Archtops

matsuo · Newbie Alert Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 2

I have a used Epiphone Century from '65 (ran the serial number). Single pickup (P-90), no cutaway.

I had always thought of Epiphone as kind of low-end but this is not the case. This guitar has a very fast neck with amazing string action--maybe the best I've ever played on an electric. Thin neck too. The body is feather-light and so it is a pleasure to wear it unlike solidbodies which I don't like wearing. The sound is warm and clean but it has that natural "grit" of a hollowbody which I really like a lot. The P-90 is a good choice of pickup. I probably would not have bought it had it been a humbucker or a PAF.

I fell in love with it as soon as I played it and knew I was going to buy it right then and there (because I just knew it would be gone if I waited). It even sounds good unplugged!

When I took it to the counter and said I wanted it, the owner said that whenever he gets one of those in, he cannot seem to move any of his other archtops until the Epi gets sold. When I bought that one, it was like the 4th time in a row it had happened.

Small wonder, though. It is a limited guitar but the sound is so beautiful and it handles so excellently that I had to have it.

I highly recommend the Epiphone archtops. They are excellent guitars and not low-end at all. I don't know why I thought that. To make it up to Epiphone, I humbly submit this rave review and urge those of you looking for a good archtop to consider Epiphone seriously.

weelie · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:07 am Post subject:

The Epis of old are a completely differnt animal than the current ones. The company was founded in 1924 and Gibson bought it in 1957, production moved out of the country in 1970.