2009 #Epiphone 1962 #Wilshire USA #Reissue. Did I ever tell you the story behind this #guitar? No?? Well, you are in luck! 😁 Back in 2011 I saw one of these at a local shop. I had never seen one before and I didn't understand why an #Epi was selling, used(!), for $1800. I mean, isn't Epi just Gibson's budget brand? Like if you can't afford a #Gibson #LesPaul you buy an Epi LP, right? So why was this model so expensive? I didn't know much in 2011, obviously! But I went home and started researching, and found that Epiphone had this whole rich history independent of Gibson...And even after Gibby bought Epi in the late 50s, Epiphone still had all their own models (although they were made by Gibson in #Kalamazoo by the same people building #Gibsonguitars, and some, like the Casino, were essentially Gibson models with cosmetic differences). It was only in 1970 when Gibson shut down all US production of Epiphone and moved it all to Japan, that Epi started on that fateful road to becoming Gibson's budget brand. But before that they were a real, individual, high quality, guitar company...And the Wilshire (and its single pickup counterpart, the #Coronet) were just awesome little #guitars and I NEEDED to have one in my life! So I went back to the shop...A found it had already sold! 😢 I searched for another one for THREE years - they only made 100 of these in #heritagecherry in 2009 (and 100 in #alpinewhite...My pal @seanpinchin Has one of the white ones!) and I finally found mine on late 2014 at @rumbleseatmusic in Ithaca NY! #epiphoneguitars #guitarcollection #guitarphotography
