J. Bonamassa Epiphone to come

[duhvoodooman]

Now that is a lot prettier to me than the more modern "Strawberry/Banana" ones I have seen.

Yeah, I agree. By "strawberry/banana", I assume you're referring to this kind of color scheme:

But that's a lot closer to how the '58 - '60 LP's looked when they were new.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, something like that. I have seen an epi with an even brighter yellow. Not my deal.

 

[Retro Hound]

Oh, ok. As far as bursts, I am more a "tobacco" burst guy, though I hate that name.

Yeah, why couldn't it be Coffee Sunburst? Now that's a color I could get into!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, that would be way better. Sumatra 'burst!

 

[ZMAN]

I prefer Vintage Burst. I have seen them called that by retailers.
This is my 96 Gibby Standard. Notice the plain top. I am not a fan of Flame Tops. The JB Goldie for 699 Seems to be a pretty fair price for a signature guitar. An Epi Standard is about 500 with the pickups at 220 and a case ncluded not a bad deal.

 

[NWBasser]

Yeah, something like that. I have seen an epi with an even brighter yellow. Not my deal.

Yeah SVL, I'm with you on that one. I like the ice tea burst scheme.
The coffee one does sound nice too.

It does strike me that the JB sig. is a pretty good deal and I'd prefer a GT on one of those. However, I think a faded Gibby Studio might still be the best bet for me since I really like the way they feel, sound, and play. Even if the looks are not so great.

 

[warren0728]

:drool: just sayin'....

 

[Tone2TheBone]

I prefer Vintage Burst. I have seen them called that by retailers.
This is my 96 Gibby Standard. Notice the plain top. I am not a fan of Flame Tops. The JB Goldie for 699 Seems to be a pretty fair price for a signature guitar. An Epi Standard is about 500 with the pickups at 220 and a case ncluded not a bad deal.

I agree with Warren. Sweet lookin' Gibby. :hungry

 

[NWBasser]

I prefer Vintage Burst. I have seen them called that by retailers.
This is my 96 Gibby Standard. Notice the plain top. I am not a fan of Flame Tops. The JB Goldie for 699 Seems to be a pretty fair price for a signature guitar. An Epi Standard is about 500 with the pickups at 220 and a case ncluded not a bad deal.

Excuse me, I'm becoming a little verclempt.

Wow!:drool:

 

[bcdon]

Excuse me, I'm becoming a little verclempt.

Wow!:drool:

I had to look that word up, but, yeah, what NWBasser said! :drool:

 

[Katastrophe]

Epi thread, derailed by a Gibby, AND FOR GOOD REASON!

That is one beautiful guitar, Z.

I look at that guitar, and what Gibson is capable of, and have to :thwap at the X guitar (I still refuse to call it a Firebird).

 

[marnold]

Psst. I still prefer the goldie. That is all.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Psst. I still prefer the goldie. That is all.

Concur. Nice looking new Epi!

 

[FrankenFretter]

Not a bad looking Goldie. Seems like a better deal than I got on my Tribute, although I think I prefer the sound of the 57+ to the BB 3. Looks like it comes with the same cruddy straplocks that the Tribute had. By the way, I just got a new set in the mail from Epiphone to replace the set that came with my Tribute that lasted all of about 2 months.

Steve - The term "tobacco burst" seems to have fallen out of favor, and seems to have been replaced by "vintage burst", "2-tone burst" and "iced tea burst". I'm with you on that one, I really like that finish. I also love the honeyburst. The super yellow to orange to red bursts that you've seen are referred to as "clown burst", denoting the ugly bright colors.

I like the Bonamassa LP, but the Epi 50th Anniversary LP has me really drooling...especially the "Heritage Darkburst". Hmmm, yet another way to avoid the word tobacco.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I still like "Sumatra Burst" I hear they are going to start selling them at Starbucks.



Tongue in cheek, but really, why not? No music instrument stores around here anymore, and Starbucks is the only place in the county where you can buy recorded music. Plus, it is still my favorite name and a good color.


Oh, and is this or the one you are displaying better than an Agile 3XXX? Hard to know.

 

[ZMAN]

Sorry I derailed the thread. I am a huge fan of Joe B and I also have a Goldie, or I would be buying the Epi. You just can't go wrong for 699.

 

[Jimi75]

I think everyone who ever was looking for a great Goldie, but wasn't into spending thousands of dollars for a Gibbie, should get the Joe B Epi model. Epiphone is really building some grest guitars these days. The Joe B model looks awesome and 699 is hell of good price.

 

[Katastrophe]

Sorry I derailed the thread. I am a huge fan of Joe B and I also have a Goldie, or I would be buying the Epi. You just can't go wrong for 699.

