The Epiphone AJ500M is an appointment-loaded music making machine with an overall value to price ratio that will make your head spin.
Never before have we seen such exquisite detail and styling on an instrument at this price. Beautifully crafted solid mahogany body with solid sitka spruce top produces incredibly detailed and warm sounds that are absolutely phenomenal. The rosewood fingerboard atop the mahogany set neck adds a certain sparkle that is sure to leave your audience in awe. Plus, with a nut width of a mere 1.68 inches, it is comfortable enough to play for hours. The AJ500M is based on Gibson’s classic slope shoulder Jumbo design and can handle everything from power-rock rhythms to bluegrass leads.
Review by Ed Mitchell in Total Guitar (UK) March 2006!
About Epiphone Guitar
Since 1873, Epiphone instruments have been proudly played and endorsed by professional artists. And while every Epiphone is a compilation of over 125 years of experience working directly with musicians, only a few embody a single artists individual creativity and spirit. The Epiphone Signature Collection guitars are as legendary and as individual as the artists themselves.
Masterbilt Tradition
Epiphone began building production guitars in 1928. Over the next 2 decades the company blossomed into one of the most innovative and popular guitar brands the world had ever seen. As the Banjo boom declined and the age of the Guitar progressed, Epiphone dominated the market with its Masterbilt line of guitars. Today, Epiphone continues that tradition with the exceptional Masterbilt Acoustic Series. Combining beautiful solid tonewoods and superior craftsmanship with classic appointments such as the historic Epiphone script logo and mother of pearl
stickpin inlay, the Epiphone Masterbilt Acoustic Series provides guitarists of any level with an instrument they will be proud to play.
Epiphone Tradition
From a small workshop in Greece in 1873 to the impressive line of instruments we know today, Epiphone has endured the ups and downs, and the twists and turns of the last century and a third to remain one of the most sought after brands in the world. From the humble beginnings of Anastasios Stathopoulo, thru the masterful steerage of his son Epaminondas (Epi), and into its partnership with Gibson Guitars in the modern era, Epiphone has held fiercely to the qualities and vision set forth from the very first instrument built by the Stathopoulo family. Unwavering quality, superior craftsmanship, keen innovation, and an unflinching resolve to produce the best instruments and instrument value on the market will ensure Epiphone remains on top for the next century and beyond.
Epiphone's passion has always been about more than just making guitars. It has been about making music. It has been about understanding what is inside every musican that makes them want to, have to, express themselves. And understanding the myriad musical styles, where they are going and how they might develop. For over one hundred and twenty-five years they have continually looked for new and better ways to help players take their music farther.
Modern Masterbilts
Today’s Masterbilt Acoustic Series encompasses many of the most coveted aspects of fine guitar building for a remarkable price. Each Masterbilt guitar is constructed of the finest all solid tonewoods. The tops are braced using the 1930’s wide X bracing and extra deep scarfing to produce incredible resonance. The joints are hand fitted and glued using authentic hot hide glue, and the bridges and fingerboard are constructed of premium solid rosewood. The saddle is compensated bone, as is the nut. This premium construction is capped off with deluxe appointments including gold open backed tuners, a tapered headstock, mother-of-pearl inlays, and real abalone binding (on some models) to provide an instrument that is as impressive to look at as it is to play, feel, and hear.