Epiphone Genesis

features bla bla bla
a switch let's you turn your humbuckers to single coil
it is a nice option.
gold hardware and toni iommi bridge sweet
sunburst finish
double cutaway body

i played and vintage gibson lp deluxe a couple of time (it wasn't mine I aint rolling wit dat kind of scrilla)and i like the genesis sound mo
I gave the genesis an eigth because the low e-string drowns
the the rest of the notes when it is struck
if not for that I would give an even higher rating
the sound is full and clear but can be a bit bassy
that can be a plus or minus depending on the sound your going for

i my got genesis used from a pawn shop in seattle,(why in the hell would someone have pawn this guitar? i don't know but seeing that i found it in a pawn shop in seattle they must have needed the snaps for smack) i don't know if the set up been fornicated with. i think the set-up is still factory or atleast satisfactory. did the guitar contain any flaws? yeah but their minor flaws. A single tone nob for adjust both humbuckers. and the input jack is on the surface of the guitar without kind of real scratch guard to keep the guitar from getting all nicked up
the action was a little higher than im used to playing. but i would
not adjust(one of millions of ex-romates in New York told me that you get more tone from higher action)and now that im studying piano my
finger are stronger and more flexiable so i imagine i could handle
this guitar mo better. I left the genesis in seattle when i went away
to school.

will this guitar withstand live playing
i haven't played it live but my guess is that
the the owner(s)before me played quit a bit
wish i hope to do so if i can stay put in a place longer than
a year
the hardware and the sunburst finish have already lasted 20 plus years
i wouldn't rely on strap button that isnt a strap lock
causue if you drop an epiphone or gibson on it headstock that's it
would use this to gig without a back? I would use more than one guitar
at a gig but this guitar can be trusted without a backup

NEVER TRIED TO FORNICATE WITH ,NORLIN,EPIPHONE,OR GIBSON

how long have i been playing? depend on who you ask, but i been kick it for a minute. is there something i wish i had asked before buying this guitar? yeah how do i quite the low E-string so i can hear the rest of the strings(however i did know about that low e before i bought the guitar).what do i love or hate about the genesis epiphone?
love and hate are emotion i reserved them beings. i love alot and try not to hate. but im only human of what flesh and blood are made(so body out there got that joke i just know it) but what like about this guitar are it uinque double cutaway body and most importantly the sound. what i dislike is the e low drown out the other string if i can figure out how to fix that without changing the wiring or the pickups i be satified. other guitar i own 56 0r 57 danelectro u-1(the real deal not a reissue) a ripper univox(that had its univox humbucker pickups replaced with emg lace pick before i got it) both guitar
i have to thank my guitar pimp for finding those guitars. ThankS Mr. Ron Garcia
I would not compare any of these guitar because they are all great instruments but for different reasons.
but earlier in the sound section i compared the genesis epiphone to a vintage deluxe lp i played and still stand by my orignal literary crappalizations. I chose to compare the genesis to the deluxe lp because they are mo alike in design than the other guitars i own.
When i first got this guitar and played i was intimidated by it felt
like it was too much guitar for me. if it were stole or lost would i buy it again. my fender telecaster was stolen and it was a great guitar but if it had been stolen i would have never bought the genesis
which i like better. so the same thing aplies for the genesis i would
look for something else like peavey t-60 or a... never mind cause it hard ennough to find what i be look for without tipping off mo potential buyers. oh yeah i do know who stole my guitar and i saw
him (crackhaed chris) in handing out flyer for a bar near washington
square in new york and unlike all the rest of you manly macho men
i didn't pound him into submission (i just charged it to the game)
after all a guitar no matter how well built is just an object. yeah an object you and I worked hard for put still just an object. not worth causing physical harm to someone else or jail time for me.
And that's keeping rizzo for shizzo my weepoles
Anything else i would like to add. Yeah i have jammed with people
where they had the crappier guitar and i played the high end guitar
and the sound better because they were the better player so my avice
to all muscian is don't get caught up in the i have to have the best
gear trap because it can and will get costly and you can use your money for something more important like a house payment, travel, or what ever else your into. learn your instrument don't get stuck on anyone style and the rest will take care of it self.

