Epiphone USA Collection Frontier

Passing the Test

Wildwoodians, we are proud to present the Epiphone USA Collection Frontier, a guitar that celebrates a less-known but vital part of American guitar history. You see, Epiphone actually predates Gibson by twenty-nine years--no kidding! Founded in 1873 by a Greek immigrant named Epi Stathopoulo, the "House of Stathopoulo" (a combination showroom and dream factory in New York City) was a hotbed for early jazz musicians and guitar innovators; in fact, the workshop was where Les Paul crafted his legendary solid-body guitar prototype, affectionately dubbed "The Log." However, Epiphone fell on hard times after Epi passed away, and the business was in dire straits.

Enter Ted McCarty, president of Gibson Guitars. One of Epi's sons offered to sell him the company and he accepted because he saw unique opportunity. Dealers all over America were clamoring for Gibson guitars at the time, but Gibson wasn't sure what dealers they could trust to be profitable, so they were very choosy about who got to carry their guitars. As a result, there was quite a contentious situation.

To calm things down without putting Gibson at risk, McCarty decided to use Epiphone as a "tester line" for dealers. Basically, Epiphones were built side-by-side with Gibsons in the Kalamazoo Gibson plant with the same materials and electronics. Then, they sent them off to prospective dealers, and, if they proved themselves by selling plenty of Epiphones, Gibson would award them a coveted dealer contract.

These guitars pay tribute to those magnificent USA-made Epiphones that inspired everyone from Paul McCartney to Noel Gallagher to John Lee Hooker to Les Paul. They're made of all solid woods at Gibson's Bozeman, Montana plant, and they capture the tone and vibe of their vintage forebears beautifully. We are proud to showcase them, we have no doubt they will inspire you endlessly.