Silly rare Epiphone. Neck thru construction, figured maple top underneath the black paint- made in Japan and Assembled in the USA (More history below) in Nashville. EMG Selects were replaced with Artec Distortion Rail pickups. Guitar originally had the often broken Steinberger tremolo replaced with a Kahler USA Hybrid locking tremolo. Also had some extra electronics added and removed. Very little fret wear, sustain for days, Sperzel locking tuners, ebanol fretboard, and an ugly cease and desist letter make this a Gibson lawsuit guitar! Approx 600 made over approx 9 months makes this a rare players grade collectible guitar. Price is firm and fair given the upgrades and rarity. History below. Thanks for looking!

Epiphone, of course, had been Gibson’s budget brand ever since they bought their fierce rival in 1957. Epiphone had become an imported line in 1971, thus beginning a long and complicated peregrination as an offshore product.

1988 Epiphone Spotlight Electric Guitar

But Gibson would periodically revive the American manufacture of Epiphone guitars, including some of the last guitars made in Kalamazoo before the final move to Nashville. Which is a fascinating tale, but doesn’t explain the Spotlight mystery.

Turns out that sometime after Norlin’s sale of Gibson to its current owners, someone hatched the plot to produce the Nouveau series. In the late ‘80s Japan was still regarded as a prime source of budget guitars (this was about to end). The Gibson Nouveaus were going to consist of parts made in Japan—neck and body—and assembled and finished in Nashville. This would, of course, technically keep them “American made.” This was not uncommon back then; Kramer seems to have specialized in the practice. The project got as far as introductory literature, as my paper stash demonstrates. As this guitar testifies, the rest of the plan was executed as well, but with another of those twists. Somewhere between the manufacture and finishing, these became the Epiphone Spotlight series. Maybe they got cold feet about the sleight of hand.

1988 Epiphone Spotlight Electric Guitar

In any case, the result was ironically a new—and no doubt rare—“American-made” Epiphone! And a fine one it is. The shape of this guitar is suspiciously like that of the brash young guitarmaker from Maryland named Paul Reed Smith, which were just beginning to make some waves at the time. The Spotlights have neck-through-body construction, with mahogany necks and bodies, capped with a gorgeous carved quilted maple top. As befitting the “budget-deluxe” concept, what looks like a two-octave ebony fingerboard is ebonol, like that used on early Kramers. Reflecting the Epiphone-by-Gibson branding used at the time, a pearl diamond engraved with “Gibson” graced the headstock. Pickups were EMG Selects, serviceable if not exceptional, hooked up one volume and one tone, the latter with a push-pull coil tap pot. This version was outfitted with a locking Steinberger HB vibrato. There were most likely stoptails, as well, but who knows?