wah da ta my main damiens

I have a Genesis Custom from somewhere between 1979 and 1981. It was made in Taiwan. As the other reviewers have said, it is based on a Les Paul with double cut-aways. I have seen pictures of Pat Travers playing a Gibson that looked very similar to the Genesis. Anyway, It is all original as it came from the factory. It has two volume conrols, one tone control, a pickup selector switch, and a coil tap switch. I have never taken the pickups out to see their manufacturer, but I assume that they are Epiphone-made. The electronics are the standard passive style. The body appears to be mahogany with a maple top which has no figuration; just a nice plain grain. It is the brown sunburst that was a standard option on these guitars. It has a tune-o-matic bridge and stop-bar tailpiece. All of the hardware, including the polepieces, is gold, although on mine,it is beginning to fade. I bought mine with an OHSC that has nice yellow plush lining.

I own 20 guitars, 3 basses, and a mandolin, and this is my favorite instrument to play. I have Gibsons, Fenders, Hamers, Kays, Hohners, Hondos, Arias, other Epiphones, and various others, and this Genesis Custom is my favorite. I play a variety of styles, but mostly blues, jazz and rock, and this guitar is versatile enough for all of them. I own several amps,including a Marshall and a Fender, but my main amps are a Lab Series L5 and an old Rauland P.A. tube head that I converted for use with a guitar or bass. I honestly think that the Genesis Custom sounds great through all of my amps at any volume, although I prefer to use a loud-but-clean amp setting with the volume knobs on the guitar turned down to 5 or less. That gives me a really clean and natural sound, similar to that of a hollow body. The guitar can produce beautiful clean tones and raunchy rockin' tones as well. Although as I have said, I prefer the clean ones. It has a great old blues and jazz tone. I love it!

I bought this guitar from an antique / consignment shop in 1997 or so. The guitar was almost 20 years old at the time, but it had been kept in excellent condition. I do not believe that this instrumnet has ever been worked on or tampered with. Although I have "customized" almost all of my other guitars with different pickups, tuners and such, I have never felt the need to do anything to this guitar. I truly feel that it is a special guitar. I use .011 -.050 gauge strings and I have never had any set-up work done to it, although I usually do my own.

Although I have never taken it out of the house to play, it certainly seems strong enough to withstand any test. I usually prefer to take a less-loved, yet still somewhat versatile guitar like my 1986 Hamer GTLE out of the house to play because I would never want anything to happen to my beloved Genesis Custom. As far as I am concerned, in the five years that I have had this instrument, it has seldom given me any problems. Although sometimes the selector switch gets a short in it causing the rhythm pickup to go in and out. I need to fix that.

I have been playing for about 11 years, and as I have said, I own many guitars, but this is my favorite. I love the feel of the neck, although it could be a little slimmer. I love the sound of the pickups, although they are not as sweet as old Gibson PAFs. I guess the only real complaint is that it is HEAVY. It weighs a ton, but I am sure that enhances sustain, although I don't use a lot of sustain in my playing. I have been looking for another one of these ever since I got this one, but have only found two, and those were on ebay. If you ever see one, get it. You should not be disappointed.

Mostly to add to other reviews, I just bought one to reburbish, it is the non-custom with dots on the neck not blocks and chrome hardware, it is finished in purlply-red semi-see through.
The wood is not mahogany - the neck is certainly maple - there is a sizeable chunk missing behind the 3rd fret the body has some laquer damage back and front and it looks like ash based on the grain structure - I have an Ibanez artist 2617 also maple neck ash body and the two are quite similar in weight and sound.

It looks actually quite like a brian may guitar. its more bottom heavy than normal double cut aways like the Ibanez and I have a Yamaha SG - all 3 from the same year.

