Epiphone Wilshire (1961)

Dan here, resident vintage Epiphone nerd of the highest order. I'm really excited to talk about this rare and special Kalamazoo-made Epiphone Wilshire we just took in!

Gibson's earliest Epiphone models are some of the coolest and most unique instruments that were coming out of Kalamazoo at the time. Still somewhat in its infancy since acquiring the brand in 1957, Gibson launched their Epiphone line in 1958, and by 1961 had built a hearty enough foundation to push their sister brand strongly into the 60s. This Wilshire is a great example of what you can sometimes find in the transitional era of all things Epiphone.

First launched in 1960, the Wilshire was the only other twin pickup solid body electric guitar model built by Gibson to feature the ABR-1 bridge and stopbar tailpiece beisdes the legendary Les Paul model. It was also their first slim-bodied electric, released late in '60 before the SG/Les Paul made its debut. This is a pretty historically significant guitar, folks! Thankfully, history and uniqueness isn't the only thing cool about this Epiphone. With its lightweight mahogany body, P90s, and wide nut, its playability and tone are off-the-charts good. Isn't it nice when a rare guitar is also just a great guitar?!

What makes this '61 a little extra special is its inclusion of the leftover NY-made Epiphone "bikini" headstock badge. As part of Gibson's asset acquisition, they used up these machined, enamel-painted brass headstock plates until their supply ran out. Who knows how many of these plates were inherited, but given the fact that most Epiphones from mid/late 1961 started to feature the new Epiphone script logo, it probably wasn't much!

It's also got the earliest control layout, shared with the Crestwood and (briefly) double-cut Les Paul Specials of 1959. The wider splay was short-lived, and gave way to the layout Gibson began using on the SG Standards and Specials later in the year.

Often subject to the same degrees of wear and tear as SGs, this Wilshire has survived in great overall health, with no headstock or heel breaks! At one time it appears that someone had outfitted one of the earlier Maestro horseshoe vibrolas on the top of the body (the very early variants sometimes had a blockier base), but it's unclear when it was added or subsequently removed. the caps on the reflector knobs are also missing, giving more of a bell knob look which is kind of cool! Otherwise, the electronics are 100% original and completely undisturbed (with black beauty caps!), and the rare Burst hardware remains. The truss rod cover is a repro of the arrow style that Gibson developed for the Epiphone line, though there's an additional mounting hole just underneath the top tip of the TRC that would indicate it was previously outfitted with the shorter arrow style often found on the solidbodies. There's a little bit of ancient adhesive left over from an old sticker that was applied on the lower bout, but it blends in quite well with the age/wear of the guitar.

It's paired up with a form-fitting MIJ hardshell, which is a common choice for these Epiphones since they seem to fit the body and depth/geometry best. Our repair shop has cleaned up the original frets and tweaked the setup to ensure great playability. They even shimmed up the bridge P90 to get optimal pickup balance and tone. It rings like a tuning fork, and is just as much fun to playing acoustically as it is plugged in.