Inspired by Gibson - Epi J-45

D30Man

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Over the last few months, I have played several of these at the various DFW Metroplex guitar centers and I have continued to be blown away. Every Epi j-45 I have picked up is set up perfectly ( for my standards ). I have played a few Gibson J-45's over the years and I think these actually feel and sound better. The Epis have that woody warm yet subtle J-45 sound. I am seriously considering picking one up. Here is an ad on the verb for a used one.


Differences
Price - $750 new vs. $2800 for Gibson
Epi comes with lower end finish sonitone / Gibson has nicer LR Baggs
Epi nut width is .08 more narrow than the Gibson
Epi is poly ( everyone I have seen is tastefully done with a thin almost nitro looking finish - not the mirror finish you see with other poly guitars / Gibson is nitro
Epi does not come with case ( big whoop )
Epi is bone nut / saddle vs Tusq on Gibson ( epi has the edge here IMO )
Epi is indian laurel board and bridge vs. Indian Rosewood on Gibson

Everything else to my eyes was identical.

All in all I think these are great. I believe if you are on a budget and you might have let that old J-45 go somewhere along the way, this would make an amazing substitute. Maybe not family heirloom material, but these will fit a certain bill for sure.
 

bobouz

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The Indonesian factory that’s been producing Gibson’s Epiphone acoustics is indeed capable of building some very good instruments. I believe it is owned by Samick, which has built Epis in Korea going back to the ‘80s. Here’s a limited run 2016 EL-00 from them, with a solid mahogany top & laminated mahogany back & sides. Incredible bang for the buck. Purchased as a throw away travel guitar, it’s too darn nice for me to casually beat up!

79853D04-58B3-4F38-8B2C-F70984A823BD.jpeg
 

GGJaguar

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What's the difference between the Epi Masterbilt and the Inspired by Gibson lines?
 

Westerly Wood

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Over the last few months, I have played several of these at the various DFW Metroplex guitar centers and I have continued to be blown away. Every Epi j-45 I have picked up is set up perfectly ( for my standards ). I have played a few Gibson J-45's over the years and I think these actually feel and sound better. The Epis have that woody warm yet subtle J-45 sound. I am seriously considering picking one up. Here is an ad on the verb for a used one.


Differences
Price - $750 new vs. $2800 for Gibson
Epi comes with lower end finish sonitone / Gibson has nicer LR Baggs
Epi nut width is .08 more narrow than the Gibson
Epi is poly ( everyone I have seen is tastefully done with a thin almost nitro looking finish - not the mirror finish you see with other poly guitars / Gibson is nitro
Epi does not come with case ( big whoop )
Epi is bone nut / saddle vs Tusq on Gibson ( epi has the edge here IMO )
Epi is indian laurel board and bridge vs. Indian Rosewood on Gibson

Everything else to my eyes was identical.

All in all I think these are great. I believe if you are on a budget and you might have let that old J-45 go somewhere along the way, this would make an amazing substitute. Maybe not family heirloom material, but these will fit a certain bill for sure.
I am a fan of the Epiphone brand. I bought a Viola bass about 18 months ago and it plays/looks/sounds great.
Now, I am not a bass player, but I preferred its tone to many others I tested out on the GC floor that day. It's heavy too. Really solidly built.
I bet an Epi J-45 would be killer, and probably best bang for buck out there today, or one of them.

Friend got an Epi humming bird. It sounded fantastic.
 

bobouz

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What's the difference between the Epi Masterbilt and the Inspired by Gibson lines?
The modern incarnation of the Masterbilt line began in the mid-2000s with high quality, satin finish, solid wood models made in China. These included a number of J-45 body-shaped versions. More recently, the name has been applied to a number of solid wood models from the Indonesian factory. And now even more recently, we have the very similar “Inspired by Gibson” line, which should not be confused with an earlier “inspired by” line that often utilized laminated wood on the back & sides. The newer “Inspired by Gibson” line appears to be aimed at building the most Gibson-like Epi clones (of certain models) to date, without giving away the whole farm.