I find the head stock too long and thin and the strings on the top 2 rows(d and g)foul the middle row tuners - I added a trevor wilkinson string tree/ truss rod cover to cure this. I am tempted to shorten or moify the head stock.

The neck after some truss rod work is wonderful

The guitar is original with original pick-ups open coil humbuckers
they sound very good not very high output but even.

I have modifed the electronics to 4 way switch- neck - series -paralelle - bridge (more like a PRS) and repleced the coils split with a 3 way - outsdie coils - humbucker - inside coils.
This gives some nice sounds and is easy with ony 1 cavity.

The finish is typical japanese 70's thus lots of polyureathane -bomb proof but not best for the sound.

It has a thick body and a thick neck. it is heavy.

Overall good quality, tuners are unamed probably Gotoh but they work fine after 30 years.
Plating is not damaged the advantage to chrome over gold.
Knobs are nice but not ususal Les Paul layuot and took some getting used to thus I changed it.

Neck pickup is a bit bright - its closer to the bridge than normal thus not surprising. This is not a problem its sometime nice to have.
Its probably the only humbucker where I back the tone control off on the bridge.
Neck is fine and creamy.
By switching mods I have more sounds.
Pickup quality is good

best suited to some overdrive
very good sustain.

I bought it with some damage so I cannot comment - but it fixed up real easy.

It looks like it did this already and it still plays fine 30 years on built like a tank.
The dings are easy to repair due to good quality materials from the start.

No comments

I have far too many guitars.
This is a great every day one it looks different. based on the purchase price it is exceptional.
based on the design yo can modify it and still play.

It is better than any of the new Ephiphone les pauls I have seen or played.

If you can find one buy it

I only have to say one thing about that guitar
I owned one epiphone genesis custon (black) i was forced to sell it due severe financial problems a couple of years ago i'm 34 , my father gave it to me as a gift when i was 15 y/o a couple of months later i bought a GREAT Fender strat custom(USA) but let me tell you this ,i allways liked better the sweet sound of my first electric guitar and i feel profound regrets for had to sell it , it was a fine instrument and i miss it so much (more than a couple of girls i used to date) the mention of that guitar wakes up deep feelings and memories of the best time of my life. IF YOU HAVE ONE JUST KEEP IT
And i will pay a lot to have it back .if that were possible (sadly i don't think so)
Walter
eMail: emperorbsas@hotmail.com

I only have to say one thing about that guitar
I owned one epiphone genesis custon (black) i was forced to sell it due severe financial problems a couple of years ago i'm 34 , my father gave it to me as a gift when i was 15 y/o a couple of months later i bought a GREAT Fender strat custom(USA) but let me tell you this ,i allways liked better the sweet sound of my first electric guitar and i feel profound regrets for had to sell it , it was a fine instrument and i miss it so much (more than a couple of girls i used to date) the mention of that guitar wakes up deep feelings and memories of the best time of my life. IF YOU HAVE ONE JUST KEEP IT
And i will pay a lot to have it back .if that were possible (sadly i don't think so)
Walter
eMail: emperorbsas@hotmail.com

E. Genesis Custom, ser.# 0690047, purchased from "Crazy" Ron's Music, Toledo Ohio 1/14/80 for $463.50 new. Brown to red/brown to gold/yellow sunburst, gold hardware, block pearl inlays starting at the first fret [22 frets], black plastic covers & pick ups, white body & neck binding w/ 3 black stripes through the binding, wonderful enclosed tuners w/ the smoothest firmist action . The guitar stays in tune!!Very fine grain in the body wood & cant tell type. Rosewood fretboard. Solid & well built. Some binding flaws [wavering] on the neck.

