The "Inspired by Gibson Custom" series has been created for guitarists who want top-tier instruments without the custom shop price tag. Designed by Epiphone's US Custom Shop team, the Epiphone Hummingbird Deluxe EC AB IBC takes a legendary guitar and gives it a modern twist – with the premium specs to match. The Hummingbird has a solid spruce top that has been gently torrefied, so it sounds like it has alredy been played for decades. The back and sides are solid rosewood, and this combination of woods gives the guitar a rich, three-dimensional tone that really sings. And when it's played in front of an audience, the Hummingbird's LR Baggs VTC Bronze pickup system delivers a phenomenal live sound. This is a modern workhorse with a vintage flair – built to handle pro gigs, studio sessions, and everything a singer-songwriter could want from their guitar.
The balanced tone of the Epiphone Hummingbird Deluxe EC AB IBC is primarily the result of the tonewoods used: Firstly, the mahogany neck and ebony fingerboard provide warmth and crisp, clear highs, while the all-solid body, with a rosewood back and sides paired with a spruce top delivers that beautifully even sound that already feels like a polished studio take, even when it's just strumming a few unplugged chords. Epiphone has made no compromises in terms of acoustics here, but it's not just about tone - playability is guaranteed too. With a 43.8mm nut width, low string action, a modern rounded-C neck profile, and a 12" fingerboard radius, it has a smooth, light, contemporary feel that makes it extremely easy to play. This "Inspired by Gibson Custom" Epiphone simply nails that sweet spot between classic Hummingbird looks and modern performance.
Wer eine Westerngitarre mit Tonabnehmer sucht, die sich von dem Vintage-Original inspirieren lässt und dabei Qualitäten eines modernen Instruments aufweist, wird mit der hochglanzlackierten Epiphone Hummingbird Deluxe EC AB IBC genau die richtige Gitarre finden. Aufgrund der klanglichen Eigenschaften ist sie äußerst flexibel einsetzbar und kann zwischen Americana und modernem Pop in einer Vielzahl von Genres überzeugen. Der integrierte LR.-Baggs-VTC-Bronze-Pickup ist ein sehr gut klingender Piezo-Tonabnehmer, welcher mit einem Volume- und Tone-Regler an einem Akustik-Setup einen überzeugenden und warmen Sound im Livebetrieb hat. Musiker, die ambitioniert oder professionell Musik machen, finden hier ein durchweg überzeugendes Arbeitsinstrument, ohne ein Vielfaches für ein sehr ähnlich ausgestattetes US-Gibson-Modell investieren zu müssen.
Today, Epiphone is known only as the Asian budget offshoot of Gibson. Yet both companies were once independent, equal, and also bitter rivals. The roots of Epiphone go back to the 1870s and to Anastasios Stathopoulo, a Greek instrument maker, who emigrated to America in 1903 with his son Epaminondas ("Epi" for short). Epi changed the name of the firm to the "Epiphone Banjo Company" after taking over the family business in 1928. During this year, Epiphone also began to manufacture guitars, which rapidly came to dominate their sales. In 1957, Epiphone was taken over by C.M.I., which already included Gibson, but continued as a separate brand until 1970, when manufacturing was outsourced to Asia. Well-known Epiphone models include the Casino, played by the Beatles, and the Sheraton, John Lee Hooker's instrument of choice.
Thanks to its highly balanced frequency response, the Epiphone Hummingbird Deluxe EC AB IBC is a dream in the studio – the engineer will barely need to EQ it to make it sit perfectly in the mix. It's also playable enough to record a whole album in one take, or spend all day rehearsing and all night gigging. The Hummingbird Deluxe EC AB IBC will definitely hold up like a champ on stage, and for easy transport, it comes with a branded Epiphone/Gibson soft case that offers solid protection. All in all, this is a well-made modern acoustic with high-end specs, but also an authentic eyecatcher stacked with nice visual touches – like the Gibson open-book headstock and genuine mother-of-pearl inlays – that really make it stand out.