Epiphone Electar reissue

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 Apr 2016 12:46 pm

I have one on order, but evidently Epiphone hasn't shipped them to dealers yet. Anybody else getting one of these? Seems a good value at $249.

Stephen Abruzzo · Post by **Stephen Abruzzo** » 28 Apr 2016 12:54 pm

I know of some people who have had their order for one in for a long, damn time....as in months.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 Apr 2016 12:59 pm

I teach guitar at a music store that carries Epiphone and we have two lap steels on order. Still waiting for delivery... no telling when that will be.

Todd Clinesmith · Post by **Todd Clinesmith** » 28 Apr 2016 1:29 pm

Tell those kids to start building faster !

Americans want now !

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 Apr 2016 1:44 pm

I hear ya Todd. Can't expect much for 30 cents an hour!

Todd Clinesmith · Post by **Todd Clinesmith** » 28 Apr 2016 3:15 pm

Ha, The guitar looks promising tho.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 Apr 2016 4:09 pm

I'd like it more if the strings went through the body.

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 29 Apr 2016 2:36 am

Mahogany body, good pickup, sounds good, I may have to save up some pennies...

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 29 Apr 2016 2:53 am

Can't help thinking though that it's $250 and for just over $400 you could get an original one with a hard case (that would probably keep its value too).

I think I'd save up the extra $150 or so.

Dave Sky · Post by **Dave Sky** » 29 Apr 2016 5:18 am

AMS preorder says they are expecting to ship in early August. However, they said they expected them back in December. I cancelled my order with Sweetwater and will wait till they have them in stock.

G Strout · Post by **G Strout** » 29 Apr 2016 8:42 pm

I have one on order from zzsounds. Hope they get them soon. They had said late April....but the date has been pushed back. $:\$

Larry Carlson · Post by **Larry Carlson** » 30 Apr 2016 6:24 am

I've had one on order for a few months now.
They never showed up as arrived on the date expected.
Now the arrival date has been moved back to mid-August so I cancelled the order.
Think I will start a search for one of the originals.
Probably be easier to find...........

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 30 Apr 2016 8:11 am

Anybody who wants one should buy one as soon as they're available. You know how this goes... a guitar company orders a batch of Asian-made instruments and a couple of months later they're sold out... unavailable. A few months later the guitars might become available again, depending on whether or not the suits at the company decide to order another batch.

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 30 Apr 2016 10:53 pm

Here is access to a DEMO of the Epiphone Electar, played by Fats Kaplin.

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/2 ... -lap-steel

Roger

Chris Bauer · Post by **Chris Bauer** » 1 May 2016 6:01 am

FWIW - I just scored one of the reissue amps like the one Fats is playing. They are well known for humming louder than a hive of bees and mine was no different. However, a not terribly expensive trip to my amp guy calmed that to a tolerable level.

While it's not a great amp by any stretch, it's a really good amp for the money - like the steel, I suspect - and I've happily pressed it into action as back-up to have along in the event whatever I'm using on stage for console steel goes south.

I haven't yet played with other speakers in it and I suspect some changes in that department would likely make a significant difference.

In the meantime, if nothing else, as long as you don't pay much for one, it does fine as a basic, no-frills, usable-if-not-exciting-sounding amp and it looks great!

Dave Sky · Post by **Dave Sky** » 1 May 2016 6:57 am

Even though they announced the lap steel in December of 2015, my rep at Sweetwater says that Epiphone always has the longest lead time. We may see this in August, maybe not. I still want one, but till then, my Rogue Jersey Lightning works just fine...

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 1 May 2016 7:29 am

Roger Shackelton wrote:Here is access to a DEMO of the Epiphone Electar, played by Fats Kaplin.

Roger

I would say Fats made that guitar sound pretty darn good.

Dave Sky · Post by **Dave Sky** » 25 May 2016 6:08 am

My Sweetwater Rep says that the lap steel has an ETA of late September now. Just bought some new strings from B0b to keep the Rogue humming along. BTW, B0b got the strings out fast at a great price with cheap shipping!

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 25 May 2016 6:52 am

Dave Sky wrote:My Sweetwater Rep says that the lap steel has an ETA of late September now. Just bought some new strings from B0b to keep the Rogue humming along. BTW, B0b got the strings out fast at a great price with cheap shipping!

Hmmm...

If you put a few dollars away each week, by the time it comes out, you'll have enough to make up the difference in price to buy an original one.

Come to think of it, the way they've been going with their ETA for this, by the time it comes out you'd probably have enough money for a small car!

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 25 May 2016 7:00 am

I would not get my hopes up too high with this one. With the last few releases of lap steels by major manufacturers (Fender and Gretsch) came a ton of disappointment. Hell, the original Electars themselves were not that great. I'm being honest--I've played and owned them all, and the Electar Model M was my first steel. It does not have the kind of playability that you find in other steels. I think the bridge and nut material had a lot to do with that, as they used real crap metal.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 25 May 2016 7:47 am

I expect that it will be entry-level quality, but that's okay because I'm going to use it for teaching only. It will live in my lesson room 24/7 at the store where I teach.

The problem will original Epiphones (and many other vintage guitars) ...sometimes they have bad electronics, weak pickups, or bum tuners. Some sellers don't know it or don't disclose it, so buying vintage can be risky. And my Epiphone 10 string is not a great sounding guitar. I have to work extra hard to get the sound I'm looking for from that guitar. Just my opinion.

Bill Groner · Post by **Bill Groner** » 16 Jan 2025 4:47 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:I expect that it will be entry-level quality, but that's okay because I'm going to use it for teaching only. It will live in my lesson room 24/7 at the store where I teach.

The problem will original Epiphones (and many other vintage guitars) ...sometimes they have bad electronics, weak pickups, or bum tuners. Some sellers don't know it or don't disclose it, so buying vintage can be risky. And my Epiphone 10 string is not a great sounding guitar. I have to work extra hard to get the sound I'm looking for from that guitar. Just my opinion.

Doug, I see this post is from 2016. I was wondering how the Epi held up over the past 9 years. I bought one and it came yesterday. I was very happy with everything about it other than the chrome cover over the Pup. I removed the two screws and cover and was back to being happy once more.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Jan 2025 6:36 am

Bill, I only had that guitar for a few months. As I remember, it was comfortable to play and it was lightweight. I thought the sound was a bit sterile compared to my older steel guitars, but I guess that's to be expected.

Glenn Wilde · Post by **Glenn Wilde** » 19 Jan 2025 12:25 pm

We steel players are a lucky bunch, even top line, professional vintage steels are still somewhat affordable, something like this is what I think of as a convenience for most people, like students or dabblers, someone who doesn't know or want to dig up some crusty old guitar from the past, these have their place, but for me, I'll go on digging up the oldies, I love it!
I won't even tell y'all what I just paid for my '36 Ricky B

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