Sounds better than my 89' Les Paul, with a much rounder tighter sound. The L Paul often sounds hollow in comparison. With coil tap & using both pick ups, I can get a nice Gretch semi-hollow N. Young sound on "Down by the River." Play through a Yamaha amp, w/ BOSS distortion, chorus, echo. Agree w/ others here, this guitar has a heavy bass side making it hard to hear the highr strings at times. I tend to want to want to turn up to get that upper end, but cant get it. The neck pick up is heaviest & is best played clean & quiet. With distortion, I get good sustain. I play "Classic Rock."

Solid with few adjustments made.Action is low & playable at upper frets. Weighs 10 pounds & is neck heavy which is it's biggest drawback.This can be compensated by using a course leather strap that will grab your shoulder. Play .9's now but use to play .10's. The fat frets allow for easy fretting of cords, but accuracy is thrown off for lead work when playing .9's because there is alot of neck to hold on to.[However, you get use to this and lead work works out fine. Les Paul neck is better for lead work.] Neck is thick depth wise but not wide. Rust & tarnish set in on the gold finish. Rust found deep in the bridge saddles, & on pick up pole pieces.Tuners are smooth & firm. String breaks take place at the bridge only.

Pots were replaced when they got dirty. The plug jack loose now & crackles sometimes & I need to replace it......then it will be ready/reliable for stage playing. Finish coating may be to thick, especially on the neck.Strap button were replaced w/ Shaller strap locks which gives you confidence, especially w/ this 10lb. guitar.Stays in tune & I would trust it as my primary guitar on stage.I have a hard pick attack.

Have not dealt w/ the Epiphone company, & know very little history on this guitar. I have learned all the history from this site. Thanks people!Have never seen a Genesis in a store since 1/80 when I bought mine at age 17.The nut was replaced 2 yrs. ago to eliminate string pinching & to lower the action. This replacement was done w/out my approval. Was not that upset cause the action was improved & tone remained good. Still have my "Limited Warranty " card from Norlin

In 1/80 I was 17 & knew little about guitars. All I wanted to do was to spend all my money before mom & dad changed their minds.So off to Toledo my friend John & I drove listening to his 8 track until we got w/in Toledo FM radio range! My Dad was cool enough to tell me to also buy an amp that had some volume to it!! so I bought a Peavy Pacer 112 [45 watt I believe] amp for $239.50. This guitar seemed to have the Hard Rock look & sound I was after then.I wanted a L. Paul or close looker. Since then I've gotten more & more clean w/ my sound. Overall solid smooth sound clean or dirty.The coil splitter is a nice feature, but doesnt sound like my 90' Strat Plus.Despite the thick neck, it plays nice. I wish it had 2 tone knobs.Wish it came w/ a hard shel case.The longer head will make it hard to find a hard case. I have to carry the cased guitar cradled like a baby cause I cant trust the chip board case that now has a broken latch. If it were lost or stolen & I HAD to replace it, I would go for a semi-solid Gretch. I already own a Strat, L. Paul, & Tele. This Epiphone can copy all 3 of these guitars. Thanks alot!!

read others

The sound is just great. I needed to redo the wirering ( the pot where scrachy and trey cut the sound sometime) but now every thing is ok and man this thing rocks. I play old stuff like AC/DC. Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath... the sound is realy full and you can tune it to what ever you like!!!

the finish is great ( there's a few nicks but thats my mistake)the white trim is now more of a creamish color and that just make the guitar look better. The only thing I'd do is slim the neck down.

This is like a tank. Its as tuff and as heavy as one. but you know what they say "the fat lady sings!!!" after having changed the pots on it. it could play live ( if i had a band that played live. hehe)

I got this guitar for the deal. And i wanted to get a second guitar to play a bit in the electronics. but it turned up , it sounds and plays better than my SG copy i have. so It now my main guitar!!! Plus on thing i like about this guitar, No one has one like this around or know that it is. SO it's not like a plain strat that every one has. and it looks cool too!!!

I bought this guitar secondhand in 1999 in England. The laqcuer (black) is almost perfect, except for some darkbrown spots coming through here and there. The binding has turned into some nice light yellow colour. Original humbuckers. It came in its original case. Everything smells so old!

