EPIPHONE EA SERIES

The EA series were ES-335 style thinline semi-hollow bodied electric guitars and bass made by Matsumoku in Japan in the early to mid 1970s.

Epiphone 5102T

The Epiphone 5102T / 5102TE was introduced in 1970 at a turning point in Epiphone history when the company stopped manufacturing in the USA and began importing guitars from overseas. The Epiphone 5102T was made in Japan by Matsumoku and was a thinline ES-335 style hollow bodied electric. Available cherry red finish, it had a bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, tune-o-matic style rocker bridge (with Teflon covered rollers). vibrato tail-piece (with wood-insert).

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Epiphone 5120

The Epiphone 5120 bass was made from 1970-1971, in by the Japanese Matsumoku company. The Epiphone 5120 had an ES-335 style hollow body, twin pickups with dual controls, deluxe heavily chrome-plated machine heads. Sunburst finish on the front and back with an adjustable maple neck. Rosewood fingerboard with offset pearloid dot position markers. Chrome plated adjustable bridge wtih a custom desgined spring type mute. Trapeze trail-piece with wooden insert.

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EPIPHONE EA-250

The Japanese made Epiphone EA-250 was introduced around 1971 - replacing the 5102T model. The EA-250 had a double cutaway, select hardwood top, rims and back, three piece adjustable neck, cherry red finish, rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, multiple body bindings, adjustable precision bridge, two pickups, two each volume and tone controls, toggle switch, deluxe machine heads and chrome plated hardware.

The Epiphone EA-250 did not have the rosewood bridge base of the 5102T model, it also had different pickups with chrome pickup covers and an optional trapeze tailpiece

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EPIPHONE EA-255

The Japanese made Epiphone EA-255 was introduced in 1976 - replacing the EA-250 model. The EA-255 was an ES-335 style thinline hollow body with a double cutaway, laminated walnut top. It had a bolt-on mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, multiple body bindings, adjustable precision bridge, two humbucking pickups, two each volume and tone controls, toggle switch, deluxe machine heads and gold colored hardware.

Source  unofficial epiphone wiki

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Specifications:

ModelImageDimensionsFinish colorsMade inBindingNumber of stringsScale length
Epiphone 5102T
1970 to 1971
41.5 × 15.75 × 2 in
red finishJapanbody binding, neck binding6 strings25.5 inches scale-length
Epiphone 5120
1970 to 1971
45.125 × 15.75 × 2 in
red finishJapan-4 strings30.5 inches scale-length
EPIPHONE EA-250
1971 to 1975
41.5 × 15.75 × 2 in
red finishJapanbody binding, neck binding6 strings25.5 inches scale-length
EPIPHONE EA-255
1976 to 1979
41.5 × 15.75 × 2 in
natural finishJapanbody binding, neck binding6 strings25.5 inches scale-length
ModelControls materialControls shapeNumber of control knobsPickup selector controlsTone controlsVolume controls
Epiphone 5102T
1970 to 1971
black controlstop hat controls4 control knobs3-way selector switch2 tone controls2 volume controls
Epiphone 5120
1970 to 1971
black controls-4 control knobs3-way selector switch2 tone controls2 volume controls
EPIPHONE EA-250
1971 to 1975
black controlstop hat controls4 control knobs3 selector switches2 tone controls2 volume controls
EPIPHONE EA-255
1976 to 1979
gold controls-4 control knobs3 selector switches2 tone controls2 volume controls
ModelPickups configuration
Epiphone 5102T
1970 to 1971
2 humbucker pickups
Epiphone 5120
1970 to 1971
2 double coil pickups
EPIPHONE EA-250
1971 to 1975
2 humbucker pickups
EPIPHONE EA-255
1976 to 1979
2 humbucker pickups
ModelBody styleHollow bodyPickguard materialSoundholeBody top material
Epiphone 5102T
1970 to 1971
ES-335 stylehollow bodyblack pickguard2 f-holes-
Epiphone 5120
1970 to 1971
ES-335 stylehollow bodyblack pickguard2 f-holes-
EPIPHONE EA-250
1971 to 1975
ES-335 stylehollow bodyblack pickguard2 f-holes-
EPIPHONE EA-255
1976 to 1979
ES-335 stylehollow bodyblack pickguard2 f-holeslaminate top, walnut body top
ModelBridgeHardware colorTailpiece
Epiphone 5102T
1970 to 1971
tune-o-matic bridgechrome hardwareVibrato tailpiece
Epiphone 5120
1970 to 1971
-chrome hardwaretrapeze tailpiece
EPIPHONE EA-250
1971 to 1975
tune-o-matic bridgechrome hardwareVibrato tailpiece, trapeze tailpiece
EPIPHONE EA-255
1976 to 1979
tune-o-matic bridgegold hardwareFrequensator tailpiece
ModelFingerboard inlay materialFingerboard materialFingerboard position markers
Epiphone 5102T
1970 to 1971
pearloid fingerboard inlaysrosewood fingerboardblock fingerboard position markers
Epiphone 5120
1970 to 1971
-rosewood fingerboardoffset dot fingerboard position markers
EPIPHONE EA-250
1971 to 1975
pearloid fingerboard inlaysrosewood fingerboardblock fingerboard position markers
EPIPHONE EA-255
1976 to 1979
pearloid fingerboard inlaysrosewood fingerboardblock fingerboard position markers
ModelNeck jointNeck materialNumber of fretsTuner layoutNeck width
Epiphone 5102T
1970 to 1971
bolt on neckmaple neck21 fretthree-each-side-
Epiphone 5120
1970 to 1971
--20 frettwo-each-side-
EPIPHONE EA-250
1971 to 1975
bolt on neckmaple neck21 fretthree-each-side1.68 inches wide at nut
EPIPHONE EA-255
1976 to 1979
bolt on neckmahogany neck21 fretthree-each-side1.68 inches wide at nut