We take a look back at Elephant – the duo’s heavy-hitting 2003 garage-rock masterpiece that unleashed rock’s last truly world-conquering riff. After a hiatus of about 70 years, Epiphone is back in the quality acoustic-archtop business. Let’s hope one or two other heritage brands will finally be inspired to do likewise. Masterbilt Series Epiphone’s first Masterbilt archtops quickly rose to popularity during the 1930s “Big Band” era and were renowned for their warm woody tone, wide tonal range and punchy volume. David Rawlings had a one piece ebony bridge made for his vintage guitar, but the Masterbilt series have a thumbwheel adjustable “ebonoid” bridge with a Shadowflex undersaddle pickup, which must be wired through the bridge itself. • Finishes Aged Gloss Honeyburst and Violin Burst The bound ebony fingerboard features ‘falling snowflake’ pearloid markers and the laminated flame-maple body has three-ply binding front and back. The De Luxe doesn’t quite have the Olympic’s remarkable evenness but it comes close, and there’s a dusting of high harmonics that linger on as single notes fade leisurely away. • Hardware Aged nickel trapeze tailpiece, floating ebonoid bridge, Historic Epiphone reissue tuners with Marboloid ‘Crown’ buttons & 18:1 ratio • Neck width 43mm at nut, 55mm at 12th fret Required fields are marked *. Guitar and other stringed instrument reviews, interviews and features. Whether it’s a result of the internet bringing together communities of common interest or some other pressure I cannot say, but last year Epiphone launched three archtops inspired by some of their historic models. Output level is high and noise is low, but be mindful that the voicing is relatively bright when plugged directly into a flat-response desk or PA system, so you may want to use the instrument’s onboard tone control to roll off the high end if you don’t have an acoustic amp or preamp on hand. It’s also wonderfully even across the strings and all along the fretboard. What it does really well is punch through the acoustic mix and make itself heard and unavoidable. The De Luxe is the loudest by some margin, but it has the highs and lows of the Zenith combined with the even balance, midrange muscle and sustain of the Olympic. • Contact Gibson Europe www.epiphone.com Perhaps most impressive of all are the repro tuners. In the classic era, archtops went even bigger; Gibson’s largest was the Super 400 with an 18 inch lower bout, and Epiphone’s own Emperor responding by going to 18.5 inches! Stands out in a crowd of flattops, punchy and different sounding, power bridge a bonus, Tone is a little brittle, lacks adornments. It may not have quite the open-throated shout of the Zenith or the Olympic’s accentuated sonic character but, simply put, the De Luxe is the best all-rounder. In addition to the dark vintage sunburst, you can have a very pleasing honeyburst. Epiphone century - Unser Favorit . Continuing our journey through the guitar styles of the legendary Three Kings, this time it’s the turn of Flying V-toting blue icon Albert. In part two of our look at the chord shapes and sequences which define Paul Simon’s sound, we focus on his early years as a solo artist. This new compilation from Jack White’s Third Man Records is a treasure trove of 90s shoegaze and space-rock rarities from a set of Michigan bands indebted to the UK scene. Construction is simpler, too, with a mahogany neck, stacked heel and a scarf-jointed headstock. In our final part of our look at the stylings of the legendary Three Kings, we tackle the searing style of Freddie King. The spruce top is of decent quality; the fairly fine and very even grain is very visible through the finish. It also has the most refined and sophisticated tone. • Build solid spruce top with f-holes and longitudinal bracing, laminated flame-maple back and sides, set five- piece mahogany/maple rounded C neck, bone nut, ebony fingerboard with notched diamond markers and 20 vintage-style frets I didn’t expect a perfect replica of a guitar that’s been played in for nearly 100 years and beautifully set up, but it got me plenty close enough. Body binding is single-ply; there’s no fretboard binding and the markers are simple pearloid dots. The November 2020 issue of Guitar