Double cutaway, thick guitar. Regular chrome hardware, 22 frets, great and precise tuners etc. Two volume pots, one tone and a coil tap. Body and neck probably mahogany, there could be a top but you can't see it. Frets, for some reason were completely unworn! I believe the previous owner hardly played it. No rust though.

Made an educated guess that it was an early 80's guitar, similar to e.g. Ibanez Artist of that period. Only recently found out it was only made late 70's, early 80's.

It suits my style perfectly.. Ranging from Eric Clapton (bluesbrakers period) to Led Zep to Black Sabbath... It's a very versatile guitar, especially if you learn to use the volume and tone controls..

The coil tap does a good job of getting a (dark) strat sound.

Played it over a very clean amp first with its original pickups. This guitar has a lot of weight, incredibly deep bass tone. The pickups are not THAT good though, although they're ok for regular playing. Very clean, with a scooped mid sound. Neck pickup however is too boomy on low strings though. This all changed when I swapped the pickups to Gibsons.. An alnico in the neck and a Tony Iommi signature pickup in the bridge !!!

I own a Marshall JTM30. Paired with the guitar your sound can get very diverse. Clean sounds very good (Allman Brothers and Fleetwood Mac especially). The crunch sounds (for late 60's to 70's music) are very smooth, quite precise. The sustain of the guitar is really amazing but is probably not very different from Les Pauls.

Since the bridge is a Tony Iommi it's not surprising you can get a nice Sabbath sound, very controlled, very ballsy. Turn down the controls though, and you can play very clean.... before you scare your neighbours to shit again...

Pros:

- low bass tone (very tight)
- easy to adapt for different styles
- very full-sounding
- sustain

Cons:

- coil tap ok (not a strat though)

I had this checked by a luthier, who did a great job. Frets needed some work as it had hardly been played, neck adjusted, electrics redone. It could use some more neckwork to even things out.

The headstock is very long! Probably helps the sustain. However there is a problem with this in tuning sometimes (as I use quite heavy strings) on the E and A strings.

Quality of the lacker is fantastic (as new), although it can chip quite easily at the back where the plate is to the electrics.

The nut was replaced, since the old one was overcut in D. Now it's perfect. The binding is Ok, but it's cracked in the length somewhere down the neck... Adds to the charm though.

Overall: very sturdy.

I've played it live and it really cuts through. As I said, it's very sturdy, so I have no problems playing it (even though it's 20 years old).

Once sent Epiphone an email with some questions about the Genesis. They never replied. I don't think too many people know about this guitar...

Anyway it's secondhand...

Wouldn't want to lose it. It looks great, people are always curious...
Best guitar purchase ever!

In 2000, I purchased a Genesis Custom, sunburst finish. According to the Epiphone website, these guitars were in Taiwan from 1979 to 1981. It's based on the Gibson LP with a second cutaway, a pickup switch repositioned near the vol and tone cluster, and substituting a coil tap switch for the second tone control. The Standard Genesis features set-in neck, rosewood fingerboard with dot inlay (22 frets), chrome hardware. The Custom is the same, except features bound rosewood fingerboard with crown inlay. The Deluxe has gold hardware. Body is mahogany. Mine is the sunburst finish. I've seen black and red. Tune-O-Matic bridge has same familiar feel of almost any Gibson. Tuners are nice and smooth (appear to be Schaller) The two Gibson humbucking pickups have a volume pot for each (though the control for the bridge pickup is on the top on mine). There is only one tone control, but who plays with those knobs anyway?

I play Rock 'n Roll from the 60s & 70s and this guitar sounds great on about any song. I use a '75 Twin Reverb (silver face), a Ross (yes Ross) compressor, a DOD FX60 Chorus, and an Ibanez TS7 Tube Screamer. The humbucking pickups prevent any unwanted noise. The combination of pickups and dense wood (this is a heavy guitar) provides some of the smoothest sounds I've heard. And it's all across the spectrum. If you want bite, just switch pickups. More bite? Hit the coil tap. Epiphone's traditionally longer head (about 2" more than most guitars) makes it harder to find a case. I've played a couple of other Genesis' and have noticed a "ping" when tuning the second and third strings. Could be the nut.

