Versatile But Disappointing: The Epiphone 150th Anniversary Wilshire
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2023
- Thanks for watching! This is a fun guitar but it did let me down a bit.
That doesn't mean it'll let you down though. Let me know if you have or get one!
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Love the clean tone!
The middle sound really blew me away. Perfect for layering or standing out on its own!
I just received a Sire S7 and I love it. It was between the S7 and this Wilshire. I think you convinced me to pick this up next. Hopefully it will still be around this summer. Thanks for the great video!
This color 😍👌🏽
It looks great in person! Thanks for watching!
You could have adjusted pickup and pole heights to balance the pickups out. They are probably wound pretty close to each other and their placement is what's affecting the balance. Also, Gibson used to use their ceramic mini humbuckers on almost everything they made with minihumbuckers before realizing that they sounded horrible and went back to alnico. Those may have a factor in your experience with Gibson mini's. Having said all of that, even top of the line guitars from a budget brand need to played in person before being purchased. The reason is that any reputable dealer will set up a guitar properly before having it on the sales floor. I wouldn't consider spending close to grand on a guitar sight unseen, unless I knew how to set up a guitar. These aren't necessarily a quality control problem, but a disconnect between retailer and manufacturer. Not all guitar companies realize that when a brick and mortar dealer is bypassed by warehouse sellers that all of the things that dealers actually do for those companies are bypassed. Unfortunately, that usually means a decent setup. I thought that Gibson USA were doing setups for top tier Epiphones, but it sounds like that's not the case any longer. Sorry for your experience, but live and learn, I guess.
Live and learn indeed! And I've learned that with Epiphone it's as hit or miss as it can be - It's either flawless or borderline unplayable. I do think it would benefit Gibson/Epiphone greatly to do what you mentioned and have their domestic teams do at least basic QC management. PRS' SE Line is so well received because they manage that in house.
Either way, I don't hate Epiphone at all - but it's disappointing to think about all the stunted potential because beginning players don't know what they don't know when it comes to set up and playability.
Thanks for watching and sorry for such a late response!
Great camera work
Thanks! I’ve been experimenting with dialing in my lighting. I wanna make sure I capture this gear as best as I can. Thanks for watching!
I had to do the same fret polishing and saddle filing. First day of playing my fret hand fingers were stained black. High E would get plucked right out and was hung on a barb. No tone on that string until saddle filing. All fixed and love it now. I have the Crestwood Custom 150th with trem.
Nice! I know it’s a nuisance to have to put in that work on a new guitar, but in the grand scheme of things it’s a little work for a big reward. The guitars are great with a little elbow grease!
Thanks for watching and congrats on the Crestwood!
I have Crestwoods for the both the anniversary series and the regular issue. I liked the lower output pickups on the anniversary model. Both guitars compare well with the edge going to the 2023 anniversary. Added comment in Feb 2024. I took my Crestwood (non 150th anniversary) and dropped in a set of Lollar Firebird pickups. It’s much better guitar now. It’s a keeper along with my 150th Coral Crestwood. I might get one of these too. Epiphone has upped their game recently.
It is super cool. Pops had an original and I'll never forget it. They should have done oval inlays on the fretboard for heavens sake.
I bet that original was sweet!
I had one of the 2010 Wilshire's and it was such a great guitar. My only gripe was the position of the output jack. I ended up having to sell it because of an Army deployment. Ever since it's been one of those guitars I've gone back and forth on several times.
This one’s actually my second Wilshire. My first one was my first “real” guitar! It was a 2008 Wilshire Pro - the white one with block inlays and I wanted it so bad! Saved for it, placed the order… broken headstock on arrival. I feel like I’d be a much better player had that one worked out though.
Lots of respect for your service and I’m sorry you had to let the Wilshire go. If you ever pick one of these up let me know how it works out for you! I know there’s gotta be more good than bad ones out there.
Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment!
@@sunnyhaair Thanks! I'm not much for the color, but the orange one with the Bigsby lookalike is kinda cool. Don't know if I'll be able to scrounge up the dough. My funds got rerouted to a PRS overhaul project I'm working on.
Excellent video I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Pro 2 and it had a couple of high frets as well. It was Stupid Deal of the Day though at $350 so I really couldn't complain much.
Thank you! Yeah, Epiphone’s are generally worth a little QC issue here and there as long as it’s something that can be fixed easily enough (and free!)
I’ve really wanted one of the bolt on studios they make (can’t remember the name but it’s the $249 one), but I’ve been nervous because in my experience the lower the price, the lower the QC thresholds.
Hey Sunny. I hope you're doing fine. Thx for your true in depth review. Yeah, the qc is still a problem that sucks. You know how many guitars i owned and played in the past. Ibanez has still the best qc by far, even in the lower price range.
Hey man good to hear from you! I’m doing well and hope you are too.
