Thunderface
Senior Member
Ever since I saw Vigilante Carlstroem of The Hives playing a '59 Epiphone Coronet, I've been intrigued by it. Now that was before I got hooked on Guilds and long before I saw a video review of a '59 Aristocrat M-75 by Phil X for Fretted Americana. My thinking on the Coronet was that, because it was an Epiphone, it would be cheaper than any '59 Gibson, and it is. Only "cheaper" is a bit of a misnomer when you look at the prices of these two fine specimens at Gary's Classic Guitars.
I included the '59 Aristocrat from Fretted Americana for comparative purposes because in looking that those guitars, I would much rather have the '59 Aristocrat, even if the dollars were comparable. Obviously the Epiphone prices are inflated because they were made in Kalamazoo, but still ....
... which brings me to my second point. There is a '55 Aristocrat (which should have the price of $6,995) and a '60 Aristocrat ($5,995) at Gary's, and both look to be in comparable shape the '59 at Fretted Americana. So is the '59 more expensive simply because is from that magical year for guitars -- 1959? Would there be an significant difference between a '59 and a '60 Aristocraft, or even the '55 for that matter?
I included the '59 Aristocrat from Fretted Americana for comparative purposes because in looking that those guitars, I would much rather have the '59 Aristocrat, even if the dollars were comparable. Obviously the Epiphone prices are inflated because they were made in Kalamazoo, but still ....
... which brings me to my second point. There is a '55 Aristocrat (which should have the price of $6,995) and a '60 Aristocrat ($5,995) at Gary's, and both look to be in comparable shape the '59 at Fretted Americana. So is the '59 more expensive simply because is from that magical year for guitars -- 1959? Would there be an significant difference between a '59 and a '60 Aristocraft, or even the '55 for that matter?
