Epiphone Masterbilt: Share the Love
 

I own four -- three AJ-500Ms and one EF-500rcce. Incredible bang for the buck if you can find a clean used one out there.

What's been your experience?

scott memmer

I have an AJ500R. Has a decent oomph to it.

The spruce is very bland visually. I wish the fingerboard was ebony or at least as dark as the bridge. I'm probably going to replace the pickguard at some point.

Minor quibbling points about an otherwise fine playing and sounding guitar.

I have an AJ500-RC, the 12 fret dreadnought. Cedar top and rosewood b&s.

Sounds like a piano with the sustain pedal.

It's just a unique guitar, wonderfully built with the fat v neck that I love, definitely a lifetime keeper.

I'm also waiting on the delivery of a EF-500M, their OM style with mahogany back and sides. I've been wanting a 000 / OM for some time now and when I realized there was a masterbilt version I wasted no time. I like how they're simple, old school, well built and all solid, you can't go wrong.

Van, where did you track down the EF-500m. Same guitar I'm looking for. Very hard to find out there.

sm

I own an AJ-500M, it a great sounding and playing guitar. I've had several people who for one reason or another have had a chance to play it, and almost to a person, they have commented on what a nice guitar it is. If you find a good one, I think it is an outstanding value.

Someday, I hope to own a DR-500. Always wanted one.

Seeing them at Guitar Center, and reading about them here on AGF, I tried thrice to get one. AJ500m twice and AJ500r once. Each time I paid about $350-400. One of them sounded great... woody, dry... great for a singer. They all had serious issues... necks twisting into the body... etc.

For the money I spent flipping those few, I wish I bought a Martin 15 series.

So... nice guitars if you find the right one. Try before you play. Quality is not consistent, but if it’s there, it’s a good guitar for the money especially.

Sorry Scott....

Shoot I got mine from reverb just a couple of days ago, must have just missed it.

I think quality can be an issue with any over-seas guitar, I mainly like the uniqueness of the 12 fret dread, you can't find a quality 12 fret dread for probably under $2k, let alone how much I paid. And I believe they only made them for about a year from 2004-2005. I like the idea of these hard to find guitars that don't completely break the bank (or come even close).

The same doesn't necessarily go for the other models but I liked that one so much that when I saw the OM with a similar neck I figured I can't go wrong, again for how much I paid. I could have sprung for an Eastman or something similar but it might've cost 3-4x as much! And we're not even talking American made yet.

I don't think anything comes close to the build quality / price / uniqueness / sound of the masterbilts I have.

I'd love to hear more about the history of Masterbilt e.g. who was making the decisions about what they were making. The 12 fret is just so cool but they only made it for a brief period of time. It sounds like the EF500 might be something similar. I'm sure it has to do with sales but I just think it's interesting that epiphone was on the forefront of these asian made, high quality (for some part) historically based guitars that we're seeing a lot more of, like eastman, recording king, blueridge.

AJ500rnc here.
I do love it.

Lots of bass and character.

It’s a great guitar.

I own two, an AJ500M and EF500RANS. They are nice enough guitars but honestly nothing special IMO. They certainly don't compare to the Saga Blueridge/Trinity College guitars I have owned or the Eastmans I have played. The EF was I present so I can't sell, but the AJ is on the chopping block..... I'll tell you what is a great Dread for the money if you can find one is the Morgan Monroe M20. Hangs in there nicely with my Martin D's with the best playability of any acoustic I have owned through the years.

I have the DR-500MCE. If it weren't for age related shoulder issues it would be with me forever. I love the warm tone and the long sustain. I am likely to sell it and get either a mini-jumbo or an advanced jumbo shaped guitar to replace it.

I have a DR-500RANS and an EF-500RAVS. They are amongst my favorite guitars and stand up well as to looks, sound and quality against most other guitars. These were made in Epiphone's own factory, owned by Gibson, in Qingdao, China.

I've used Epiphone EFs as my "beach guitar" for many years, I think I've owned five or six during that time. One was an EF-500M, the rest RCCEs. I bought all of them used, most were seconds. I still keep one RCCE in Hawai`i so I can avoid flying a guitar when we travel there.

I fell for these EF models because they were the least expensive guitar I could find with wide 2 3/8 bridge spacing and they had the added advantage of being all solid. These days there are probably other options out there, but I'm trying to avoid accumulating any more "stuff" since I landed in my 7th decade.

I put together a playlist of my YouTube clips featuring the Epis, I think they're about half acoustic and half plugged in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcyG...Ja8Mz9SrKODKPV

Fran

If you asked me when my Plek'd Masterbilt DR500mce was a month or two old I would have said it was great. Now a year into ownership I have to say it's just OK. The nut fell off during a routine string change. The jack/strap pin is always coming loose inside the body. The neck developed a hump between the 12th and 16th fret that needed to be shaved and refretted as to not buzz with any kind of normal string height setup. The wiring from the preamp to the piezo needs to be reattached to the body frequently after spirited playing. I don't know enough about acoustic guitars to know if this is just the nature of an acoustic electric in the $700 price range, but its fun to play and I think it sounds pretty good. I wouldn't buy another one though.
YMMV

Overall, I haven't heard of too many quality issues. Certainly I haven't had any in the four EPI MB's I own.

sm