wilshire? maybe?

[immer_ohne_gott]

hey...i bought a rather aged epiphone solidbody from a friend's dad a while ago and have been trying to identify it for some time. from the pictures i've seen, it appears to be a Wilshire (big pickguard w/ curved bank for output and knobs; three-way pickup switch; dual humbuckers; stop tail, but it has the symmetrical SG/Les Paul style headstock instead of the six-on-a-side wilshire head. I see no serial number anywhere, so that kinda through a wrench in the proverbial works.

just wondering if anyone could help with a more precise date/model ID.

vielen Dank.

[VintAxe]

Hey immer_ohne_gott,

It's probably going to require a picture for anyone to be much help here. Look under "Forum Help" for instructions on how to post a picture.

Welcome to the Forum. sb

[cheepaxes]

Based on that description I would guess it would be an early '70s Japanese Epiphone from the Matsumoku factory. At that time they were making guitars with the Wilshire/Coronet body style and the Gibson 3+3 headstocks. I still remember seeing a wall of them in the music store where I took guitar lessons in 1972. A Google Images search for Epiphone Wilshire turned up a combination of 3+3 and batwing headstock models.

-Scott McKnight

[cheepaxes]

Here's one with non-original pickups:

http://cgi.ebay.com/70s-Epiphone-Crestw ... dZViewItem

Here's one with a pic that shows the characteristic Matsumoku/Epihone/Aria "Steel Adjustable Neck" neckplate. The paper serial number is just like the one on the Japanese Epiphone acoustic that I bought from the music store mentioned above.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-GIBSON-EPIP ... dZViewItem

-Scott

[VintAxe]

Great work Scott. I don't want this information to be lost when those eBay links go dead so I'm adding the pictures to your reply.

Here's one with non-original pickups:



Here's one with a pic that shows the characteristic Matsumoku/Epihone/Aria "Steel Adjustable Neck" neckplate. The paper serial number is just like the one on the Japanese Epiphone acoustic that I bought from the music store mentioned above.

[cheepaxes]

[quote="VintAxe"]Great work Scott. I don't want this information to be lost when those eBay links go dead so I'm adding the pictures to your reply.
[/quote]

I coulda done that. 'Cept I'm lazy. :)

-Scott

[evilLordJuju]

The very first Kalamazoo made Epiphone Wilshires also had double sided headstocks - 1960 until 1965

They had set necks, and a serial number in the usual place - behind the headstock

Refins often loose the sn

Would be nice to see some pics anyway