Noteworthy also, was the top quality Epi Elitist line made by Terada in Japan, which included a number of short-lived acoustic models, and this Terada-made Paul McCartney 1964 Texan, made from 2005-2008 as part of Sir Paul’s Adopt-A-Minefield fundraiser (the only guitar he’s ever personally endorsed, along with two Bozeman-made versions):

1577A99E-F874-4EB3-8B7C-7B7477004A68.jpeg
 

D30Man

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The Indonesian factory that’s been producing Gibson’s Epiphone acoustics is indeed capable of building some very good instruments. I believe it is owned by Samick, which has built Epis in Korea going back to the ‘80s. Here’s a limited run 2016 EL-00 from them, with a solid mahogany top & laminated mahogany back & sides. Incredible bang for the buck. Purchased as a throw away travel guitar, it’s too darn nice for me to casually beat up!

79853D04-58B3-4F38-8B2C-F70984A823BD.jpeg
That hog top is gorgeous... I love the "e" on the pickguard. Nice little touch. I bet it sounds nice!
 

D30Man

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My first guitar ever was a $100 korean all laminate epiphone from 1991.. PR series. Super low end. It hung in there and I learned on it for 6 years until I got my hands on a Larrivee D-03E.
I have owned several EPI guits over the years and my son' acoustic is a vintage PR715 that is a really nice solid top acoustic. The tuners are garbage and could probably do with a new nut but everything else is really nice.

A month or so ago I almost bought at GC an MIK Epi broadway with the frequencator tail piece. It was an absolute joy. There was a slight finish crack where the neck met the body that had me and the in-house luthier there a little concerned. I passed, but now I am on the hunt.
 

D30Man

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Noteworthy also, was the top quality Epi Elitist line made by Terada in Japan, which included a number of short-lived acoustic models, and this Terada-made Paul McCartney 1964 Texan, made from 2005-2008 as part of Sir Paul’s Adopt-A-Minefield fundraiser (the only guitar he’s ever personally endorsed, along with two Bozeman-made versions):
That Texan is a beauty. Is that nitro or poly? If poly, they did a nice job and similar to the "Gibson inspired" finishes I have seen.
I mentioned earlier I was looking at an MIK Broadway, but I would love to have one from the Elitist series. Like $4k...
 

bobouz

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That Texan is a beauty. Is that nitro or poly? If poly, they did a nice job and similar to the "Gibson inspired" finishes I have seen.
I mentioned earlier I was looking at an MIK Broadway, but I would love to have one from the Elitist series. Like $4k...
The McCartney Texan has a nitro finish. As for the MIK Broadway, they can indeed be very satisfying. The best ones to watch for were made by the Peerless factory & have a serial number that includes a 'P' or 'R'. The Elitist Broadway is rare, but does come up occasionally on Reverb - they had a poly finish. I do have a 2009 Elitist Casino that is very nice, but a real sleeper was the John Lee Hooker AIUSA (Assembled in the USA) Sheraton. It was part of what Epiphone called the "USA-Series" which included two Lennon Casino versions, and two JLH Sheraton versions. The bodies were made by Terada in Japan & nitro finished, and they were then shipped to Gibson's Nashville facility for installation of pickups, hardware, and final assembly (Note: this stuff can get a bit tricky, as there was a late '90s JLH Sheraton that was produced in Korea and was no more than a standard Korean Sheraton finished in black with a few JLH moniker touches!). The Terada made USA-Series Lennon Casino was first released in 1999, and then the USA-Series JLH Sheraton followed in 2000. The build quality on these topped even the Elitist line, with a number of differences in construction compared to the Elitist Casino & Sheraton versions that were first released in 2002 (as the Elite Series). Below is my 2000 JLH Sheraton. After JLH passed away in 2001, the JLH moniker was removed, but the model continued until around 2005 IIRC & otherwise the model was unchanged.

D15AB1AB-9BA9-4921-9ED3-3C3018ED7934.jpeg
D8211882-F0B9-4440-ADA4-20BEED693FFA.jpeg
2ADE8A6F-6171-41DC-85E8-4853682BBB82.jpeg
 

