Moving up a rung we come to the Wilshire. The wrapover bridge/tailpiece is the same compensated ‘Lightning Bar’ that Gibson fitted to certain SGs in the 60s, and is a preferable alternative to the basic stopbar that lacks individual string intonation. The Coronet’s single pickup is a dog-ear P-90 Pro, which we already know is a great-sounding, fat-toned single coil, here mated to quality CTS pots and heavy-duty output jack. So, no scarf joints or stacked heels here. The body is centre-jointed while the glued-in neck is a single piece, save for the added headstock wings that you’ll find even on Custom Shop Gibsons. With its dark streaky lines on a medium-brown background it looks like a super alternative to the scarcer rosewood. Also known as Indian walnut, this timber (which other makers, not least Gretsch, have also employed in certain recent models) is grown in both that country and Myanmar and is not on the CITES list of endangered species. We don’t know what genus of mahogany this is, but it’s stated as that fabled guitar tonewood in the spec, while the fingerboard is Indian laurel. Checking the spec on Epiphone’s website it’s clear that, despite these instruments’ entry-level price points, the company has not stinted with the quality of materials or parts. Going from bottom to top of the range, we begin with the delightfully basic Coronet. And, while they all sit on the same double-cutaway body, they’ve been designed as specific propositions in their own right, each one bringing something specific to the table. Spot The DifferenceĪctually, Epiphone has made the demarcations very clear in these new models. And just to show the level of thought that’s gone into the new range, they all come with Graph Tech NuBone fingerboard nuts, where Epiphone could have easily insinuated cheapo plastic. Snuggled in the middle sits the Wilshire, a sort of ‘Special’ to the Coronet’s ‘Junior’.Īll three guitars are finished in lustrous polyester, and all feature nickel-plated hardware and the stylised Epiphone ‘E’ in gold foil in the centre of their ‘butterfly’-style pickguards. So, even with that stripped-down version of events, you can see it was a complicated if not turbulent time for the range, and, in a way, what we have here is the most pleasing visual and working compromises of all the above versions.Ĭlearly there’s a hierarchy present, with the flashier two-pickup Crestwood Custom sitting at the top of the pile and the simplest of the three, the single-P-90 Coronet, at the bottom.

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