Epiphone Wilshire Guitar Review

The Wilshire style guitar is one of the more obscure legends in existence. Although not as famous, it takes its place among the old standby's that Gibson has produced over the years, including the Les Paul and the SG. Today, the original line of Gibson Wilshire guitars demands extremely high prices in collector's markets. In commemoration of this lesser known great, Epiphone has produced and released a guitar appropriately named the Epiphone Limited Edition Wilshire as a much more affordable alternative. So, let's take a look at what this guitar has to offer.

Features: The Epiphone Wilshire is manufactured in China. It features a solid mahogany body with a pristine and elegant glossed alpine white finish. The neck of the guitar is made of mahogany as well, with a rosewood fretboard and pearl rectangular inlays. Additionally, the neck is set into the guitar instead of being bolted in, a tell tale sign of quality production. All the hardware is chrome, and the quality Alnico brand pickups come complete with slick chrome covers. The headstock of the guitar is somewhat unique. It has what Epiphone calls a "bat wing" shape. What makes this guitar cool is its Fender-like look mashed up with Epiphone features, like the Tune-O-Matic bridge. From the electronics standpoint, the Epiphone Wilshire has two volume and two tone control knobs and a three way selector switch.

Playability: This guitar, in my experience and that of other users, plays like a dream. The neck is nice and slender, allowing for quick movement and easy fingering. Also, The cutaways on both the top and bottom sides of the body, along with the set neck, allow for unbelievable high fret access and great sustain. If you are looking to rip out some shreiking solos, the Epiphone Wilshire is a great instrument to do it with.

Sound: The Alnico pickups Epiphone uses for its mid level guitars are high quality and very versatile. To put it simply, they are more or less a jack of all trades. You can get some beautiful clean tones, some soft edged distortion, or even screaming metal tones. If you know your way around the selector switch and tone controls, you could play just about anything with the Epiphone Wilshire.

Overall: In my personal opinion, Epiphone has done a very satisfactory job in recapturing the essence of the legendary Wilshire guitar. It feels great to play, and has a very versatile sound. So, if you are a jack of all trades type of musician with a budget, look no further than the Epiphone Limited Edition Wilshire. Right now, they can be found for anywhere from $250-$300.