Epiphone Guitars

Anastasios Stathopoulos manufactured mandolins, fiddles, and lutes in Long Island City in 1903. He died in 1915 and his son Epaminondas took over. After two years the company was known as The House Of Stathopoulos. Just after the end of World War I, the company started to make banjos. In 1928 it took on the name of the "Epiphone Banjo Company". They produced their first guitars in 1928. Epi Stathopoulos died in 1943. Control of the company went to his brothers, Orphie and Frixo. Unfortunately, they were not as capable owners as Epi. In 1951, a four month long strike forced a relocation of Epiphone to Philadelphia. The company was bought out by their main rival, Gibson in 1957. In the famous "Dueling Banjos" scene in Deliverance, an Epiphone acoustic guitar is played.