Every guitarist knows Epiphone, Gibson’s “little brother” brand for beginners and people who can’t afford The Real Thing(TM).
Or at least that is a common view of the brand. In actuality, Epiphone does make more budget-friendly guitars, but they also make high-quality, unique instrument models, and some guitarists even prefer the feel of Epiphone over their Gibson counterparts.
One thing remains true, however: Gibson and its budget brand Epiphone share a lot of commonalities. Epiphone has its own versions of Les Pauls, SGs, and 335s. The brands have worked together to create a guitar empire and have quality instruments at every conceivable price point.
But things weren’t always so cozy between Epiphone and its parent company Gibson. In fact, for the first half of the 20th century, they were fierce rivals.
Anastasios Stathopoulos, Greek Instrument Maker
Epiphone can trace its roots back almost 150 years to the town of Smyrna, Turkey. It was there in 1873 that the Greek immigrant Anastasios Stathopoulos first set up shop, making and selling lutes, violins, and traditional Greek instruments.
Stathopoulos continued to grow his instrument shop until the turn of the century. By that time, the government was imposing high taxes on Greeks in Turkey, which made life difficult for Anastasios and his family.
In 1903, he decided to move his family to America, and soon after moving to New York City, he reopened his shop in his new country. In addition to lutes and violins, they began to make mandolins, which were in high demand at the time.
Epi Takes the Helm
Unfortunately, after 12 years in New York, Anastasios died, leaving the business in the hands of his 22-year-old son Epimanondas, or Epi for short. Thankfully, Epi was a natural businessman and knew his father’s business well.
Soon after Epi took control, the company began to focus itself on manufacturing banjos, which were starting to grow in popularity in the 1920s. By 1928, the business had gone all-in, renaming itself the “Epiphone Banjo Company” and later just “Epiphone.” Epi had taken his own name and added the Greek word for sound, phōnē, to create the new moniker.
In the same year, the company started to build and sell archtop guitars. This was the beginning of their rivalry with the biggest guitar company at the time: Gibson.
Rivalry with Gibson
Initially Epiphone’s guitars did not stack up well against the competition. The first Epiphones were too quiet, which in a world without amplifiers was a huge deal. By the early ’30s, however, the company was producing comparable guitars to Gibson. Throughout the decade that followed, both brands competed fiercely with one another for market dominance.
In 1943, Epi died of leukemia, leaving his younger brothers Orphie and Frixo to run the company. The two brothers continued to grow the company until the early ’50s, when family and financial problems caused significant issues with the company. They attempted to move the company to Philadelphia during this time, but many of their employees wouldn’t go. The resulting lack of trained staff in the new location caused quality issues and damaged the brand.
Merger with Gibson
In 1957, former rival Gibson offered to buy the struggling Epiphone. The deal was actually suggested by none other than Les Paul. Gibson, of course, by that time was producing Les Paul guitars, but the famous musician had first built his “log” electric guitar in the Epiphone factory.
Les suggested to Gibson CEO Ted McCarty that he should offer to buy Epiphone. McCarty decided to reach out to Orphie, who sold the entire company to Gibson for $20,000 — about $200,000 today.
Gibson brought the Epiphone brand in house and over time developed it into the massive budget brand that it is today, and it’s safe to say they made their money back! Yet in 2022, even knowing the backstory, it’s hard to imagine that these brands that share so much started out vying against one another.
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