In my experience this last year Gibson quality control has been great - right up there with Ibanez and Jackson. But then in all the brands I’ve dealt with Epiphone QC has been the worst. It’s a shame really because it’s something they are completely capable of easily improving on.
I guess for once I lucked out...mine did need neck and bridge adjustment, but that was it...and the adjustments did hold.
Congrats! Epiphone’s definitely rolling out more good ones than bad ones so I’m hoping there’s gonna be more people happy with what they get out there
I'm glad I stumbled upon your video about this guitar. I was thinking about buying one, but hesitated since I earlier have had problems with every Gibson and Epihone I owned. All of those guitars are now long gone. I have a $150 Harley Benton that is better built than the $2500 Gibson I had. It has left some...trust issues. And since the Gibson "Authenthic" debacle, Gibson is pretty much a dead brand to me. I think maybe Epiphone is becoming that as well, which is a pity...
I don’t have much experience with Harley Benton (I think I played a used one at a Guitar Center years ago but I can’t be sure in hindsight), but Epiphone has consistently been the worst brand I’ve dealt with when it comes to QC. They could be doing so much better.
As for Gibson, I’ve only played 2022/2023 stuff and I’ve gotta say the QC there has been the best I’ve experienced next to Jackson. That makes Epiphone being so bad even worse. They have the potential to be untouchable but for whatever reason there seems to be no improvement over the last 4 years there.
Thanks for watching. Im glad it was able to help you out. There’s too many good options on the market nowadays to take a gamble with that kind of money.
Thanks for this video! These guys polyurethane or thinner nitro?
Thanks for watching! It’s a poly finish
They missed a chance with that batwing headstock, to do some cool multi-surface colors, IMHO.
Hey do you know what other cases might fit the wilshire shape? I hear they fit in ones designed for sg's and maybe a tele but haven't gotten confirmation
Yes, they fit the SG case I have one
😍😍😍
Woah 🤯 thank you for watching 😍I’m actually huge fan of yours 😌 you should start posting more and preferably with a cat you may or may not have named Luna
@@sunnyhaair Thank you ☺️ I’m a huge fan of yours too, and I think I will 🥰
Damn, sorry you had this experience. I ordered one and had a similarly dry/scratchy fretboard, but haven't had the same issues with bridge saddles, tuning stability, and haven't needed to make truss rod adjustments. All of which is to say Epiphone/Gibson are still clearly very, very inconsistent with quality control. Still, I like this guitar better than any of the Gibsons I've tried in recent years, so investing in the necessary tools - even at a higher baseline price point - feels like a small trade off for such a great sounding guitar (that doesn't neck dive!!).
Glad to hear yours is treating you well! You’re absolutely right - fixing the issues takes a little investment of time & money, but overall not a bad deal if you’re happy with everything else
Thanks for watching!
does anyone know why the bridge pickup polepieces face the neck instead of the bridge?
I too would like to know 🤔
Very nice sounding guitar! Just adding to your comment I recently played a Gibson deluxe with the mini humbucker‘s and I didn’t like it either. Way too bright and snappy for me but on this Wilshire they sound superb.
Isn’t that Deluxe borderline unusable?
No clue what’s going on that they’re horrible on the Deluxe but incredible on the Wilshire 🤔 guess it’s gotta be the capacitors in the LP?
@@sunnyhaair I know! Just adding to your comment Gibson still hasn’t quite got their quality issues under control as they are still cranking out guitars with problems. I gave Gibson’s new CEO the benefit of the doubt and thought they would have turned that company around when they fired that weirdo Henry Jusczkiewicz but it appears their new CEO is no better.
IMO, Gibson better get their act together quick if they want to stay in business. I hear a lot of younger guitar players calling Gibsons “your grandfather’s guitar” and are turning to other brands due to not only better quality but some are well within what their wallets can bear. I love Gibsons but if they don’t watch out they are going to slowly price themselves out of style!
@@sunnyhaair Oh, and to answer your original question, it could be the capacitors I’m the LP. I’m not sure why Gibson re-released that Les Paul deluxe as nobody I know asked for it! They would have fared better just releasing a regular Les Paul standard in that RED color but Gibson is well known for not listening to their customers and doing a lot of oddball bullshit that leaves people scratching their heads! 🤔
The elephant in all the rooms these days, is the fretboard. Dry, weird colored Laurel boards are just hard to get behind. Can they not be roasted? Is maple only permitted on Fenders? Why can't we darken some of these boards, like they do with maple? Maple, Rosewood, and Ebony boards are what we are used to seeing. Make the Laurels and Walnuts or whatever, just look a bit darker, so they look like guitars still.
What’s weird to me is how different the Laurel I’ve had on Squiers is compared to the Laurel on Epis. The Epiphone stuff had always been more porous (and usually dry) compared to the Squiers.
