EPIPHONE EA 250 5102T SEMI ACOUSTIC 1970/71

Epiphone 5102T c.1970-71 – Matsumoku Japan

This Epiphone 5102T comes from an important transitional period in Epiphone history, dating from approximately 1970-71 and manufactured in Japan at the Matsumoku factory.

The 5102T was one of the first Japanese-built Epiphone electric guitars introduced after production moved away from the company’s earlier American manufacturing. The model appeared in Epiphone literature from late 1970 and was subsequently renamed the EA-250, making these early 5102T examples an interesting snapshot of the beginning of the Japanese Epiphone era.

Finished in the model’s distinctive Cherry Red, the guitar has a thin, fully hollow double-cutaway body with bound edges and twin f-holes. Its proportions give it the familiar outline of a classic double-cutaway electric while retaining true hollow-body construction.

The neck is attached using the characteristic Matsumoku bolt-on system with a “Steel Adjustable Neck” plate. Up front is a rosewood fingerboard with large block position markers and a traditional three-a-side Epiphone headstock.

Two exposed-coil humbucking pickups with adjustable polepieces are fitted, controlled by individual volume and tone controls together with a pickup selector switch. The period specification is completed by an adjustable bridge, chrome-plated hardware and a distinctive vibrola tailpiece with wooden insert.

One particularly useful dating feature on this example is what it doesn’t have. Later EA-250 versions gained Epiphone “E” emblems on the pickguard and truss rod cover. This guitar retains the plainer early treatment associated with the 5102T period, supporting a circa 1970-71 date.

For players and collectors interested in vintage Japanese guitars, the 5102T represents the very beginning of an Epiphone manufacturing relationship with Japan that would become an important part of the company’s later history.

At more than half a century old, this is a distinctive survivor from Epiphone’s earliest Matsumoku period, with plenty of unmistakable early-1970s Japanese character.

SPECIFICATION

• Manufacturer: Epiphone
• Model: 5102T
• Approximate year: c.1970-71
• Country of manufacture: Japan
• Factory: Matsumoku
• Finish: Cherry Red
• Body: Thin double-cutaway, fully hollow
• Body depth: Approx. 1 7/8 inches, catalogue specification
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Fingerboard inlays: Block
• Scale length: 25 1/2 inches, catalogue specification
• Pickups: Two humbucking pickups with adjustable polepieces
• Controls: Two volume, two tone and pickup selector
• Bridge: Adjustable
• Tailpiece: Vibrola
• Hardware: Chrome
• Neck joint: Bolt-on
• Neck plate: Steel Adjustable Neck
• Tuners: Closed-gear strip machine heads