Everything from Epiphone’s ‘Inspired By Gibson Custom’ range that has come our way in recent months has raised eyebrows hereabouts and we’ve been left wondering if Gibson’s sibling marque’s output is a bit of an own goal for the mighty guitar company. After all, with the type of quality we’ve seen, we have been left wondering why – with this sort of quality readily on hand at around a quarter of the price of the ‘real thing’ – anyone would even take a second look at the Gibson equivalents. But that was the impression left by the electric instruments.
Many would argue that to pull off the same trick with , which are traditionally harder to manufacture and require far more hands-on work than an electric, is a whole other ballgame. Casting an eye down the spec sheets on this trio only served to deepen the mystery further. All solid woods, mother-of-pearl inlays, bone nuts and saddles, one-piece mahogany necks and an LR Baggs thrown in for good measure – what’s going on here, exactly? The only things that really differentiate these guitars from their made-in-USA counterparts are the poly finishes, instead of nitrocellulose, and laurel fretboards and bridges, instead of rosewood.
And the price here includes a posh hard case, too. Surely these can’t stand up to the originals, can they? There’s only one way to find out: let’s start opening cases..
. The ‘banner’ in the J-45’s title refers to the motif on the guitar’s headstock, which, on a vint.
