Back in the days where Gibson was still seeing Epiphone as a brand on its own "shortly" after the acquisition in 1957, Epiphone's were produced at the same plant as Gibson's in Kalamazoo and Epiphone had its own line of original models.
I have covered the Wilshire and other vintage Epiphone from the 60's like the Crestwood in previous posts because I like them, they are usually affordable vintage guitars and they are unique in their design.
This one is no exception and is a rarity. It is the first 12-string Epiphone from that era I have found on eBay. It is in great condition and looks beautiful with its 12-string headstock, its cherry finish, its white pickguard, its mini-humbuckers and the volume/tone knobs typical of the Wilshire.
It's a real steal too, even if $2,200 can mean a lot of money in this economy. But this guitar sounds like a very decent investment. To give you an idea, a regular 6-string 60's Wilshire could fetch more than $4,000 just a couple of months ago ($5k to $12k according to Gibson) and a brand new Wilshire re-issue (without the history and the patina of time) will cost you close to $2,900!
I would seriously think about acquiring it if I had the funds right now -but I'd have to sell my 56 Fender re-issue which is just the best Fender I have ever played (more on that very soon!) I am still more a player than a collector I guess!
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2 comments:
The Epiphone Wilshires are really nice guitars. The body shape is aethesitically pleasing, and these guitars are lightweight as well.
I am a bit confused about why Epiphone was making Olympics, Crestwoods, and Wilshires during the 1960's, because they had the same body style. The 60's Wilshires typically featured 2 mini-humbucker pickups, except during 1960-62. I recently researched the new Reissue model here.
lovely guitar..I love the Wilshires..never seen a 12 string though...I'm drooling here!
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