Epiphone Masterbilt Texan Acoustic-Electric Guitar - Antique Natural Aged Gloss Reviews

Quite possibly one of the best solid wood guitar for it's price, on par with the inspired by gibson hummingbird bird, this one is hard to beat for it's price , only complain I have is the guitar strap button I can't find a guitar strap that fits without altering the strap hole because the strap button is too large in diameter, other than that it's perfectly well balance guitar as things should be, great value for money

Put on your cowboy boots and transform into a Lonesome L.A Cowboy with this guitar. Perfect strummer with great tone and a full sound. That 55 point inspection provides reassurance when buying a guitar online as it plays easy and was ready for action out of the box.

Build quality is great. Neck is fatter than expected but still comfortable.

Styles I play on it: Rolling Stones, Ryan Adams, Gram Parsons, Grateful Dead.

Very recommended, see if you can get a light weight one as they are a touch heavy.

My experience level is high, having been playing for over 50 years, having owned many great guitars during that time; one of my favorites being an old D-35 that had some mass and tone substance for the sound board to push against. What I have done to this Epiphone since it arrived, would make a guitar collector that might spent the $2,800 for one of the new US made Epiphone guitars gasp, and I would not recommend any modifications unless you have some skills. As I am a fingerstyle player I removed the pickguard, I always use steel wool to the finest and take much of the finish off of the back of the neck. I really don't care for piezo pickups, so out came the Fishman - that will be replace by an L.R. Baggs Lyric internal microphone; where although I temporarily used some wooden match sticks the thickness of the piezo until the new bone saddle arrives - that saddle will have much greater contact for sound transmission, with even the shimmed one sounding much better.

Of course the pins will be replaced with bone, and I will use 13,56 strings, with one point being this is really a guitar and setup for a stronger player. What really got me excited about this guitar - was the tone wood, that I suppose was some really good luck; in that there is something like 600 years of old growth spruce per half of the top, and all the wood is great; with even the Laurel being purple to almost black, and the body mahogany is of a dense kind - there being a plethora of subspecies. Although purchasing a US made Epiphone would be a great investment if you had the cash, I will put the tone of this guitar against any, and of course Asian craftspersons can be as skilled as any in our world. I really love this guitar.

I never write reviews, in fact I think this may be the first I've ever written, but it's warranted. I've been playing guitar for 17 years and have had numerous guitars come and go, but I think this one will be a keeper.

First off: the fit/finish. They're excellent. The antique natural finish is so different from any guitar I've seen in person. It's really classy and rich looking. There are no rough fret ends and the neck plays better than any guitar right out of the box, electric or acoustic, that I've ever owned. There is a slight buzz on the some frets with the bass strings but that's an easy fix.

The sound is amazing. Maybe I'm in a honeymoon phase, but I bought this guitar in a whim and was half expecting it to sound like crap since I hadn't played one in person before. I was very pleasantly surprised when I strummed the first chord and heard it for the first time. Descriptions of sound are always subjective, but I'd describe this guitar's tone as rich and full. It's just a very balanced tone that makes me want to keep playing it to the point that my fingers are hurting. I was planning on experimenting with different strings, and I still may at some point, but the strings it shipped with sound great so I'll hold off on that for a while.


All in all I took a gamble on buying a guitar I hadn't played in person (because nowhere carries it locally) and it payed off more than I could have hoped for. It's a bit pricey for an Epiphone, but the resale value seems to be decent for the brand too. That being said I think this guitar will be the last one standing if I had to sell everything else.

I purchased my Masterbilt Texan from Sweetwater over a year ago. I've been playing guitar over 50 years and have had many fine acoustics. But this one is truly special. It has the perfect combination of rich tone, yet it can cut through the mix effortlessly. For the price, I don't know how they can produce such a great sounding guitar, that plays so easily. Of all the other guitars, I always get compliments with this one, the tone is that good. People always assume I paid thousands of dollars for it, and that it's US made. Nope to both! In addition, I can say the honeymoon phase is long over with this guitar, and it hasn't changed my opinion one bit. It still sounds great, plays wonderfully and looks very elegant. Epiphone truly did this one right, as it is my go to acoustic for any situation.