New Epiphone Thunderbird video

[uwe]

They are Epis - no matter how good they are (and I don't doubt that), they are not in the market with a brand like Gibson. So I don't think you will be harming Gibson worker jobs in Nashville and what have you with buying these Epis. And a couple of Chinese workers will be happy to support their families.

Globalisation isn't always nice or fair, but it's a fact of life. Give me an example where cordoning off your markets has worked in the mid to long term. If so, Apartheid-South Africa, North Korea and Cuba should all have been stunningly successful economies - they weren't/aren't. The demise of the former Eastern Block economies is a case in point - shutting yourself off from the outside won't give you a strong and resilient economy.

Whether you're left or right (globalisation critics are everywhere), it's been proven that globalisation and free markets increase wealth in the long run. That wealth increase is, however, not always in the same place, industries go under in one place and provide new jobs in another. That has been happening ever since the world existed, if not the Southern States of the US would still rely on cotton exports. Would that be an attractive position to be in? How many people in this forum want to pick cotton for a living?

You just cannot preserve a certain status of an economy in amber. Deconstruction and reinvention go together (and capitalism - with all its faults - seems to be pretty good at that process). And what people tend to forget is that the prevention of the creation of new jobs outside of old, established economies in places like Europe, the US and Japan would relegate all these other countries to never catching up. That's an unhealthy proposition - inter alia for world peace. We have to work to bridge the gulf between the haves and the have-nots both nationally and internationally - it's the challenge of our lifetime.

[veebass]

I am looking forward to the Epi Vintage Pro- just hope it becomes a regular part of the Epiphone line and comes in some more colours over time. Yes, I know, I am very deep.
I view the economics behind it all as being like lots of other things these days. Try and find an Australian built TV, fridge, toaster or car for that matter. When Gibson built the 60s TBirds, all those things were built in Australia. All gone now.
Fact is, Gibson has not seen the need or opportunity to produce a Gibson branded, US built, roughly 60s spec TBird, seemingly like these Epis, in over five decades. So I haven't been able to buy one. I have never seen a 60s TBird for sale in Australia. I have seen only two 70s TBirds for sale here. Would I have paid a premium if Gibson had built them some time in the last fifty years? Yes, but they didn't.
What TBirds they have produced in the last twenty years or so have been overpriced, aesthetically relatively unpleasing (to me) and with pickups that I don't particularly care for. But I bought one anyway brand new at the going (high) rate and modded it.
What surprises me about the whole thing is that are branding them Epiphone.  I wonder if eventually Gibson bass production will be from China and they (and other current Epis) will wear a Gibson logo.

[4stringer77]

Fabulous response Uwe. There are some inconsistencies in your position. Cuba and North Korea are not democracies and apartheid era South Africa's economy performed well enough. Post apartheid South Africa is another matter and best left alone in this discussion. Free trade is fine in a truly free market but that is not what we have. In a fair environment based on the Austrian economic model I have faith that America and the west are more than capable of excelling. In fact, it's a cold reality that in free markets there will be winners and losers. It is not our responsibility to prop up the rest of the world if it can not produce wealth on it's own merits and it's hardly practical for the west to not live up to it's potential in the name of global equality. That kind of thinking will only lead to global stagnation and set a poor example for rewarding actual hard work. Hand outs like welfare only produce more poverty and no incentive to excel.

[RedVee]

I'm very keen to see the Vintage bird and the Embassy. I just hope that the prices down here are roughly in line with current Epiphone expectations.
Im wondering if the Embassy will become a de facto replacement for the Gibson EB???

I also am keen to see & hear reviews hopefully that compare the Vintage to the Classic. I expect that the Classic will be less expensive once replaced and especially if the Vintage pickups and sound is regarded as superior. The looks are already. Perhaps an old stock Classic then becomes an alternative to the Embassy on price.

I also hope that Cherry or other styles become available. I want to see the neck through with the different layers.

[rexdiablo]

Of the two, I'd rather have the Embassy. The lower price is a bonus.

I agree- I've always been a sucker for the body style, and haven't even held a bass with it. Now I'll be able to afford to own one!

Was Radio Birdman the band that had a Wilshire guitar on the cover of their first record? On that record (whoever it was) they played the theme from Hawaii 5-0 as a guitar solo, which I thought was awesome as a 12 year old guitar player. I would prefer the looks of a batwing headstock, though...

[RedVee]

I agree- I've always been a sucker for the body style, and haven't even held a bass with it. Now I'll be able to afford to own one!

Was Radio Birdman the band that had a Wilshire guitar on the cover of their first record? On that record (whoever it was) they played the theme from Hawaii 5-0 as a guitar solo, which I thought was awesome as a 12 year old guitar player. I would prefer the looks of a batwing headstock, though...

Aloha! Steve & Dano ?

[veebass]

I agree- I've always been a sucker for the body style, and haven't even held a bass with it. Now I'll be able to afford to own one!

Was Radio Birdman the band that had a Wilshire guitar on the cover of their first record? On that record (whoever it was) they played the theme from Hawaii 5-0 as a guitar solo, which I thought was awesome as a 12 year old guitar player. I would prefer the looks of a batwing headstock, though...

I thought it was a Crestwood Deluxe. Saw them many times- my favourite band growing up in Sydney.

Lack of the batwing is probably a deal breaker for me.

[OldManC]

I have to say, that bonerific upper bout looks a lot better in the video than it did in the photos we saw when these were announced. I may have to spring for an Embassy.

[rexdiablo]

Aloha! Steve & Dano ?

That's the one!

[rexdiablo]

I thought it was a Crestwood Deluxe. Saw them many times- my favourite band growing up in Sydney.

Lack of the batwing is probably a deal breaker for me.

Looks like you know it better than I! I need to dig out that record. It's probably been twenty years since I've heard it...

[Alanko]

Its a shame that they chose such a stark white for that T-bird. A warmer hue would have looked cooler, and matched the vintage hardware better in my view. Was Polaris White really that platinum white colour back in the '60s before yellowing over time?

[uwe]

I will forever look at that Epi Newport/Embassy shape as non-descript. It's one of the most anodyne guitar shapes imaginable. There, I said it. 

[gearHed289]

Its a shame that they chose such a stark white for that T-bird. A warmer hue would have looked cooler, and matched the vintage hardware better in my view. Was Polaris White really that platinum white colour back in the '60s before yellowing over time?

I'm the opposite. I love a WHITE white and can't stand that cream look. I made an exception for my Chris Squire bass. 

[Basvarken]

that bonerific upper bout

I think it looks weird.
Like they were in two minds about the radius of the edge

[uwe]

Warwick probably helped in the final stages of the design.