Epiphone

Epiphone traces its roots to the 1870s, with 1873 as its traditional founding date, and takes its name from Epaminondas "Epi" Stathopoulo plus the Greek word for sound. After the family moved to the United States in 1903, the company grew into a New York instrument maker that began with banjos and built its first guitars in 1928. It was long a rival of Gibson in archtop guitars, until Gibson took control of the company in 1957.

Under Gibson, Epiphone became both a budget line and a home for classic designs. The Casino, first released in 1961 as Epiphone's counterpart to the ES-330, became famous through the Beatles. Today the brand is organized into collections such as Inspired by Gibson, Original and Artist, with a Gibson-owned factory in Qingdao, China, building Epiphone guitars since 2002.

Epiphone also makes many artist models, including a long run of Joe Bonamassa signature guitars. Guitar Radar follows its Inspired by Gibson reissues and artist collaborations.