Rare Tone from Epiphone’s Glorious Past

For players in the know, Epiphone guitars of the ’60s have always represented individual and outstanding tones, great values, and a cool twist on several Gibson-inspired designs. In 1957 Gibson purchased the New York-based Epiphone Guitar Company and moved production to Kalamazoo, Michigan. With plans to expand retail distribution by differentiating Epiphone dealers from Gibson dealers, Gibson began production of a new line of “Kalamazoo-made and designed” Epiphones in 1959.

For over a decade, Epiphone solid body guitars and basses were produced right alongside Gibsons. These Epiphone guitars represented some of the highest quality and best sounding instruments of their generation. They provided unique shapes, pickup arrangements, and tonal signatures not seen on comparable Gibson models of the day. Under appreciated at the time of their release, numerous artists through the years have recognized the unique appeal of these guitars. Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Paul Gilbert, Steve Marriot, and all three guitar-playing Beatles are but a few of the artists who have embraced the tone and build quality of these Kalamazoo-built Epiphones. One such Epiphone instrument was the Wilshire. Today, Epiphone brings back the Wilshire with an affordable reproduction of the 1966 model: the Worn 1966 Wilshire.

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