Epiphone Limited Edition Masterbilt AJ-500RCE (Natural Satin)

Epiphone Limited Edition Masterbilt AJ-500RCE (Natural Satin) Overview

Epiphone's new Masterbilt AJ-500RCE Acoustic/Electric guitar introduces one the most legendary acoustic guitars in music history, the mighty powerful dreadnought, to the critically acclaimed Masterbilt series with a beautiful cutaway. First released in June 1931, the original Epiphone Masterbilts made a big impression on musicians from all styles of music and new Masterbilts continue to further that reputation around the world. The original Epiphone Masterbilt catalog made the promise: "The possessor of an EPIPHONE instrument has the assurance that every possible precaution has been taken to build instruments for lifetime performance and pleasure." And Epiphone still makes that promise!

As with all Masterbilts, the new AJ-500RCE features a Solid Sitka Spruce top. The AJ-500RCE has a modern stylish cutaway, hand-scalloped Sitka Spruce braces, and Mahogany kerfing along with a Rosewood bridge and bone saddle. One of the great attributes of a Sitka Spruce top is that it gets better with age--and playing time! The AJ-500RCE's historic dreadnought shape contributes its powerful tone mid-range projection. The Rosewood bridge features a vintage classic 1.69" bone nut. The dreadnaught's classic profile top has 5-ply binding, 3-ply binding on the headstock, and single ply binding on the neck along with a tortoise style pickguard.

The AJ-500RCE has solid Mahogany back and sides, just like vintage models. The hand-shaped neck is also made from solid mahogany with a 1-piece heel, and is attached to the body with a dovetail joint and hide glue. The neck has a standard 24.75" scale and the Masterbilt's classic SlimTaperGäó 'D' Profile. The Rosewood fretboard has pearloid dot inlays, a 14" radius, and 20 medium jumbo frets.

While the AJ-500RCE sounds great "unplugged," it really comes alive when plugged-in, thanks to Shadow's state-of-the-art SonicGäó preamp system with the revolutionary under-saddle NanoFlexGäó low-impedance pickup to allow acoustic players to "plug in." Discretely mounted inside the sound hole, the Sonic preamp features an easy-access volume control with Treble and Bass EQ controls. There's also a "phase" switch that instantly cuts feedback without affecting tone. The NanoFlexGäó pickup is the only pickup that senses both the vibrations of the strings and the movements of the soundboard simultaneously. So, the sound is truly "acoustic," combining accurate body and string tone with percussive attack. It's like having a microphone mixed with an under-saddle pickup!

Due to active amplification directly at the pickup and 100% shielding of the entire system, there is no signal loss and no "hum" created. A battery indicator LED turns on when the battery is low and should be replaced within 30 minutes. The preamp is powered by two 2032 lithium, 3V batteries and the complete system is extremely light and weighs far less than ordinary 9V systems. A premium Shadow output jack is incorporated into the endpin jack.

The AJ-500RCE features Epiphone's quality Nickel hardware and world famous GroverGäó Sta-TiteGäó machine heads with a pro-level 18:1 tuning ratio for fast, accurate, and intuitive tuning. Epiphone Masterbilt quality is known around world on stages of all sizes and is backed up by Epi's two year warranty and Gibson 24/7/365 Customer Service. Limited production so grab one while you can!

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