1988 Gibson Epiphone Nouveau Spotlight CMT (Curly Maple Top)
This is a guitar I've owned for over 20 years. I purchased it in Grand Rapids, Michigan sometime in 1988. There's very little information available for this particular model online and virtually no markings or serial info on the guitar itself. So I decided to post whatever info I've been able to piece together in case you own a similar guitar and are looking for some background.
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description
The guitar has a solid ("neck through") body made of all mahogany, with a thick curly maple top which is carved and quilted and covered in a heavy polish. The fret board is double octave (24 frets) and uses "ebonol" in place of ebony. It has nine pearl diamond inlaid fret markers and pearl engravings of the Gibson and Epiphone brand names on the headstock. The two pickups are EMG Select, controlled by a push-pull coil tap pot and single volume and tone knobs. The guitar also comes outfitted with a traditional style vibrato/tremolo.
The model I have is the CMT (curly maple top), but I have also seen one in bright red and have heard of one in white finish.
history
In 1957 Gibson bought their fierce rival Epiphone and has since then used Epiphone as its budget brand. By 1971 Gibson-Epiphone guitars were constructed outside the U.S and became an imported line. Gibson would however periodically revive the American manufacture of Epiphone guitars, including some of the last guitars made in Kalamazoo before the final move to Nashville.
Sometime around Norlin's 1987 sale of Gibson to its current owners, the decision was made to produce the Nouveau series. The Gibson Nouveaus were going to consist of cost-effective necks and bodies made in Japan and assembled and finished in Nashville. This would keep them "American made." Although the original sales literature introduces these as purely Gibson guitars, somewhere between the manufacture and finishing, they became the Epiphone Spotlight series. One possible reason for this change may have been Gibson's unease with the questionable marketing claim that these were indeed "American" made. Ironically, the change resulted in a new and rare "American-made" Epiphone.
The first Nouveau guitars introduced by Gibson were a line of flat top semi-hollow guitars under the "Nouveau by Gibson" brand in 1986. In 1987 electric guitars joined the line. By September 1987 Gibson moved the flat top Nouveaus to the Epiphone line, under the brand "Nouveau by Epiphone". The electrics were moved to Epiphone by February 1988. By early 1989 the entire Nouveau line was discontinued due to what appears to be legal issues stemming from the obvious similarities between Gibson's Nouveaus and models made by the then up and coming Maryland guitar maker Paul Reed Smith (PRS).
verdict
Thus production of the electric Gibson-Epiphone Nouveau Spotlight virtually started and stopped within the single year of 1988. I have yet to find information on how many in all were produced but the number cannot be that large. (Rarer still would be the purely Gibson Noveaus made prior to the September 1987 shift to Epiphone. There seems to be some debate among those more knowledgeable as to whether these actually exist other than a couple prototypes.)
As far as the quality and playability of the guitar I can say I originally bought this and have kept it for twenty years because I was (and remain) impressed with its sound and feel. The solid mahogany construction gives it a very distinct and weighty presence, and the action is amazingly tight and rattle free. From what I've seen elsewhere online, owners' and critics' reviews generally range from laudatory to very happy.
If you happen to have any further info or insight you'd be willing to share, feel free to add your comments below.
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