D30Man

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The McCartney Texan has a nitro finish. As for the MIK Broadway, they can indeed be very satisfying. The best ones to watch for were made by the Peerless factory & have a serial number that includes a 'P' or 'R'. The Elitist Broadway is rare, but does come up occasionally on Reverb - they had a poly finish. I do have a 2009 Elitist Casino that is very nice, but a real sleeper was the John Lee Hooker AIUSA (Assembled in the USA) Sheraton. It was part of what Epiphone called the "USA-Series" which included two Lennon Casino versions, and two JLH Sheraton versions. The bodies were made by Terada in Japan & nitro finished, and they were then shipped to Gibson's Nashville facility for installation of pickups, hardware, and final assembly (Note: this stuff can get a bit tricky, as there was a late '90s JLH Sheraton that was produced in Korea and was no more than a standard Korean Sheraton finished in black with a few JLH moniker touches!). The Terada made USA-Series Lennon Casino was first released in 1999, and then the USA-Series JLH Sheraton followed in 2000. The build quality on these topped even the Elitist line, with a number of differences in construction compared to the Elitist Casino & Sheraton versions that were first released in 2002 (as the Elite Series). Below is my 2000 JLH Sheraton. After JLH passed away in 2001, the JLH moniker was removed, but the model continued until around 2005 IIRC & otherwise the model was unchanged.
This is all really good info as I wade a little deeper into the world of Epiphone. I have always appreciated their quality / dollar ratio, but it is so cool to see the history inside of Gibson ownership. Epiphone is like the super classy cousin that Gibson wants to keep in their place. However, true to Epiphone's origin, it continues to want to be seen as a quality brand whether being forced to copy it's owner or re-vitalizing models made during its pre-Gibson era. Love it.
 

Neal

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The McCartney Texan has a nitro finish. As for the MIK Broadway, they can indeed be very satisfying. The best ones to watch for were made by the Peerless factory & have a serial number that includes a 'P' or 'R'. The Elitist Broadway is rare, but does come up occasionally on Reverb - they had a poly finish. I do have a 2009 Elitist Casino that is very nice, but a real sleeper was the John Lee Hooker AIUSA (Assembled in the USA) Sheraton. It was part of what Epiphone called the "USA-Series" which included two Lennon Casino versions, and two JLH Sheraton versions. The bodies were made by Terada in Japan & nitro finished, and they were then shipped to Gibson's Nashville facility for installation of pickups, hardware, and final assembly (Note: this stuff can get a bit tricky, as there was a late '90s JLH Sheraton that was produced in Korea and was no more than a standard Korean Sheraton finished in black with a few JLH moniker touches!). The Terada made USA-Series Lennon Casino was first released in 1999, and then the USA-Series JLH Sheraton followed in 2000. The build quality on these topped even the Elitist line, with a number of differences in construction compared to the Elitist Casino & Sheraton versions that were first released in 2002 (as the Elite Series). Below is my 2000 JLH Sheraton. After JLH passed away in 2001, the JLH moniker was removed, but the model continued until around 2005 IIRC & otherwise the model was unchanged.

D15AB1AB-9BA9-4921-9ED3-3C3018ED7934.jpeg
D8211882-F0B9-4440-ADA4-20BEED693FFA.jpeg
2ADE8A6F-6171-41DC-85E8-4853682BBB82.jpeg
Terada also produced pro series Gretsch guitars during this period, so they definitely knew what they were doing. Top-of-the-line Gretsch's are still made there.
 

D30Man

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Like this beautiful beast right here.... G6196T Country Club.. So gorgeous..

1676576501299.png
 

D30Man

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Something about metallic forest green and gold. So regal. I would feel like a peasant holding Excalibur playing one of these..
 

D30Man

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All this to say I have been watching videos on the whole IBG series and you know, Gibson needs to step their game up. Unless I was just looking to possess a family heirloom with the right name on the headstock, there is zero reason to buy a Gibson J-45 over one of these..
I did another comparison when I was at GC in Vegas last week. The epi won in tone, price and feel. I also played the IBG Hummingbird. Also very nice..
 

twocorgis

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All this to say I have been watching videos on the whole IBG series and you know, Gibson needs to step their game up. Unless I was just looking to possess a family heirloom with the right name on the headstock, there is zero reason to buy a Gibson J-45 over one of these..
I did another comparison when I was at GC in Vegas last week. The epi won in tone, price and feel. I also played the IBG Hummingbird. Also very nice..
I have one that I like, but I like my Gibson WM45 a bit better. It has some upgrades like a real pickguard instead of that horrendous thick tone killer that comes OEM, and a Journey pickup that's a definite improvement over the standard Sonotone. If you're interested, shoot me a message.
 

D30Man

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I have one that I like, but I like my Gibson WM45 a bit better. It has some upgrades like a real pickguard instead of that horrendous thick tone killer that comes OEM, and a Journey pickup that's a definite improvement over the standard Sonotone. If you're interested, shoot me a message.
Agreed. I think that guard was mandated by Gibson. I bet it opens up even more if you pull that 38 ply guard off of it..
 
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