Epiphone Masterbilt Excellente Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Known as a trademark for country legend Loretta Lynn, the Epiphone Masterbilt Excellente features a large sound and now includes a Fishman Sonicore preamp.

$1,299.00

  • 18 x  
  • 12 x  
    $108.25
  • 8 x  
    $162.38

Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500MCE Acoustic-Electric Guitar

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Thanks to all-solid tonewoods and Sonicore pickups, the Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500MCE acoustic-electric offers enormous tone for a not-so-enormous price.

What's special about this item?

Feature: What it does:
Solid Sitka spruce top Projects rich, crisp and responsive tone
Solid mahogany back and sides Dry and airy tone; clear, present midrange
Fishman Sonicore pickup Delivers a warm, rich tone with great response
Pau Ferro fretboard Delivers strong midrange presence and punch

As part of the Masterbilt line, the Epiphone DR-500MCE acoustic/electric guitar has high expectations to meet. Epiphone has ensured this modern Masterbilt incarnation is up to par with the company's legacy by constructing it of all solid wood and incorporating modern advancements into the historic design.

A Solid Foundation

The biggest contributor to the DR-500MCE's deep lows and balanced mids is its all-solid wood construction. Solid wood guitars are known to get better with age, and the DR-500MCE is built to last. Like the Masterbilt guitars before it, the DR-500MCE features a solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides. The guitar's dreadnought shape further reinforces the guitar's deep bass and pronounced mids.

Dressed in the Vintage Look

The offset headstock design on the DR-500MCE echoes Epiphone guitars from the 1930s, as do the "split diamond" mother-of-pearl inlays along the pau ferro fretboard. Other relics from that era alive in this model include the dovetail neck joint and use of hide glue in construction. One tweak from the vintage models is the swooping cutaway which allows for better high-fret access.

Features:

- All solid wood construction
- Sitka spruce top
- Mahogany back and sides
- Mahogany neck in slim-taper D profile
- Pau ferro fingerboard
- 6-ply body, 1-ply neck, and 3-ply headstock binding
- Historic offset headstock design
- Bone nut
- Nickel hardware

The Epiphone DR-500MCE carries the torch of the historic Masterbilt line by read more staying true to the building techniques of old, while adding new technology to take your playing into the future. read less

- Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
- Body: Solid mahogany
- Side: Solid mahogany
- Neck: mahogany; 1-piece plus heel
- Neck Shape Options: SlimTaper(TM) "D" profile
- Neck Joint: Glued-In, Dove-Tail with hide glue
- Truss Rod: Adjustable
- Scale Length: 25.5"
- Fingerboard Material: Pau ferro with mother-of-pearl Split-Diamond Inlays
- Pickup: Fishman Sonicore
- Preamp: Fishman Presys
- Fingerboard Radius: 14"
- Frets: 20; medium
- Nut Width: 1.68"
- Nut Material: Bone
- Hardware: Nickel
- Machine Heads: Grover(r) Sta-Tite(tm) 16:1 ratio

In order to continually improve the design, quality, and performance of their products and instruments, Epiphone reserves the right to change specifications without notice.

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-4GIBSON
Web: https://www.epiphone.com/en-US/Support/Contact

Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500MCE Guitar

When it comes to acoustic guitar tone and quality, nothing performs like an all-solid wood instrument. Harking back to the 1930's and Epiphone's heritage as masters of acoustic guitar design, the Epiphone Masterbilt Collection combines traditional construction methods and historic features with premium all solid tone woods to bring you a "vintage" instrument with deep rich lows, shimmering highs and a balanced mid-range. While many other guitars in this price class use pressed backs, spliced neck joints and even artificial wood backs and sides, you can be assured that every Masterbilt holds true to it's all solid wood promise.

Vintage Construction, Historic Sound

As with all Masterbilts, the DR-500MCE features a solid Sitka Spruce top, hand-scalloped Sitka Spruce braces, and mahogany kerfing. One of the great attributes of a Sitka Spruce top is that it gets better with age -- and playing time! The DR-500MCE's historic dreadnought shape with a spectacular cutaway also contributes to its great tone by providing the classic booming bass and mid-range projection that has made the dreadnought style a favorite of rock, country, bluegrass, and folk musicians.

The DR-500MCE also has a solid mahogany back and sides, which adds to the guitar's legendary tone as well as a hand-shaped solid mahogany neck. The 25.5" scale mahogany neck joins the body at the 14th fret and is adorned with carefully cut "split-diamond" pearl fretboard inlays. The historic "off-set" headstock has a "stickpin" headstock inlay along with a 1.68" bone nut. Players looking for vintage tone and vibe will appreciate the handcrafted dovetail neck joint and hide-glue construction as seen in all classic '30s era acoustic guitars. One of the outstanding features of the DR-500MCE that wasn't seen in the original Masterbilts is its superbly shaped cutaway allowing for easy reach of all the frets.

The preamp uses two AAA batteries that are not only lightweight, but provide significantly longer life than old-fashioned, heavy 9V batteries.

Epiphone Quality All the Way

Other features included quality vintage-style Grover(r) Sta-Tite 16:1 ratio machine heads, imitation tortoise pickguard, nickel hardware, and a bound body, neck and headstock.

The Masterbilt Story

First released in June 1931, the original Epiphone Masterbilts made a big impression on musicians from all styles of music and the Masterbilts have done the same. The original Epiphone Masterbilt catalog made the promise: "The possessor of an Epiphone instrument has the assurance that every possible precaution has been taken to build instruments for lifetime performance and pleasure." And they still make that promise!

Like all Masterbilts, DR-500MCE comes with Epiphone's Limited Lifetime Warranty and is backed by world famous 24/7/365 Gibson Customer Service.

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. (67 ratings)
Submitted May 1, 2016 by Chip K in Tampa, FL

"1 year later and still on love!"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I own one of these. I have been playing for 35 years and have been through a few guitars. I have spent countless hours testing out guitars at various stores over the years. About a year ago I was checking out some Taylor 314 guitars and thought I made the decision to pull the trigger for one. Then I happened to look down the wall a bit and a DR500MCE caught my eye. I picked it up and plugged it in. I didn't want to put it back down! The tonal qualities were right there with the $1800 Taylor. There was absolutely no intonation. The neck plays fast and low. The sound was great plugged in and unplugged. The finish was beautiful, and then I looked at the price tag $599! I couldn't believe it. It seemed to good to be true. I figured there has to be issues with this guitar so I decided to go home and do some online research to see what the major complaints are on this guitar. After reading many reviews and searching youtube for reviews I was amazed, People raved over this guitar. I did go back and buy one. They had a used one coming off of trade in and sold it to me for $399! Long story short. A year later and the newness has not worn off. I still enjoy playing this guitar! The intonation is still perfect! I play the heck out of this guitar pretty much every day for at least an hour. I play it my church and I play at an outdoor venue once a month and I get comments all the time about how pretty this guitar is.I know this review sounds like a gushing love affair...lol.. But truth be read more told, after a year of connecting with this guitar, I haven't been tempted in the least bit to shop around. I am totally content. This guitar has everything I need and is a true joy to play!

Musical Background:
been paying for 35 years

Musical Style:
Christian Contemporary
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