Epiphone Broadway

This is a followup to my original review. I had the modifications done ( Gibson gold tune-o-matic bridge, Gibson gold tone and volume knobs, D Addario EGC25 high finish ribbon wound light gauge strings, neck truss rod adjusted, intonation adjusted. This guitar is pisser!!

Really nice fat jazz and decent twang depending on what pickups are selected. Plays real smooth and easy, flatwounds make sound and playability super. Great blues sound!

Action is perfect . The flatwound strings are like silk and play really nice.

This is a archtop hollowbody. Don't drop it. It looks like no other guitar i've ever seen... a real beauty. All gold and natural finish (my dog put paw marks on it one day but they polished out with simi-chrome mold polish, still looks perfect!) I will use this guitar for most all of my playing now. It looks,plays and sounds awesome!

Lifetime warranty, register online.

If you ever go to Cape Cod check out The Guitar Shelter in Buzzards Bay. They setup this guitar perfectly and for a decent price (guitar cost $750, setup with new bridge, flatwounds, knobs and neck and fretwork was $75) Only complaint was that factory setup, well good, still needed a little customizing to make perfect (dont all guitars need a little personsonalization though?) Go to the Epiphone web site and check out their instruments. "Goldie" is perfect now!!

I got an Epiphone Broadway electric guitar for myself for Christmas 2000.This is an electric archtop. This guitar has a natural finish, 2 pickups, 4 control knobs, Epiphones "frequensator" tailpiece. The guitar plays pretty nice. Has a "medium" thick neck (not as wide as a jazz neck, not as thin as a Strat)
The A string buzzes a bit and I'm thinking of changing the strings from medium gauge "round wound"(the ones the guitar came with) to light/medium light flat or "half flat" wound strings (if I can find strings long enough to fit the freqensator tail piece). I also am thinking about changing the bridge from the wooden bridge (can't adjust intonation) to a Gibson replacement "Nashville" type bridge , I'm going to have to check out which would be the best bridge to change as I hope I can just put the "adjustable" part of the bridge (the piece thats used to adjust intonation that the strings lay across) on top of the height adjustment knobs of the "bottom" part of the wooden bridge. I know Gibson makes 2 types of adjustable replacement bridges so this is something I'll have to look into. I think not having a bridge that you can adjust the intonation on is
possibly the worst thing with this giutar, but it does give it a nice mellow jazz tone using the top pickup. It doesn"t "scream" like a Les Paul but I don't think its actually designed to play "metal/hard" rock (Get an Ibenez solid body and play like Joe Satriani). I'll find out if and when I change the bridge (I think I can get the kind of bridge I want for another $50 and flat/half flat strings will be another $10. I'll see if it screams then).

I play all kinds of music but this thing seems to be suited to blues, jazz and less than "heavy metal" rock. I've played about 30 years (off and on). I'm no way a professional musician but have a pretty good "laymans" idea of guitars. For the price ($750) this is a good deal. The thing has nice tone, good sustain and harmonics (I need to see what different string sound like for harmonics, bending , hammering as the strings it came with are a little stiff for my playing)

This is a nice guitar actually beautiful. I didn't see any flaws,shines up nice with guitar cleaner and a little lemon oil.The adjustment knobs work good throughout the full range (no dead spots or tone/volume "jump" at small adjustments). Gold plated hardware looks a little thin. This is a Korean built guitar but it is "set up" in the USA. The nuts and frets are smooth, the pickup selector works the way it should. I play through an Epiphone EP-SC210 amp (has reverb,chorus) and it sounds VERY NICE. The freqensator tailpiece gives the tone a "bright" tone

After playing this guitar for about a month I have to say I like it better every day (I play when I get home from work for about 1/2-1 hour just about every day and jam with some other "friends" for a couple hours 2 or 3 times a month. I haven't broken any strings (yet) but don't really know if changing the bridge and strings will effect this. I think this would be a good guitar for someone like myself (a non-professional or semi professional). Its not a Gibson,Gretch or Heritage but for the price (half the price of a Heritage, 1/3 the price of a Gibson) It will do just fine and I will use it as my main guitar (I have several other "mid range" guitars, strat, Ibenez, older Aria and have played Gibson ES335,Les Paul, SG, Tele, Strat ..many others and I would buy this guitar again without hesitation). This is not a "high end" guitar. I would like to have tried playing an Ibenez archtop to compare it to but I think a "high end" Ibenez hollow body arch top is in the $2000-3000 range

You can register the Warranty on line at the Epiphone/Gibson web site. Has a lifetime (one owner) warranty.