You didn't derail anything, brother Z. It was probably a poor choice of words on my part, trying to make a funny. That LP of yours is gorgeous! It is absolutely drool worthy.

 

[ZMAN]

You didn't derail anything, brother Z. It was probably a poor choice of words on my part, trying to make a funny. That LP of yours is gorgeous! It is absolutely drool worthy.

I know what you are saying. The thread WAS about a Goldie and somehow we got on the Tobacco burst theme. I just lucked into this one for 1300 bucks. Can you say Motivated seller? I took 1750 into the home and came out with 450 in my pocket. The guy wanted to sell this guitar that day.
It turned out to be one of the nicest guitars I own.
Apparently he was actually a Bass player and was picking one up on the following Saturday. I started low and stayed low. I thought he would throw me out. In all honesty I was looking for a Cherry Burst, but now I would not change it for anything.
As Jimi said. If you miss this one and you wanted a Goldie. I think you will be really missing the boat.
Again I was not a fan of Gold Tops but I saw a bargain on a Classic and I jumped. Now I love them. I guess most of my motivation is monetary.
The only thing I can say is, don't ever say that a Gibby is out of your price range. As I have said before, I really can't afford to own any of the high end guitars I own but to date I have at least 10.

 

[Duffy]

J. Bonamassa LP

I like that guitar.

It is not too expensive and seems to be riggid up with some good components.

Just from an objective point of view I think the Gold Top looks better than many Gold Tops I've seen. No hint of green. A nice blend of black trim and two different looking control knobs gives this LP a distinct look, not oftens seen.

The Black and Gold goes really good together. Not that having graduated from the University of Colorado would color my impression or anything. Objectively enough, the black accents the gold with a contrast that the typical cream trim can not challenge.

I like the more typical Gold Tops with cream trim though, no problem there. The black and gold just produces a different vibe.

I have an Ibanez SZ-320 Gold Top that is beautiful, NOS, and has no hint of green in the gold; so my thirst for gold is, temporarily at least, satiated.

 

[sumitomo]

I love the 59 roundback neck on my warmoth tele,I hope this is close.They are only making 1000? Well I'll let ya know pulled the trigger.Sumi

 

[Duffy]

Bursts

Glancing at some of the burst color comments, I will note that I "really like" the color of my "Cherry Burst" Epi Tribute. It probably is that color for a reason, such as has been mentioned about the original old ones had a much more colorful burst that has spectrally degenerated over time from exposure to environmental radiation, etc.

I also have a nice Agile "Flammed Maple Cherry Sunburst" LP copy that I recently bought that I think looks really good. I even have a cherry burst strat that I think is really great looking.

No problem with the cherry bursts here.

I also have a really nice Epi LP Standard Plus top that is flammed maple in solid, non-burst amber finish and I really like that color vibe.

I have noticed that my Squier Classic Vibe 50's strat is starting to age nicely, with the neck taking on a beautiful darkening amber glow. My Lake Placid Blue CV 50's has a very attractive "white" maple neck that has not aged much and has that really cool, in my opinion, raw maple "white" look to it that blends well with the Lake Placid Blue metallic body and the aged white pearl pickguard I installed on it.

These colors are very much a matter of opinion, but the Joe B. Gold Top is very nice looking in my opinion. Not a hint of green there and a really quality gold vibe to it. I have to agree that there is no substitute for a nice Gold Top.

 

[Katastrophe]

The only thing I can say is, don't ever say that a Gibby is out of your price range. As I have said before, I really can't afford to own any of the high end guitars I own but to date I have at least 10.

It'll happen, one day... Until then, I'm content to look around at other guitars and drool over what everyone else owns. There will be other limited runs, and other deals to be had when the time is right.

Really, my first priority is to get an amph, or a POD, or something to play amphlified with before I satisfy my guitar GAS. I waited 14 years in between guitar purchases (between the time I bought my ESP and my Strat). I was quite satisfied with my rig then, until my playing priorities and style changed.

 

[sumitomo]

E-mail I got says their on backorder,(slow boat from China lol!)I update info as I get it.Sumi

 

[Duffy]

Lp

Sumi,
I don't know that much about this but with that few being distributed I might be inclined to check around and call places and see if I could find one in stock and grab it. A bird in hand is worth ten in the bush. Then I'd cancel my MF order or where ever you ordered from. MF and places like that will only get so many, even though they will want them all.

I'd call the other big internet places like Amer. mus. supply and elsewhere and see if anyone can guarantee me one. A lot of places have a line up, sort of like first come, first served, and have an idea of how many they are going to get.