With Fender bringing rosewood back to the Mexican models I’m sure Epiphone’s will move back to it for future special releases
@@sunnyhaair Maybe. But Gibson/Epiphone seem to be true believers in the cause to not use up all the good wood. I get that there isn't much of it left, but I can't think of a better thing to use it on. 😎😎
If I buy this guitar, how much will it cost me to fix all the issues you mentioned?
Sorry I missed your comment!
If you DIY, it won’t cost much. Files can be anywhere from a few dollars to $20 a piece. With labor from a tech though, I don’t think it would be worth it because I imagine with fret issues most techs would charge around $200 USD give or take $50.
I have a 78 Deluxe with the mini humbuckers. I consider it my magic guitar. If you set the volume and tone correctly "its warm with unending sustain". Use both pickups, turn the tone knobs down to like 2 or 3. Volume on 9 or even 10 and this guitar sings. You can not set the volume and tone like you would a LP Standard. It's not the same guitar. People say the deluxe is bright. I disagree. Of course it's a matter of taste too. I wouldn't mind having the Epiphone Wilshire. I would probably love it.
I don’t doubt that at all! Before I got the Goldtop I did some video surfing and I was super excited, but for whatever reason I just couldn’t get it working for me. Truthfully, playing thru a modeler could have something to do with that.
If you pick up a Wilshire let me know how it holds up to your 78!
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Is the neck chunky?
Not at all! It’s Epiphone’s classic slim taper neck.
I mean...how many truss rod allens do we all own, in current year? 20? 50? If more, you might have a problem but if less than one, you also have a problem.
I feel like I don’t have enough 😅
Drop some Duncan P90s in that baby rock td out!!!
That is probably the coolest thing about this type of routing - you can switch between P90s and Minis as often as you want for such a wide range of tones 😎
Thanks for watching!
Ahh so do p90 just drop straight in without any routing?
@@Paul-rt4ix yep. Perfect fit
Love the looks and features on the Wilshire but how in the world are they selling this for $900?? If your quality control issues are common, this should be a $400 guitar at best.
Yeah it shouldn’t be a nail-biter. I hope they’ve upped the quality control to the inspired by Gibson custom standard
Thanks for watching btw!
Great guitar to take lessons on!
Yeah as lightweight as it is it completely removes the awkward physical struggles you can sometimes have when learning
´Handcrafted in China’ says it all…very disappointed, especially as I was hoping it could replace my 64 original crestwood custom.
Looks like this new series is about the same quality as the 2020 crestwood and wilshire reissues. Which is sad because that series is about 50% cheaper!
Yeah, sadly. Different neck profile and Gibson pickups though!
It’s really unfortunate they have to be such a gamble because of the QC. When Epiphone’s are good they’re great! Maybe even untouchable
@@sunnyhaair yes I completely agree!
Nothing disappointing about Epiphone.. Epiphone are back to primium brand after a long layoff Epiphone was never meant to be a budget brand in the first place and they weren't until Norlin ruined them when they took over Epiphone and Gibson..JC Curliegh ends that in 2019 by restoring Epiphone back to where they should have always been.
Many don't realize the Epiphone Quindoe facility is completely American owned and operated Scott Lewis is the facility manager along with American and Asian luthiers who are there
45 day no questions asked return policy = We can do this forever, just keep sending me guitars, until one is correct.
Usually I won’t give a manufacturer a second chance on the same model 😅
Bought the same guitar, different color, about a month or so ago. Plays great, was set up perfectly, the frets needed nothing done to them, and pickups don’t sound to bad either. Here is a video of me playing it through my Headrush MX5 and two frfr headrush speakers. ruclips.net/video/QSoJH6uKV2k/видео.htmlsi=YujPDgrzUtg9EeNT
Ya need to yell next time because I could hardly hear ya. But good video
It's totally out of tune.
Yeah sadly keeping it in tune was impossible 😔 I mention that later in the video but I probably should’ve addressed it first.
Thanks for watching!
@@sunnyhaair Yeah, i noticed that after writing the comment. It's so sad that you get this problems with Epiphone guitars. They have the potential to be awesome, but so far every single one has let me down.
The guitar is fine.the player needs work.
Can’t argue with you there 😜
Thanks for watching!
Why be mean man? Just smile and make others smile too! =)
Hey meandawgbill chill. Thanx sunny for the good info, especially the qc concerns since I can flag them to the shop before I buy.
Your amp is where you get headroom. Not from the guitar
Epiphone reissued these after several emails, twenty years ago from me suggesting that they do so. The miserable so and so's didn't even say thank you. I suspect someone at Gibson took the credit for it. These are seriously overpriced.
You should tune it first
Later in the video I mention keeping it in tune was impossible and elaborate on why. I probably should’ve addressed it first.
Thanks for watching!