Epiphone has announced the new Masterbilt Century Collection, the company’s first collection of archtop acoustic/electric guitars designed to be played and amplified as true acoustic instruments.
Epiphone originally produced Masterbilt archtops in the 1930s. Following the invention of the electric guitar pickup, most archtop acoustic guitars were transformed into ‘electric’ guitars. The new Masterbilt Century Collection endeavours to bring these worlds together with the eSonic™ HD preamp and Shadow NanoFlex™ HD Under-saddle pickup, allowing guitarists to plug in any Masterbilt Century archtop acoustic/electric into an amp or PA and hear the guitar’s acoustic tone on any size stage.
With a selection of different sizes and styles, the new Masterbilt Century Collection features all Solid Spruce tops with classic longitudinal bracing that will sound better with continued play. The Collection also features a recreation of the historic Epiphone headstock with mother of pearl banner inlay, dual action truss rod, bone nut, historic aged nickel Epiphone 18:1 tuners, Ebony or Rosewood fretboards, and the cutting edge eSonic™ HD (High Definition) preamp system and Shadow NanoFlex™ HD Under-saddle pickup for true acoustic tone when plugged in.