1000 is very few guitars, considering there are a LOT of GC's, and places like that, in addition to all the substantial internet places and big account local stores located in large cities and so forth.

These are affordable and will definitely be sought after guitars, and probably some of them will immediately be re-sold or put up for sale at way higher prices. Supply and demand. Competition to get one of these will be intense and a lot of stores won't even get one.

It is possible though, that, by popular demand, Epiphone will expand its production of these. I think I read about where they did that with one of their popular guitars in the past and that it is still in production many years later.

For now though, it seems like they have to stick to their statement that they are only making a few, and that each one will come with a certificate. They are trying, and successfully so, to make this a collector's item.

Good luck with this. I hope you get one of these - they definitely are nice guitars.

 

[Eric]

The best thing about these signature guitars is that, instantly, you'll be able to play just like your new guitar's namesake...........

I get what you're saying here. Sometimes it seems like signature guitars do end up with the right combo of features, neck profile, and pickups to be good guitars, but more often then not I wonder why I would buy something that was customized for someone else. If I know enough to care about the custom appointments, doesn't it follow that I would have my own preferences?

And on that note, I find it odd that getting a signature model of anything is considered this great honor by the model's namesake (e.g. Bonamassa). A signature guitar is almost the very definition of selling out, isn't it? You are willingly selling your name and image to peddle a product, instead of selling the thing you make (music). I accept that it's part of the biz, but the whole thing just seems a little odd when I stop to think about it.

All of that being said, I will temper my statements by saying that when deciding what guitars to get in the early stages, it was heavily influenced by the guitars that other musicians and guitar heroes play/played. I can't deny the power of wanting to emulate, but at its core there are some weird dynamics there.

 

[sumitomo]

Thanks Duffy,I found about 10 per month and according to the list I'm in Feb.LOL!! Oh well if it is it is,I figured well if I don't like it,it would be easy to sell,but I want a LP and I like the color layout and the knob layout.It's all about the wait,so relax get a cool drink and something to eat,Hey a Mcdonalds hambuger will last until Feb.Sumi

 

[Duffy]

Signature

Eric, I used to feel that same way as you do about selling out, but my outlook has changed.

Having a great reputation and putting your name on a guitar or amp or whatever probably is viewed as an honor by many. Also, the person has the chance to help design the guitar, to one extent or another; possibly having enough influence to include some really cool design elements that make for a really nice guitar.

Also, the artist gets paid a substantial sum of money. I don't see the problem with this that I used to see. I say, make as much money as you can. Look for ways to make more money. Keep an eye out for people trying to rip you off for money.

There is an expectation, on my part, that the signature product is of an expected level of quality, as advertized. I read now and then that an artist is not excited about the guitar that a particular company produced and put his name on. Evidently there are some shady deals made where the artist gets exploited by the manufacturer; or so it seems.

So, I fundamentally believe that you should be able to make as much money as you can, but that in doing so you have a responsibility to provide services and products that are "worth" the cost.

I don't like it when they take a really great rock song and associate it with some ridiculously inappropriate metaphor to some mundane product in a television commercial. I don't like it when they take a serious song that actually made you stop and think, and dumb this song down to some really dumb product or service on TV. But whoever owns the rights to the music has a wide range of options available to them when it comes to making money from that music.

Some people have values and stand for things, others are unscrupulous. Oh yeah, we're talking about rock stars here . . . . even some of them have values and stand for things; for instance, Sarah McLaughlin's involvement with the SPCA. Then there are those that sell flashlight batteries. Ha ha.

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

I think it's naive to think that a made-in-China signature Epiphone is going to be something that's head and shoulders above their "regular" offerings; same thing with "Limited Editions". They're made in the same assembly plant(s), by the same workers, at the same time. They're marketing ideas, that's it.

If that floats one's boat, fine. Just don't try to tell me that it's something special.

 

[NWBasser]

I think it's naive to think that a made-in-China signature Epiphone is going to be something that's head and shoulders above their "regular" offerings; same thing with "Limited Editions". They're made in the same assembly plant(s), by the same workers, at the same time. They're marketing ideas, that's it.

If that floats one's boat, fine. Just don't try to tell me that it's something special.

Hey, I quite agree. However, if I'm looking for a new guitar, tone and feel (i.e. comfortable neck shape, low action, etc.) are my biggest deciding factors (along with price!) and if a sig model has that special combination, then I certainly wouldn't rule it out.

Back to the JB siggy though; I noted it has Gibson USA 490 series pu's and the thicker 50's profile neck. I don't give a rat's a#$ about the name on TR cover, but those are particularly appealing features of this one.

But, like you said, if those minute details such as fretwork and binding that make a guitar special aren't done just right in the China factory, then it won't cut it.