teleking36
Silver Supporting Member
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A few days ago I took receipt of this Gibson-made beauty, a 1960 Epiphone Wilshire!
This is likely one of the earliest Wilshires shipped, and it has all of the V1 features like the bikini badge on the headstock, ink stamp serial number, and early control configuration carried over from the '59 Crestwood. It's got more of a '59 neck carve, which is what makes it really special. Most of the Wilshires that followed have the more common early 60s slim neck - not this one! The electronics are all original as well, with all four pots featuring the same '6027' date codes (I've spoken to other Wilshire owners that have guitars from the first run who also have '6027' pots in theirs).
It once rocked a Bigsby, which required the then-owner to have a new switch hole drilled about 1/2" from the original location to accomodate the Bigsby base. The person I bought it from bought it from the original owner (an LA session musician) approximately 15 years ago, which was the person who initially had the Bigsby installed. It was returned to stock at that time of that original sale, save for a 60s chrome plated aluminum stop bar replacing the original nickel stop bar. One of the studs also looks to be a 60s replacement. The 3-way switch was then moved back into its original hole. I have plans of handing it off to a local guitar builder (Glenn Nichols of Retrograde Guitars) who is going to plug the additional switch hole and fill the Bigsby holes for me. Although purely cosmetic, I'll feel better having them plugged in the long term.
It sounds absolutely fantastic! The P90s are very open and clear sounding, with great balance across all positions. Middle position is the real winner- everything I love about that position in a Gibson electric is inherent in this one, and frankly better sounding than some of the other Gibson solidbodies that command higher price tags. I guess I just got lucky! And I can't say enough about the neck. I've played my fair share of early 60s Epiphones, and none of them have had a neck like this one.
It's nice and light at 6lb 5oz, and still feels very well balanced. It holds tune very well, and the original single-line Klusons still work great. I'm still deep in that Christmas morning vibe every time I open the case, but I don't think that'll really go away. I've been a huge fan of the early Gibson-made Epiphones for a long time, and it's really special to finally own one! Here are some pics I took the other day. I'll probably circle back with some post- cosmetic repair photos once I have it back from Glenn as well. As for now, I'm just going to continue to play the hell out of it. I'm in love!
This is likely one of the earliest Wilshires shipped, and it has all of the V1 features like the bikini badge on the headstock, ink stamp serial number, and early control configuration carried over from the '59 Crestwood. It's got more of a '59 neck carve, which is what makes it really special. Most of the Wilshires that followed have the more common early 60s slim neck - not this one! The electronics are all original as well, with all four pots featuring the same '6027' date codes (I've spoken to other Wilshire owners that have guitars from the first run who also have '6027' pots in theirs).
It once rocked a Bigsby, which required the then-owner to have a new switch hole drilled about 1/2" from the original location to accomodate the Bigsby base. The person I bought it from bought it from the original owner (an LA session musician) approximately 15 years ago, which was the person who initially had the Bigsby installed. It was returned to stock at that time of that original sale, save for a 60s chrome plated aluminum stop bar replacing the original nickel stop bar. One of the studs also looks to be a 60s replacement. The 3-way switch was then moved back into its original hole. I have plans of handing it off to a local guitar builder (Glenn Nichols of Retrograde Guitars) who is going to plug the additional switch hole and fill the Bigsby holes for me. Although purely cosmetic, I'll feel better having them plugged in the long term.
It sounds absolutely fantastic! The P90s are very open and clear sounding, with great balance across all positions. Middle position is the real winner- everything I love about that position in a Gibson electric is inherent in this one, and frankly better sounding than some of the other Gibson solidbodies that command higher price tags. I guess I just got lucky! And I can't say enough about the neck. I've played my fair share of early 60s Epiphones, and none of them have had a neck like this one.
It's nice and light at 6lb 5oz, and still feels very well balanced. It holds tune very well, and the original single-line Klusons still work great. I'm still deep in that Christmas morning vibe every time I open the case, but I don't think that'll really go away. I've been a huge fan of the early Gibson-made Epiphones for a long time, and it's really special to finally own one! Here are some pics I took the other day. I'll probably circle back with some post- cosmetic repair photos once I have it back from Glenn as well. As for now, I'm just going to continue to play the hell out of it. I'm in love!