Don't know what the factory settings were. I just bought mine a year ago. It was set up with .08 slinky's and a very low action. I took it to a luthier who did a great setup for only $18. Man, it's worth it. I use .10s and sometimes .11s. Can't see any flaws in original workmanship. There are some boo-boos from the previous owner, but that's to be expected. The finish has a tendency to crack around the controls, so be careful if you have to replace anything. I've heard that quality was superb at first, then dropped off. Mine is one of the good ones.

Mount a bridge and tuner to an anvil. Think it would stay in tune? It's not just the dense wood of the body that makes this a heavy guitar. The neck is thick, yet has a luscious feel. This guitar is all Gibson and meant to last a lifetime. I've taken it to gigs and never worried about using something else.

Because I bought it used, warranty doesn't apply in my case. And because it is so much like a LP, I'm confident that any reputable lutiher can maintain it.

I've been playing since 1966 with a leave of absence through the disco years. I own a '65 Gibson SG Special, an Epiphone Dot, a blonde, 2000 American Strat with a maple neck, a Grammer flat top, a Peavy T-60 from the late 70s. I don't want to lose this guitar. I'm playing it more than any of the others. I have another Genesis on the way and will buy more when I can find them. No wait!!! These guitars stink. Forget everything I've said. Don't keep them. Get rid of them. Sell them. (To me)

I got this guitar in seventh grade...so it's probably a 1979 or 1980 model??? I recall hearing it was made in japan.

This is a double cutaway. Imagine a Les Paul with two identically sized cutaways (above and below the neck) and you've got the idea.

Very heavy guitar. Bound neck, not bolt-on. Full gold hardware is starting to fade. I think it is mahagony (?) with a rosewood fretboard.

Thick black finish with white striped edges (mellowing nicely :-) and parallelogram fret board inlays.

Dimarzio super pickups, three way pickup selector, two volume, one tone, and a coil tap switch. The coil tap switch kills any hum problems, "thickens" up the sound, and seems to increase the gain somewhat. I have no idea how or why.

This guitar has the original Dimarzio super humbucking pickups which are VERY bright - bright - bright! I play through a Fender Super Reverb and with the bright switch on, this guitar is unbearably crisp. I have to muddy it up quite a bit to get the sound I like. Having said that - again I've played it for over twenty years - and I think I've grown to love and play music more to this guitar. So I think it sounds awesome.

When I got the guitar, I didn't know what "setup" meant. (Still not entirely sure.)Anyway I've never had it setup and it plays great for me. But after what happened in 1985 (see next section) there is an occasional rattle or buzz.

Durability? Let me tell you about durability...

In 1985 this guitar was dropped ON IT'S HEAD by my college roomate. The drop cracked the headstock down into the neck. I never had it fixed and the guitar stays in tune as well as any other guitar I have. That same year (in the same dorm) I stood up with the guitar cord under my foot and ripped the output jack completely out of the front face of the guitar! (Terrible design flaw.) Since then I have moved the output jack to the lower edge (where it should have been) and covered the busted woodwork with a hand shaped piece of engraving laminate (black surface, white core, like used on trophies or wall plaques.)

As for hardware - the tuners are still tight and silky smooth. I have YET to find a guitar with better tuners.

Everything on this guitar is rock solid - except the stupid idea of putting the output jack right on the face of the guitar!

NA

I've been playing for nearly 25 years - should play better and know more than I do but that's life. If this guitar were lost or stolen I would cry. It was my first "new" guitar, my first solid-body electric, and my biggest vote of confidence from my parents. This guitar could never be replaced. But I would immediately find another one anyhow.