Following his mother’s death in 1923, Epi assumed ownership of the controlling shares of the business and phased out most of the old-world-style mandolin models. Epi took a leading role and was soon granted his first patent for a banjo tone ring and rim construction. His father’s instrument label was replaced by a new design: The House of Stathopoulo, Quality Instruments Since 1873. The family soon established a store in Smyrna selling and repairing lutes, violins, and bouzoukis, and by 1890, Anastasios’ reputation as a luthier was such that he was able to open his own instrument factory.Īnastasios died in 1915, and the 22-year-old Epi was handed the reins of the family business. Anastasios would travel with his father on business trips throughout Europe, observing his trade and learning about different varieties of wood and their unique properties. In 1873, around the time of his 12th birthday, Anastasios Stathopoulo’s family left their home in Greece and settled in Smyrna – now known as Izmir – a bustling seaport in the Ottoman Empire where his father, Konstantinos, established himself as a lumber merchant.

What most people don’t realize, however, is that Epiphone’s history stretches back even further than Gibson’s, beginning 150 years ago in a port on the Aegean Sea in what is now Turkey.

The Casino, the Texan, the Sheraton, the Riviera – model names that chime with guitarists everywhere, inspiring awe and desire in equal measure, whether you are a Beatle or a beginner. From the timeless cool of the jazz age through the looking glass of 1960s psychedelia to the wall of sound of 1990s Britpop and today’s eclectic scene, Epiphone instruments have remained central to pop culture’s “big bang” moments.

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