Epiphone Century Masterbilt Deluxe Review

I bought this quite a few years back when production was ending, and a local shop reduced the price to a very tempting and manageable amount. I didn't really need it but I figured it was better investing in a guitar than having the money losing value in the bank, and I certainly haven’t lost any money looking at the secondhand prices. As you’ll see from my other reviews I already own a Zenith which I really like, still have and use regularly.  I nearly bought the Olympic too as it was on offer secondhand nearby, but I wasn’t sure I’d use it as much.

The Deluxe is the top of the range in this series and is a large 17” solid spruce topped archtop with flamed laminated maple sides and nail with a laminated neck with ebony fingerboard decorated with very attractive diamond inlays.  The emphasis is on retro looks with modern playability. The finish is a thin satin poly. The neck is on the chunky side, but really well done in a laminate that adds strength and stability. The guitar is quite heavy for an acoustic, but not excessively so.

You get a lot for your money with these guitars. The pressed solid spruce top works really well. The holy grail of course is a carved top, but the carving has to be done with skill and care.  At this price point arguably a pressed top is much more consistent, and environmentally friendly, and lots of manufacturers use this pressing technique even at a much higher price point.

The guitar has a shadow pickup system with an under saddle piezo. The controls are hidden in the treble f hole. This pickup is good as far as it goes, it is an easy way to plug the guitar in and minimise feedback, but in my view it doesn’t do full justice to the acoustic sound of the guitar. This is a limitation of any piezo based system not just this one, but the positive is the convenience. I like to attach a clip on condenser mic (in lower volume scenarios) to the trapeze and aim it near the edge of the treble f hole for a more authentic tone.

The build quality of these guitars is extremely high. Indonesia seems to be turning out some top notch instruments easily on a par with what was coming out of Korea in the 90s and early 00s.  The fit and finish is excellent and the playability out of the box is excellent too - it’s not really needed any adjustment after several years of light use. 

The acoustic sound of this guitar is a challenge to describe. It’s fuller than the Zenith, but maybe because of that has less cutting power than the Zenith’s focused midrange sound.  The bass on the Deluxe is richer, but like all archtops I have played, less immediately pleasing to the ear than a flat top guitar. You have to work at the sound and in the context of playing with other instruments it suddenly makes sense, where the richness of a flat top might get lost, the archtop finds its own space and sings through.  The Deluxe is loud acoustically, and rewards good strong playing.

These guitars haven’t been overwhelmingly loved by the jazz crowd. I think a lot of the criticism has been unfair, as the Epiphones were hitting a very low price level for an archtop guitar, and unashamedly going in part for the “you hear with your eyes” philosophy.  They are very pretty instruments. The Epis suffered because they came in at a very similar price point to a cheap carved Chinese guitar brand which a number of people raved about, but all the examples I tried were hugely disappointing with major building and finish flaws so I could never understand the comparison. Does the Epi sound as good acoustically as my Heritage carved archtop guitar? Well no, but it’s only worth a fraction of the price.  People definitely comment when I play this Epiphone because of the looks and the image of the guitar. They usually say how much they like how it sounds too. 

Like I’ve said about the Zenith, it’s not surprising that Epiphone didn’t make these for very long. The market for an acoustic archtop is very limited. Most jazz players still prefer a magnetic pickup to a piezo. You could fit one to this guitar but a number of other manufacturers have already done this for you on their models at a similar price point. The acoustic jazz players will probably want to up their game and go for a carved top if they can afford it. Flat top players may find the sound a bit thin. I personally like the tone and volume and the fact that the guitar sets you apart from the 99% of other guitarists who will get a flat top out of their case. Everyone wants to try it out  of curiosity. It definitely looks cool!