EPIPHONE EPIPHANY

During rock ’n’ roll’s fledgling years of the 1950s, Gibson was riding the wave of the electric guitar boom while Epiphone’s once-feted archtops became dead in the water. Whereas Gibson flourished in the post-war years following its acquisition by Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) in 1944 and the subsequent appointment of Ted McCarty as CEO in 1948, Epiphone embarked on a long, slow decline following the death of its visionary founder, Epi Stathopoulo, in 1943. Along with infighting, unionisation problems and a partial relocation to Philadelphia in 1953, the House of Stathopoulo (as it was previously known) stood divided. The once-proud brand, Epiphone Inc. of New York – Gibson’s fiercest competitor in the revolutionary pre-war archtop era – was now a spent force. Save for one thing: it still built some of the best upright basses in the industry.

Despite its troubles, Epiphone managed to sustain an enviable reputation as a quality builder of upright basses, or ‘bass viols’ as they were often called – an avenue Gibson wished to further explore in the 50s while competing against Fender’s game-changing Precision Bass. Ted McCarty was so impressed with the instruments that he suggested to Epiphone’s president, Orphie Stathopoulo, that if ever he decided to sell the