If you are looking for a decent, reasonably priced "all around" guitar with good playability, nice tone, and great looks you might want to look at this one. Its not a solid body and the body is kind of thick (its not a "thinline" hollow body). Has good sound projection unamplified also. Doesn't have a vibrato "wammy" bar and is a little "buzzy" but for the price I give it a 10+

This is a 1966 model as the serial no. and blue label designate. The finish is an Amber to iced tea burst or honey mustard burst in different lighting conditions.The Neck,rims and back are a walnut colour. Top is Laminated Maple with maple back complimented by mahogany neck and sides. Rosewood fretboard complements the Mop Inlay on the board and headstock. This is a Gibson made guitar but as many Epis of that time, it has a thin neck in contrast to the Jumbo neck Gibson was placing on the larger Jazz instruments .
The guitar has 2 chrome finished(not Nickle) Mini-humbuckers with 2 volume and tone controls. The 17 inch body projects a more full sound yet mellow with the rosewood bridge. There is a cutaway of course and this instrument is a full depth guitar unlike the Sorrento model which is a similar shape but on a thinline scale. Tuners look like Klusons with mother of toilet seat covering.

This guitar of course has a very Jazzy sound but can hit some real nice highs with the mini hummers. The pickups are out of phase at lower and highest volume so I can really mimic the intro to "Jive Talkin". I use 2 mid 60`s Ampegs with this guitar and can really get the Grant Green lead sound If I want. This guitar can get very loud without feedback even though it has no centre block. Traditional Jazz tone is no problem but a Beatles, country or even funk possibility exists with this instrument. Stevie Wonder had a guitar player who sported a Cherry Coloured Broadway during his early to mid 70`s funk period and Duke Robillard recently sold a 1958 model which looked strikingly similar but it had 70`s Gibson mini humbuckers. Sometimes it sounds a little too thin with low projection and roundness if strings are not completely new. A tuneamatic bridge would probably do the trick of solving that little quirk.

Pickups are slightly out of Phase and I probably will not change that for a while. The top and the back are reasonably detailed and the back is flamed maple stained by a dark walnut finish. Thank God it is not the ugly walnut colour seen on 335s but brown with a rich chocolate hue. The Nickel Plating is not worn on the tuners but most hardware including the frquensator is chrome and is in almost mint condition. No blemishes except one wear spot around the lower neck where the strap was wrapped around. You think Gibson or the first owner would have done this but in 1996 after 33 years of existence I had the first strap button installed on the neck. The rim already had one. guitar was sent to me already set up for 11`s

I have played this guitar through crappy pa systems and solid state amps and it always sounds good. The finish is in immaculate condition and this guitar will be with me for many years to come. I could use this amp without a backup due to its tonal versatility and would not be afraid to gig with it for long periods.

I ordered an American made Epi Sheraton from a store in Memphis back in the fall of 1993. The guitar never arrived and my sales rep called several times to find what was taking so long but they never responded with a truthful answer. I eventually got my deposit back but I was saddened by this episode because I really wanted the instrument. I later found out that only the stores authorized for custom shop or historic series sales could order the instruments so I talked to the historic series authorized sales rep in Memphis and he said they were not fulfilling his orders either. I have heard horror stories from Gibson authorized repair people on how difficult it can be to get assistance in customer service and ordering parts.

