Epiphone Broadway Review

It's a peach

I've owned this guitar for about 15 years. Over that time it's proved itself to be a solid and stable instrument. The acoustic output is substantial, with a bit of that midrange honk you'd expect from an archtop. Add in a bit of amplification (I use a Henricksen) and you're firmly in the jazz world. No need to spend all that money for an L5 (which may be why this instrument periodically… read more disappears from the Gibson catalogue). With a close look, you can see bits of finish that aren't top-shelf, but overall it's as pleasing to see as it is to hear. Mine needed a few minor tweaks. The tailpiece is just odd and it's impossible not to get sympathetic resonances with the long length of string between bridge and tailpiece. I just slipped some small o-rings between the strings (as shown in the photo). That quieted things down. I also replaced the knobs with something that matched up with the finish. I removed the pick guard, which rattled a tiny bit. I have a very constrained technique and have never scratched a guitar with a pick, so I didn't need the guard anyway. Finally, the instrument comes a little under-strung. You really need heavier strings to get the tone out of this instrument. I like D'Addario EJ22. The only caution I might offer is this: when I bought this instrument, it was made in Korea. If it is now made in China you'll want to look at it carefully. I have a Chinese Epi Les Paul and it's actually quite nice, but you'll want to make sure the Broadway is made to the same spec it was in the past. I can't think of a better first archtop for a budding jazzer. Sure, I dream of a Benedetto. But this will do very nicely until then.

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