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Old 12-19-2016, 03:14 PM
gmr gmr is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2016
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I have the new Epiphone Olympic. Not sure how they compare to the originals from the 30s and 40s. But a true comparison would be difficult considering the 80 years of playing and aging that the originals have endured. The new ones are solid topped with laminated back and sides. The arching in the top is not highly pronounced. They do sound arch-toppy but perhaps not in the purest sense. I am thinking they made some design choices to try to appeal to the broader spectrum of players. You can manage a reasonable tone that is reminiscent of the archtop stereotypes. I would compare it closely to the Godin acoustic fifth avenues I have played. The Godin seem more refined aesthetically. Plugged in, it can become a different beast with a big tone from a very small box. Less archtop, but it easily lends itself to a broad range of music that can be made to sound pretty good without having to have the intricate abilities of finesse that the old archtops seem to have required. For a close approximation of an old archtop tone I would lean toward the Loar models. For something fun and different with enough archtop vibe to satisfy an average joe, the Epiphones are quite good. I did not think I would care for the electronics but it sounds better than expected.
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