EPIPHONE SPIRIT (American Series)

  • Epiphone Spirit II (with bound figured maple top)
  • Epiphone Spirit I

Overview

Brand name: 

Product: 

  • electric guitars

Series name: 

Dates of manufacture: 

1982 to 1983

The Epiphone Spirit, made from 1982-1983, was one of the last guitars built by Gibson at their Kalamazoo Factory. The Epiphone Spirit is like a Gibson Les Paul Junior double cutaway with a few minor differences like modern pickups, and cutaways at the 20th fret rather than the 22nd. Various motives have been proposed for the introduction of the Epiphone Spirit - some say that it was an attempt to find work for the workers at the Kalamazoo plant, others that it was in response to cheaper Japanese Gibson copies.

The Epiphone Spirit came in 1 and 2 pickup versions called the Spirit I and II respectively and both had  Gibson "Tim Shaw" 1959 PAF reissue pickups. The Spirit II had an extra volume control and a three way selector switch on account of its additional pickup. The Spirit I has a black Les Paul Junior style pickguard - which is absent from the Spirit II.

The Spirits had double cutaway poplar bodies and 3 piece set maple necks. Some of the models have bound figure maple tops. The Epiphone USA logo is silk screened onto the headstock in gold. The truss rod cover is engraved "Spirit". From 1983 this model became the Gibson Spirit and subsequent models were produced as Gibsons in the Nashville plant.

Specifications (18)

Body

Body shape featuresdouble cutaway
Pickguard materialblack pickguard

Hardware

BridgeSchaller 455 bridge, stop-tail bridge
Hardware colorchrome hardware

Fretboard

Fingerboard materialrosewood fingerboard
Fingerboard position markersdot fingerboard position markers

General

Finish colorsblack finish, natural finish, red finish, white finish
Finish effectssunburst finish
Made inUSA
Number of strings6 strings
Scale length24.75 inches scale-length

Neck

Neck jointset neck
Neck width1.68 inches wide at nut
Number of frets22 fret
Tuner layoutthree-each-side

Electronics

Pickups configuration1 humbucker pickup, 2 humbucker pickups

Controls

Tone controls1 tone control
Volume controls1 volume control, 2 volume controls

Prices (5)

DatePriceConditionNameComments
1983$1000excellent
2015$500good
2015$500good
1983$300new
1982$250newTyler Nelson

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