Manufactured in Korea / Inspected & Setup in Tennessee
Gibson ‘Epiphone’

Mahogany, metal, mother-of-pearl, chrome, rosewood
2005
Neck length: 24.75 inches
Strings – Lutes – Guitars

This is an Epiphone ‘USA Map’ guitar made by Gibson, Serial # U05064279. The ‘USA Map’ model has a body shaped like the 48 contiguous United States. These ‘USA Map’ guitars had two Gibson “Tim Shaw” humbuckers, controlled by 2 volume and 2 tone controls. The bridge is a wraparound Schaller 455 unit.  There is a rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays and 22 frets.

At the time this guitar first appeared, the Gibson company was on the ropes. It and other American companies had suffered product invasion from Japanese competition during the ’70s “copy era.” Part of the survival strategy was to shift its production away from expensive unionized workers in the North. In 1974, Gibson opened a second guitar factory in Nashville and began to slowly move production out of its historic Michigan plant in Kalamazoo.

By the early ’80s, the transition was almost complete. Most Kalamazoo workers had been laid off. But in ’82, Gibson decided to produce a few models of its “budget” Epiphone line in Michigan and called some of its best craftsmen back to work. At that time, most Epiphones were being made either in Japan or (with some of the Genesis models) Taiwan. As one would expect, Gibson made a great deal of noise about resurrecting the Epiphone line and it was during this promotion that the Epiphone ‘U.S.A. Map’ guitar was conceived to show how they are proud to be a USA made guitar manufacturer.

You might expect this to be better to look at than play, but it’s remarkably well-balanced and easy to pick. Epiphone reissued a Korean made ‘USA Map’ guitar in 2005, which is seen here.  On the backside of the peg head is the serial number and the following:  100% inspected & setup in the USA by C- 18.  / Limited Edition / Epiphone / Custom Shop

Resource: https://www.vintageguitar.com/3263/1982-epiphone-u-s-map/