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EPIPHONE INSPIRED BY GIBSON CUSTOM 1962 ES-335 REISSUE £1,099
Ted McCarty’s finest creation gets the Epiphone ‘Inspired By’ treatment. Featuring Gibson USA Custombuckers, real rosewood fingerboard and top-notch hardware, expectations are high
Words Neville Marten
WHAT IS IT?
Epiphone’s take on the legendary Gibson semi, in Sixties Cherry finish with quality electrics and hardware
Any guitarist that doesn’t know the Gibson ES-335 story must have been living on planet Zog for the past 67 years. Therefore we won’t insult you with a full-on history and description. Let’s simply remind ourselves of how this legendary model’s semi-hollow – laminated thinline construction with solid centre section, two deep cutaways and a set of powerful humbucking pickups – made it one of the best-sounding, most versatile and nicest playing guitars of all time. It’s up there as one of the coolest lookers, too.
As we’ve seen for some time now, Epiphone loves to get in on the act. And some of the instruments we’ve plugged in and played in recent years, especially the Joe Bonamassa models and these ‘Inspired By Gibson Custom’ offerings, have been mightily impressive. The fact that they consistently fit Gibson USA pickups, and use top-flight hardware and electrics gives them a great advantage over much of the competition in this hotly contested sector.
For this new 1962 Reissue, Epiphone offers the two most popular ES-335 colours: Sixties Cherry and Vintage Burst.