A cult-classic Epiphone design benefits from a made-in-USA relaunch
Epiphone has just announced the relaunch of the Coronet electric guitar as an addition to the USA Collection, the brand’s Nashville-built premium line.
The Coronet, which first appeared in 1958 as (one imagines) Epi’s answer to the Stratocaster, has gained something of a cult status in the intervening years. With its unique double-cut body style and single P-90 bridge pickup, it’s not hard to imagine why this “no-frills rock machine” has won its fair share of fans.
The USA Coronet comes in Ebony or Vintage Cherry, with a nitro finish that will age beautifully like a true vintage guitar, plus it features other such ’58-’59 era period-correct appointments as the “bikini” headstock badge, iconic pickguard design, carousel knobs, and vintage deluxe white-button tuners.
But vintage mojo aside, the USA Coronet boasts a number of premium upgrades with the aim of bringing its performance firmly into the modern era. Among these are a wider 1.695” nut width, SlimTaper™ neck profile, a slimmer, lighter body than the original, and a GraphTech nut.
A hand-wired circuit with Orange Drop capacitors supports the single P-90 in true Gibson fashion, and if the original Coronet’s list of supporters is any indication (Jimi Hendrix and Steve Marriott to name just a couple) this vintage-inspired axe specializes in raw rock tones best paired with a hot tube amp (a Gibson Dual Falcon, perhaps?).
Some might balk at the price tag that seems to belie Epiphone’s budget-brand status, but when you consider that the USA Coronet is hand-built in the same Nashville facility that produces top-of-the-line Gibsons, its value becomes more apparent.
As is often the case with cult classics, this guitar is not for everyone – but for Coronet fanatics who thought their dreams came true in 2020 with the release of the made-in-China version, this is sure to be an exciting announcement.
The Epiphone USA Coronet is available now at Sweetwater, Guitar Center, and wherever Epiphone products are sold. Or, head to Epiphone to learn more.
Images courtesy of Epiphone
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