PRESS RELEASE – WINTER NAMM 2005

Plucking Great

Frustrating, isn’t it? Some banjos look stunning, but let themselves down when you start pluckin’. Others sound the part, but don’t have the comfort or cosmetics to see you through a long night on the porch.

New for 2005, Epiphone’s Masterbilt MB 500 walks the tightrope in style. It’s built to the standards that have made Epiphone the most respected name in banjo construction since the 1930s, but combines the looks and performance that a professional player demands in the new millennium. In fact, the only place this instrument falls short is the price tag.

With a figured maple neck and resonator paired with Epiphone’s traditional pearl ‘cloud’ inlays and a glorious Antique Sunburst finish, the MB 500 has the looks to give your lead singer an inferiority complex. With gold hardware and a solid ebony fretboard, it should be prohibitively expensive – but isn’t. And with a traditional 3-ply hard maple rim and bronze ‘tone ring’, this incredible banjo has the most characterful and rounded tone you could hope to find in its price bracket. Not just a pretty face, all told.

Specifications:

Colours: Antique Sunburst

Pickups: N/A

Tuners: Gold

Hardware: Gold

Scale: 26.25"

Nut Width: 1.25"

Neck: Traditional

Neck Material: Figured Maple

FB / Inlay: Traditional Pearl “Epiphone Cloud”

Binding: Resonator and neck

Body Material: 3 ply Hard Maple w/Bronze Tone Ring

Top: Remo Head

Bridge / Tailpiece: Maple

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Performance Is Our Passion

EU press contact – Gibson Europe BV - Silvia Kleton – email: silvia.kleton@gibson.com Telephone: +31 (0)347 32 40 10

UK press contact - The Big Fish - Mick Calvert - email: mick@tbf2.com Telephone: +44 (0)1206 382224

For more information on all Epiphone products please contact:

Rosetti Ltd, 4 Tamdown Way, Springwood Ind Est., Braintree, Essex, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1376 550033 www.epiphone.com