Epiphone guitars started in 1873 in the Ottoman Empire which is
now Turkey. The name "Epiphone" is a combination of proprietor
Epaminondas Stathopoulos' nickname "Epi" and "phone" (from Greek
phon-, "sound"/"voice") They began making banjos, mandolins and
guitars and in 1903 Epamindondas moved to the United States. Such
was the quality of his instrument crafting that towards the 1960s
Gibson began to take notice and ended up buying out Epiphone.
Epiphone has been a subsidiary of the Gibson Guitar corporation
since 1957 and makes some of the finest guitars in a price range
that will astound you. They make amazing reproductions of famous
Gibson models including the Les Paul, SG, ES-335, ES-137, ES-339
and many more.