Opinions - Epiphone Inspired by 1964 Texan

marit · #1 10-22-2017, 06:40 AM

Hi all,

On the hunt for an acoustic, spruce top/mahagony b/s guitar, preferably a bit like the Gibson J-45, I came across this Epiphone Texan guitar. Solid top and back, laminate sides. Does anyone here have experience with the guitar? The reviews are a bit of mixed bag.

The colour is a also a little confusing for the Vintage Cherry. On some pictures it looks more like cherry, other times more like tobacco. What's up with that?

Thanks!

Marit

Silurian · #2 10-22-2017, 07:34 AM

Can't comment on th Texan. But if you're looking for the J45 vibe on a budget have a look at the Sigma jm sg 45. Shortscale, sunburst.

marit · #3 10-22-2017, 08:02 AM

The Sigma looks a nice guitar but it's about 200 euros more expensive and only has a solid top. I've received and returned some Sigmas, they're a bit hit and miss unfortunately. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

cj59 · #4 10-22-2017, 09:06 AM

the Epiphone Masterbilt AJ45me is all solid woods and comes with nice pu, priced around 700 dollars

zombywoof · #5 10-22-2017, 09:12 AM

I do not own but have played a bunch of the Epi IB Texans. I think they are a really good sounding guitar and seemed to be very consistent. I found the build quality good with the only thing I did not care for being the thick (at least based on my frame of reference) poly finish. I can say that when a used one showed up at my favorite little Mom & Pop music store it would fly off the shelves while many other similarly priced guitars sat there.

TBman · #6 10-22-2017, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cj59

the Epiphone Masterbilt AJ45me is all solid woods and comes with nice pu, priced around 700 dollars

I played an AJ-45 and it sounded more like a Martin Whiskey Sunset than a J-45.

consentingblue · #7 10-22-2017, 09:15 AM

I owned two of them. The tobacco is more brown- the cherry more red. Two different versions.
It does sound good- I wanted more. Rather steeped in thick varnish to block some sound- now if that was removed it very well may have a very different sound.
They played easily, I think the neck is a touch longer. They are beautiful.
Just the sound- for me both times- was a bit constrained I thought. But heck for sometimes around 250 used they are certainly very fine overall.

Rmz76 · #8 10-22-2017, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marit

Hi all,

On the hunt for an acoustic, spruce top/mahagony b/s guitar, preferably a bit like the Gibson J-45, I came across this Epiphone Texan guitar. Solid top and back, laminate sides. Does anyone here have experience with the guitar? The reviews are a bit of mixed bag.

The colour is a also a little confusing for the Vintage Cherry. On some pictures it looks more like cherry, other times more like tobacco. What's up with that?

Thanks!

Marit

The "Inspired by Texan" is based on/inspired by Paul McCartney's vintage 1964 FT-79 Epiphone Texan. More info on his guitar and it's relevance to rock and roll history can be found here
http://uniqueguitar.blogspot.com/201...one-texan.html

Epiphone in the 1960s was a very different company than it is today. Their acoustic guitars were all solid wood and built in the USA. They had high quality components and light finishes. Today they are some of the most sought after vintage acoustic models.

The "Inspired By 1964 Texan" is designed to cosmetically match the vintage models at an affordable price. It's the only acoustic in Epiphone's lower end, non-Masterbuilt line to feature a solid back. However, it does cut corners when it comes to finish and materials. The tuners are cheap and the finish is think polyurethane. It features a pickup system designed by Shadow. Shadow produces pickups for budget guitars, they aren't as well regarded as higher end pickup makers like LR Baggs and Fishman.

How does it sound compared to the original? Here are a few videos

Vintage Texan

"Inspired by Texan"

If you're looking for a J-45 tone, the Inspired By Texan doesn't get anywhere near the mark. The J-45 has a wider body, lighter finish, different bracing pattern/voicing and is a short scale.... Very different. The only thing in common with the Texan is the slope shoulder design. If you want an Epiphone to get you close to the J-45 have a look at the Epiphone AJ45ME

baw3 · #9 10-22-2017, 10:11 AM

I have played the Texan and I have played and also bought a Yamaha ll6m.please go play one of these Yamahas and I think you will agree there is no comparison. It is only fifty bucks more than the Texan and it is a really well built guitar. It has a solid Engelmann spruce top with laminated mahogany back and sides and it even has a really natural sounding passive pick up. Go to Sweetwater and order it if you cant find one in your area. I'm sure you will not be disappointed.

Archsas · #10 10-22-2017, 12:19 PM

When the IB Texan was first released, I was looking for a new guitar and the Texan seemed almost perfect for what I wanted; when I finally found one in a story, demoed it, and fully expected to be taking that guitar home that day. I didn't. The build quality seemed pretty decent (although not necessarily better than a cheaper Epi I had at the time), but the sound wasn't really what I expected. It isn't much like a J-45, but instead brighter (possibly more like an Advanced Jumbo). I also really didn't care for the neck profile, which was very thin and flat. It turned out to not be what I wanted at all, and I was disappointed.

The model has a lot of fans, and I could see how someone could really like the Texan (the guitar I played wasn't a bad guitar, just not the J-45-ish instrument I was hoping for), but it's worth trying it out first. I'd agree with the above suggestion that a Yamaha LL6m is also worth checking out.

DukeX · #11 10-22-2017, 01:04 PM

Blueridge BG-40 ($500) or BG-140 ($800).

