Designed for the professional musician, the Elitist line from Epiphone (Gibson) combines over 125 years of instrument building experience and expertise with the finest materials. The results are instruments of impeccable quality and beauty.
At the heart of every great instrument is the wood itself. That’s why every piece of wood used in the Elitist Epiphone line is hand-selected. It is then slowly and painstakingly dried to perfection in custom kilns until it is at the ideal moisture content.
Book-matched Maple tops with real African Mahogany backs combine for the perfect tonal response.
All Elite instruments are equipped with custom-would pickups “Made in the USA” exclusively for Epiphone by Gibson Musical Instruments and are made with such uncompromising features as:
- High Quality Cover Materials – All pickup covers use quality German silver with vintage Nickel or real 24K Gold finish.
- Vintage Two-Conductor Wiring – Authentic two-conductor wiring with “braided” outer shielding for true vintage look and tone.
- Full Wax Potting – Every pickup is potted in a special wax bath to insure that microphonic feedback due to internal vibration is elimated. All covered models receive a second wax bath to further protect the pickup.
- Specially Made Magnets – All magnets are magnetized by Gibson to ensure the total reliability of each magnet’s performance. Critical magnetic flux is maintained for the perfect combination of output without sacrificing tonal characteristics.
Elite Hardware – One thing is a for certain. If you buy a less expensive guitar, you get less expensive hardware. The Elite Epiphones are equipped with the good stuff: precision Grover machine heads, nickel-plated bridges/tailpieces, first-quality potentiometers and “Gibson” toggle switches.
The one thing the Elites don’t have in common with their Gibson counterparts (aside from the name on the headstock) is a nitrocellulose finish. For the purists, this may be a drawback, but when you see how well the Elite’s polyurethane finishes are applied it becomes less of one. The finishes are applied in a thin, smooth, even coat, and then hand-rubbed to give them the glasslike smoothness that one expects in a fine-quality instrument.
All Elite instruments feature the finest hardware including precision Grover machine heads for precise tuning accuracy and stability.
Every Epiphone (Gibson) Elitist instrument receives a meticulous adjustment and set-up at the factory in Nashville, Tennessee assuring that your Elitist instrument is “second to none”. And to show that Gibson Epiphone stand behind every guitar, all Elitist instruments feature the Epiphone Limited Lifetime Warranty backed by over 100 years of uncompromising Customer Service from Epiphone and Gibson Musical Instruments.
Bone Nuts and Saddles offer the ultimate in tonal response and durability.
Elitist instruments feature real Abalone and Mother of Pearl inlays.
All Elite bodies are made from the finest tone woods “such as real African Mahogany” and individually selected for their weight and tonal qualities. They are then cut and book-matched to perfection.
All Elite necks are cut at a 14 degree grain orientation from one piece of wood for optimum strength, stability and tonal response. As with all great instruments, the necks are then carefully and individually fitted to the body using a hand-glued, dovetail neck joint.
Expert Set-Up
Once each guitar is completed, it goes through a meticulous adjustment and set-up process. As a result, each Elite guitar arrives in ideal playing condition, with the action and intonation set perfectly, free of hot spots or buzzing frets. These are guitars you will fall in love with from the first moment you start to play.
The Pro’s Choice
The Elite Epiphones are guitars crafted for the discriminating professional and any serious guitarist will appreciate the quality craftsmanship, hardware, and electronics that has gone into their creation. And while they aren’t inexpensive guitars, when compared to other premium instruments, their prices begin to look like serious bargains. Especially since the prices include a deluxe hardshell case. It finally comes down to what name you want to see on the headstock. With its Elite Series, Epiphone has just given its name a lot more stature.
