I was looking at an Epiphone-branded, Gibson-made, USA-manufactured 335 with no serial number and no label, but with pickups that gave me the guitar’s production year. The pickups in question were stamped 329 682, which revealed that the production year was 1982. Tim Shaw pickups are easily identifiable because they have a separate, ink-stamped series of numbers on the bottom that indicates the type of pickup (bridge or neck), as well as the date of production. Due to financial constraints set by Norlin, Shaw could only approximate certain aspects of the original pickups, but the final product was a PAF-style pickup that was superior to the pickups that Gibson was producing at the time. In 1980, the Norlin Corporation began to take the first steps toward production of a reissue Les Paul guitar, and they assigned engineer Tim Shaw the task of reproducing a PAF-style humbucker for the project. However, the headstock had no serial number, no volute, and no stamp to indicate that it was USA-made. The neck and heal were made of mahogany, with no laminate joints, and the fret board was rosewood with dot inlays. I also noticed what I call “ears” on the headstock, which occur when Gibson cuts the neck blanks for their guitars and then reuses scrap pieces by gluing them to the headstock portion of the blank, creating laminate lines that can be seen on the back of the headstock. The brand was inlayed like a Gibson, with the finial in the center, which is typical of a standard 335. I noted the guitar’s Grover tuners, and the nut looked original and to Gibson spec.

The guitar looked and felt like it was USA-made, but I needed to examine it more closely. Inside the case was a label-less, serial number-less semi-hollow electric guitar with Epiphone on the headstock, just like my friend had described. With packing peanuts flying, I pulled out a hard shell case that could have housed a 335. The guitar was delivered a few days later, and I ripped the box open like a kid on Christmas morning.

Mystery Ephiphone Guitar: Prototype or Custom Build?

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