Magazine is out now! • Build solid spruce top with round soundhole and longitudinal bracing, laminated flame-maple back and sides, set five piece mahogany/maple rounded C neck, bone nut, ebony fingerboard with falling snowflake markers and 20 vintage-style frets • Weight 2.3kg/5lb You can tell that these guitars were designed to pummel their way through an ensemble, and jazz chord inversions sound clear, harmonically coherent and forceful. You shouldn’t make snap judgements if you get to try one of these. The Loar scores by having a hand carved top, but good luck finding one you can try, and of course it doesn’t come with a pickup. For perspective, the Zenith, in the middle of the current range, has a 16 inch lower bout, in common with the iconic Gibson L5 and for that matter The Loar’s three acoustic archtops (see our review of the Loar LH700 here), and the DeLuxe has a 17” lower bout. The Loar do offer some direct competition, the LH 300 is a solid top, laminate back and sides instrument in the same price range. The tone and volume controls are hidden in the soundhole, and there’s a subtle jack socket and battery compartment in the side of the lower bout; at first glance, you would never know this was electrified at all. That small body should equate to a very focussed tone, which can be just what you want in a lead guitar playing against other guitars (as opposed to in a band of horns and piano). Like the originals, the repro tuner buttons are flecked with colour. Playing bluegrass riffs, the guitar cuts through beautifully, really projecting, and what can sound like a one dimensional tone solo comes into its own. Epiphone Masterbilt Century De Luxe - Vintage Natural Historisches Epiphone Archtop-Design mit rundem Schallloch; Decke aus massiver Fichte mit Längsstrebe; Echter akustischer Sound mit Sonic HD Preamp/NanoFlex HD Tonabnehmer ; Griffbrett aus Ebenholz; Historisches Stimmwirbel und Kopfplatten-Inlay-Design. The F holes are unbound, and the tailpiece is a simple design (google frequensator tailpiece to see just how fancy Epiphone tailpieces can be). I have always wanted an archtop (matter of fact, I have an old Colletti-Martin in the loft that I’ve never been able to get playing right), but when these three came out, I chose the Olympic, the smallest (almost parlour sized) and least lavishly appointed principally because David Rawlings plays a 1935 Olympic and makes it sound fantastic, playing exactly the sort of country folk I’m playing at the moment (he does it s… It's a collaboration with keyboard player David Garfield. Compared to a flat top, the Olympic produces notes with considerably more body, woody sustain and clarity. • Electrics Shadow NanoFlex HD under-saddle pickup with eSonic HD preamp, volume and tone controls It seems a fair bit louder, but its sonic character is far less quirky and pronounced. This does allow space for the very impressive inlay featuring three mother of pearl banners and a sort of filligree plant motif, but compared with the smaller headstocks of the 30’s it looks a little out of scale with this dinky guitar. • Price £729 Despite its round soundhole, the Zenith is a proper archtop with longitudinal bracing. In rhythm mode, it’s a surprisingly dynamic and solid performer. The latest guitar news, reviews and features delivered to your inbox. • Description Archtop acoustic 6-string guitar, manufactured in Indonesia • Neck depth 23mm at first fret, 27mm at ninth fret Body: Premium Solid Cedar top Premium Solid Rosewood body Neck: Set 1-piece mahogany neck with 1930's "V" profile Rosewood fingerboard with diamond inlays Neck joins body at 12th fret 14" fingerboard radius • Hardware Aged nickel trapeze tailpiece, floating ebonoid bridge, Historic Epiphone reissue tuners with Marboloid ‘Crown’ buttons & 18:1 ratio This isn’t at all a fault, but I suspect it’s an indication of the holes being cut and then the top steam pressed, with the physics of the wood pulling it slightly differently there as it cools. All three of these guitars are fitted with the same eSonic HD preamp and Shadow NanoFlex HD under-saddle pickup. A combination jack socket/battery compartment is tucked under the tailpiece hinge. 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