New Epiphones starting to appear? (Page 13 of 32)

I'd say if anybody was "at fault" it would be Epiphone themselves. I'm assuming that AMS put in a timely order for X number of guitars. If Epiphone chose to send their allocation to GC/MF then they are guilty of breaking a contract. It all goes back to GC being a part owner of Gibson (and thus MF being in the same corporation as GC, and Epiphone being a subsidiary of Gibson) it's all in the same family so to speak. The guitars were heavily promoted (full page ads in guitar magazines) and it seems like somebody in authority at Epiphone (or Gibson) saw what a hot seller they were and sent all the available guitars to GC & MF. This is not to say that AMS will not be getting any; they may just have been pushed to the back of the queue.

I have left my order in with AMS and I'm still hoping to get one. I kind of fell out of the loop during January and failed to realize what was going on. To hedge my bet I stopped in at my local GC on Friday to see if I could still put in an order with them. It seems that they are in a group of 12 stores in the region that has orders in for 15 guitars. They did take my name (along with a down payment) and said if one of the people who did put in an order with them reneges on their order or doesn't want the guitar then I just may get one.

Oh well, I'll have to console myself to the fact that I have to settle for my custom shop JBLP in the meanwhile    and make damned sure that I get my order in ahead of time for the Gibson USA version.

Just got an email from Zzounds.com that mine has been shipped.  Hopefully, they aren't just messing with me.  I ordered mine back in early Nov.  I'll keep my fingers crossed for everyone.

Gibson/Epiphone's, clearly.  Before I ordered from MF, I went to the Gibson/Epiphone authorized dealer in nearby Omaha to try to order one.  Did it the same day I saw it on Epiphone's website, actually.  Very cool guy at the store hadn't heard anything about the new model (a bad sign), but he called Gibson direct, in my presence.  They basically told him they were "sold out," and his store wouldn't be getting even one (this is a store that gets some NICE Gibsons and Epis, by the way).  Well, since the guitars weren't even shipping yet, "sold out" just meant that Gibson/Epiphone had already divvied up the 1,000, and Omaha wasn't a big enough market (or the store wasn't an "important" enough dealer) to get one.  Ridiculous.  I wanted to "buy local," from a store that has always treated me well, but had to order from MF instead (and MF, as they always do for me, came through splendidly).  I don't doubt they jerked AMS around as well.  FWIW, Sweetwater had this model on their website for a grand total of one day, then it disappeared down the memory hole, never to be spoken of again.  And for awhile, Same Day Music said they weren't going to get any, even though they now have the option to order (mid-March ship date) set up again on their website.  (I have a feeling that might be due to canceled orders from when they started listing it as available the first time.)

As I said before, with a Limited Edition product there is always going to be a certain amount of this sort of thing, but it seems in this case that Gibson/Epiphone was a bit more cavalier with vendors than usual...

I recieved an email from AMS this morning saying that mine has been shipped! Hallelujah! 

For those of you with orders in with AMS I'm sure this will be a relief to you as well.

Just got a 'no news yet' email from DV247

On the positive side, I love the fact that the JBLP was such a sensation. 1000 units is not chicken feed. Good one Joe!

Mine showed up today.  I wasn't expecting it since there was no UPS tracking number on my Zzounds order status page.  It would have still been on the porch if my dogs didn't bark when the UPS guy came.  I didn't hear him knock.  No major issues with the guitar...there are two tiny finish blemishes and one latch is broken on the case.  The neck is fine...nice and thick.  I have average female sized hands but long fingers so it's really comfortable for me.  It may be uncomfortable for some.  The intonation is off on a few of the strings.  Overall, I am pleased.

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In my experience, minor finishing imprefections on the Epi Gold Tops are pretty common.  Perhaps it's due to the minerals applied to make the unique gold appearance.  For the most part, I can accept them as being inherent to the manufacturing process and makes each one somewhat individual rather than being a considered a defect.  I've not observed enough of the Gibson Gold Tops to see if it is symptomatic of their models as well, but with nitro being a completely different process, maybe not.  I'm very satisfied with mine and know the quality is much higher than some other recent "artist model" guitars they've been producing over the last year or so.  Play on.

One more thing: The neck was not as thick as I had expected either.  Definitely 50's C-shape, but I used to have a Flying V like Joe's and that neck was definitely "baseball bat" size.  I'm glad this has the right shape but not so thick as to make it difficult to play.  Really nice.