You should be able to get 15% - 20% off these retail prices. Lots of demos on Youtube.

SalFromChatham · #12 10-22-2017, 02:31 PM

There is no cheap guitar that gets near a J45. I have tried the IB64s, the AJ45MEs, Blueridge, and Eastman slopes. The E10ss gets closer than the E20ss, but they both have nice sounds regardless. I own an E10ss.

As an aside I think the E20ss sounds a lot more like a Martin D35... another thread...

The IB64 is poly finish. Long scale. No idea about the bracing. But it is heavy and sounds thin.

However, it’s been said a million times here and it’s still true. If you want a Gibson J45’s sound, nothing else will do. Not a Santa Cruz. Not a Bourgois (sp?). Certainly nothing in the “affordable” category. Is it worth saving $1500 for a used J45 or a$1000 for a used WM45? I think so.

Rmz76 · #13 10-22-2017, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themissal

There is no cheap guitar that gets near a J45. I have tried the IB64s, the AJ45MEs, Blueridge, and Eastman slopes. The E10ss gets closer than the E20ss, but they both have nice sounds regardless. I own an E10ss.

As an aside I think the E20ss sounds a lot more like a Martin D35... another thread...

The IB64 is poly finish. Long scale. No idea about the bracing. But it is heavy and sounds thin.

However, it’s been said a million times here and it’s still true. If you want a Gibson J45’s sound, nothing else will do. Not a Santa Cruz. Not a Bourgois (sp?). Certainly nothing in the “affordable” category. Is it worth saving $1500 for a used J45 or a$1000 for a used WM45? I think so.

I agree.

Currently I own a Gibson WM-45, J-45 Rosewood (soon to be sold), Blueridge BG140 and a few years ago I owned an Eastman E10SS for about a month. A common question on AGF is "how can I get the J-45 tone on a budget" and the short answer is that you can't. Just like you can't get a Martin D28 or D18 sound on a budget. You can pay more and buy a Santa Cruz VJ or Collings CJ and you'll get a guitar with a lot more attention to detail in the fit and finish, higher quality tuners, etc... You'll get a guitar that sounds in the tonal ballpark of J-45 or vintage J-35 in the case of the Collings but it will have it's own signature sound.

For more budget minded shoppers- When it comes to Asian built boutiques like Blueridge and Eastman it's the same story. You'll find a lot of praise for their all solid wood sub $1000 models and they get you in the ballpark of the guitars they are based on, but they have their own sound. I will say that both the Eastman E10SS and Blueridge BG140 sound amazing for their price. The BG40 (laminated back and sides version of the BG140) also sounds very good for its price.

With it's Adirondack Top, scalloped bracing and vintage tuners Eastman's E10SS is more a counterpart to the Gibson J-45 True Vintage model from a few years back and based on early 1940s design. From what I've read the lutheir who designed the Blueridge slope shoulder models is a guy named Greg Rich. He previously had worked in the Gibson Custom shop for many years and made a name for himself for his Banjo designs. Greg Rich designed BG series to be based on the early 1960s era J-45 design, which has non-scalloped bracing giving them a bit more punch in the mid-range. Regardless if it's Santa Cruz or Blueridge the one thing all these replica builders have in common is that they are all chasing the vintage Gibson look and sound. So none of them are really trying to build a clone of the modern Gibson J-45 Standard. They are leaving that to Gibson.

If you are drawn to the vintage inspired tone and feel these models deliver than buy them for what they are but if you are chasing the modern J-45 sound, then $1100-$1300 will get you a used WM-45, $1400-$1600 will get you used J-45. It sounds like a lot of money but for an all solid wood USA built acoustic it really isn't. That's going to give you modern J-45 bracing, Solid Sitka Spruce on Solid African Mahogany back and sides, it will have Gibson's unique 1.725" nut width and string spacing. It's a unique combination that I think all contributes to the tone. You can't get on the clones. If the modern J-45 sound is what you are chasing, it's just worth saving up a bit more.... Otherwise you'll find yourself in the guitar showroom time and time again playing that J-45 and thinking "what I have doesn't give me this feel and tone".

If you just want to get in the ballpark and don't really want to spend much I suggest going with the least expensive of the clones and buy the Blueridge BG40. You can pick these up used for $300-$350 and they sound great. As stated, not a modern J-45 sound but still a much better option than anything Epiphone has built in the past several decades at that price point.

https://reverb.com/item/6766170-blue...bg-40-sunburst

AndrewG · #14 10-22-2017, 04:15 PM

I have an IB hanging on a String Swing, unplayed and covered in dust. it is heavily finished and looks the part, but sounds muted and a bit uninspiring.

Br1ck · #15 10-22-2017, 08:16 PM

I've got a 1965 sunburst Texan and I can tell you there is a world of difference from the Chinese version, which is a perfectly good made to a price point guitar.

For a bit of history, when Gibson bought Epiphone in, I believe, 1958, they found a bunch of Epi necks. What they decided to do was put them on J 45 or J 50 bodies. When they ran out, the model was popular enough to continue making them. I guess there was a market for a long scale J 45.

The education I got from trying a bunch of 60s era J 45s was how inconsistent Gibson product was. Six were tried. Two were dogs, two were OK, one J 45 was
pretty good, but my Texan was much better. Never buy a 60s Gibson without playing it is my advise.