

Epiphone is an American musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1957 Epiphone, Inc., of New York City was purchased by Chicago Musical Instrument Co. (CMI, the same company that bought Gibson in 1944) and given the name Epiphone, Inc. of Kalamazoo, Michigan. CMI took great measures to keep the Gibson and Epiphone identities separate and housed the two companies in different buildings each with its own separate management team. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market prior to 1957.^[2] Their professional archtops, including the Emperor, Deluxe, Broadway and Triumph, rivaled those of Gibson.^{[citation needed]} Aside from guitars, Epiphone also made double basses, banjos, and other string instruments. However, the company's weakness in the aftermath of World War II and death of Epaminondas Stathopoulos in 1943 allowed Gibson's parent, CMI, to purchase it.^[3]

The name 'Epiphone' is a combination of proprietor Epaminondas Stathopoulos' (Επαμεινώνδας Σταθόπουλος) nickname 'Epi' and 'phone' (from Greek phon- (φωνή), 'voice').^[4]

2Instruments
- 2.1Guitars
3Manufacturing

History[edit]

1945 Epiphone Blackstone archtop guitar, made in New York.

ET-270T with Kurt Cobain's autograph.

Slash signature Les Paul.

Epiphone Explorer (1984).

An ES-175 model.

Joe Pass signature Emperor.

Triumph Deluxe.

Supernova.

Valve junior stack.

Epiphone began in 1873, in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (now İzmir, Turkey), where Greek founder Anastasios Stathopoulos made his own fiddles and lutes (oud, laouto). Stathopoulo moved to the United States in 1903 and continued to make his original instruments, as well as mandolins, from Long Island City in Queens, New York. Anastasios died in 1915, and his son, Epaminondas ('Epi'), took over. After two years, the company became known as The House of Stathopoulo.^[5] Just after the end of World War I, the company started to make banjos. The company produced its recording line of banjos in 1924 and, four years later, took on the name of the Epiphone Banjo Company. It produced its first guitars in 1928. After Epi died in 1943, control of the company went to his brothers, Orphie and Frixo. In 1951, a four-month-long strike forced a relocation of Epiphone from New York City to Philadelphia. In 1957 the company was acquired by CMI who also owned Gibson, Lowrey, Selmer and others.^[6]

Instruments[edit]

Guitars[edit]

After Epiphone became a subsidiary of Norlin (Gibson's parent after 1969), many of its instruments were later patterned after the more expensive Gibson versions. Occasionally, Epiphone models are of such high quality that sales of those less expensive instruments actually cut into the Gibson's sales. Case in point, the short lived solid body Epiphone Del Rey model was modeled after a Gibson Les Paul double cut. Workmanship and manufacturing standards were so high that Gibson killed the model. To help distinguish itself from the parent brand, Epiphone also maintains its own line of archtop guitars and basses.

As of January 2013, Epiphone makes the following guitars:

Gibson Models[edit]

B. B. KingLucille
Dove / PRO
EJ-200 Artist / 200CE (J-200)
EL-00 / PRO (L-00)
ES-335 PRO
ES-339 PRO / 339 Ultra
Explorer – 1984 EX / 1958 Goth
Firebird TV-Silver
Flying V – '58 Korina
Flying-V – Jeff Waters Anihillation-V
Flying-V – Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone
Hummingbird / PRO / Artist
John LennonGeorge HarrisonGibson J-160E
Les Paul
- Les Paul Baritone^[7]
- Les Paul 1956 Goldtop
- Ace Frehley Budokan Les Paul
- Joe Bonamassa Goldtop
- Peter Frampton Les Paul Custom PRO 'Phenix'
- Les Paul Black Beauty 3
- Les Paul Custom PRO / Blackback
- Les Paul Nightfall**
- Les Paul Prophecy EX & GX
- Les Paul Special I
- Les Paul Special II
- Les Paul Standard / Royale / PRO
- Les Paul Studio / Goth
- Les Paul Tribute
- Les

Epiphone Made In Japan