I love this guitar for many reasons and i traded 3 crappy korean Epiphones and 1 Japanese made Casino to afford this one. Did i get screwed on the trade? Yes most definitely except I have a guitar which blows all of the others away (except for the Japanese Casino)and my guitar will appreciate in value. The finish and vibe are timeless and the tone has been mistaken for a 335 because of the lack of feedback it is that good! It is also my opinion that Gibson has basterdized the Epiphone name by allowing another company to create the crap that is out there on the market and then put the Epiphone label on it. ! Pete Townshend even wrote a song concerning this matter. The finish on the new guitars is nothing like what is seen on my Broadway. The Emperor Zephyr Regent I owned had tremendous amounts of Polyurethane which dampened the tone. The Joe Pass model I have had to have all of the pickups and pots replaced and the neck inlay looked like scotch tape. The Cherry 335 I owned could sound good at times and flat at others. The Casino was a superb instrument and made at the same factory which made the Ibanez guitars according to what I have read. Maybe the newer Broadways are different from other Korean made Epis but I dont see how they could be since Samick is the manufacturer and selling the same instruments for $100 with different labels.It is a shame that to get a decent Epiphone today someone will have to pay hundreds of dollars to electronically upgrade an otherwise worthless instrument or pay $2,500 for a John Lennon model(which looks totally killer by the way). Epiphone/Gibson needs to do like Fender has done with Guild and keep the craftsmanship here in the U.S. while building on its past reputation and focusing on quality or otherwise it will fall back into the financial condition it was in in the 1970`s and early 1980`s. There is obviously a demand for the Epiphone reissue models as sales have continually grown over the past 10 years but eventually a competitor will come along and build a completely well rounded instrument and capture the market from the Epi division unless quality improves. Maybe Gibson will stop focusing on marketing and hype and take back responsibilty of th Epi name by taking Samick or whomever out of the manufacturing process and establishing the complete assembly points in Nashville, Memphis or even Montana. People will pay the difference in price because the final product will be that much better.

Standard archtop meets les paul set up. Two humbuckers and a hollow body. Beautiful gold hardware. Two volume, two tone and a three way toggle.

I play jazz and bebop blues. For that it's not too bad. It squeels when my amp is too loud, but just about any hollowbody does. I'm using a marshall 100 watt duel reverb combo into a 4X12 cab and it sounds fairly good. It doesn't deal well with loads of gain which is fine by me.

It's an Epiphone. It's not too bad, but not much to write home about either. For the price it's exactly what I expected.

I would never trust one hollowbody at a gig. But I don't know many that would.

Never had to deal with them.

I don't think I would buy this exact guitar again if I had the chance, but at the time it was what I wanted at a good price. I'd rather have one of the new Gibson 135's with the humbuckers in it. I hope they keep that option open. I'm not a p-90 fan.

1998 Model, I believe. Solid spruce top, laminated maple back & sides. 2 Epiphone humbuckers. Sunburst finish. 2 tones, 2 volumes. An absolutely BEAUTIFUL guitar, right out of the case. Finish is beautiful. As good as many Gibson archtops I had looked at.

I play a swing/rock-type thing with this guitar (think Brian Setzer), but also love blues rock (Black Crowes), and this guitar shines in both areas. I am going to replace the pickups with Gibson Classic '57s, but the Epi humbuckers really aren't too bad at all. (Probably not clean enough for straight jazz, though.) Acoustically, a very good sounding archtop, especially in this price range. It's the large body and spruce top. It sounds better than alot of (all-maple) Gibsons, in my opinion. It has a much more rich, open sound. Not tight. Electrically, it sounds like an old, beat-up rock and roller. (This probably due to less-than-standard pickups; but I like this sound- it's great for the music I'm playing!) A loose sound, electrically.
This guitar really "breathes" nicely, acoustically and electrically.

I bought this guitar from Eldery Instruments, which I have never had complaints with. This guitar must have been up on the wall for awhile, because the strings were in hideous shape, and the thing needed a slight bridge adjustment, truss rod adjustment, and a good cleaning. After that, it looked & played like it had just rolled off the factory line! The bridge pickup should be a little closer to the strings, maybe this is a problem with alot of archtops(?) I plan to address this problem, but haven't yet. Good action, a little buzzy on the E & A strings, but I haven't "dialed-in" the action perfectly yet. Nothing to worry about.
No finish flaws. Yeah, the inside of the f-holes might be a little "messy", as if they rushed through the job, but for $2000 less than a Gibson, that's alright with me!!

Everything seems very durable. I am using it live, with no problems so far. The finish is not thin...it's thick. Everything seems solid, no rattles or anything, and every day I own it, I like it a little more!

I'll be honest with you, Epiphone has given me absolutely rotten customers support over the last year. I'll never bother asking them for anything again, unless it's to honor my Epi Warranty. Elderly, on the other hand, are wonderful people. Never had any kind of problem with them, EVER.

I've benn playing for 14 years, this is my first archtop, I played ALOT of Gibsons ($1500-$4000 price range), and liked this Epi better than all of them. I would definitely buy this guitar again. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a good ELECTRIC archtop. If you were going to be playing more jazz/acoustic music, I'd recommend the Epi Regent- it's got a better acoustic sound, and a floatinf humbucker for a more natural electric sound.