Just when I thought my GAS was in remission (haven't bought a new guitar in over a year), I saw a listing on eBay last night for a '95 Epiphone Sorrento (probably Peerless-made)... already modified with Bigsby and new tuners ... in one of the colors I like ... from a seller wth lots of positive feedback ... at a "Buy It Now" price that would land it at my doorstep for less than $400 including hardshell case and shipping. How could I say no to that? It should arrive next week from the East Coast --- I'll post a review, but the Sorrentos I've played so far have all been very nice guitars, so I'm optimistic. Picture time ...
Epiphone Sorrento
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- Rated: 25 ↑
Sep 30, 2008 8:05 p.m. Parabar:
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- Rated: 59 ↑
Sep 30, 2008 8:30 p.m. Bear:
I used to have one of these with the factory installed Bigsby in turquoise. I loved how it sounded, but the neck was a bit too narrow for me. I believe I still have a w/b/w pickguard with the Epiphone Epsilon "E" on it. Let me know if you need one.
Congrats by the way on a great buy.
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- Rated: 47 ↑
Sep 30, 2008 9:34 p.m. dignan:
I miss mine.
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Sep 30, 2008 10:59 p.m. Gretschadelphia:
Nice guitar, wrong Bigsby. If I'm not mistaken that Sorrento has been modded with the shorter B-3 Bigsby which may be a bit uncomfortable to reach while picking. I'm also pretty sure that Sorrento's have a non-floating TOM style bridge that is anchored directly into the top of the guitar which may not produce much downward string pressure on the bridge but may not be a problem depending on how hard a strummer you are. The price was right however and they are terrific guitars...and you can always put on a B-7 with the tension bar if the B-3 isn't working out
Have fun with your new toy
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- Rated: 9 ↑
Oct 1, 2008 8:13 a.m. hellbilly:
Yep - the Sorrentos need a B7. I've owned one - after switching the pickup covers to black plastic (it eliminated the microphonic squeal and brightened the tone up considerably) it was one of the best sounding rockabilly guitars I've owned. Only problem with me was the neck - it's really narrow - shame they never went to a standard neck width. It was just too narrow to get used to - even narrower than a Casino neck.
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Oct 1, 2008 11:32 a.m. GearJunky:
i have an off-brand archtop of similar proportions with the same "wrong" bigsby. it's true, the arm is a little far for total comfort, but useable - mine is staying (for financial reasons). try it - you might decide to keep it (or not).
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- Rated: 25 ↑
Oct 1, 2008 12:36 p.m. Parabar:
I figure it was worth the gamble --- I have a spare trapeze tailpiece for a Casino/Sorrento anyway, so if the B-3 doesn't work, I can put the trapeze on. (My Casino has a B-7 style Bigsby, so I have the P-90 thinline-hollowbody-with-Bigsby covered). Plus I tend to Bigsbifize pretty sparingly anyway.
I think I remember a thread here a while back about someone using a B-3 on a thinline archtop. Since the bridge isn't raised (as Gretschadelphia pointed out), a B-6 might not have enough break angle, but the shorter B-3 would have more, even if the handle position is less than optimal. I'll let y'all know how it is when it arrives!
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- Rated: 47 ↑
Oct 1, 2008 7:36 p.m. dignan:
That might have been me. It wasn't optimal, sure, but it seemed to work provided your bridge slots were decent and your pick wasn't made of cinderblock.
A B7 would certainly fix the string angle issue, but the handle would still sit in the same spot - no real size difference between a B3 & B7, just the presence of a tension bar.
It comes down to the distance between the bridge & tailpiece - on a Casino, it's short enough for a B3/B7 to reach comfortably. On a Sorrento (or a Historic Series thinline), there's a bit more string length to deal with.
There are longer (9.5") Bigsby handles available, but that's just addressing the symptom... and it looks goofy to boot.
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- Rated: 37 ↑
Oct 1, 2008 7:48 p.m. MR TROUBLE:
Is it my eyes deceiving me or is that Bigsby on the historic completely misaligned...it doesn't look centered.
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- Rated: 47 ↑
Oct 1, 2008 8:02 p.m. dignan:
Always with them negative waves, Moriarty!
It is off-center of the guitar, though necessary to get the strings to line up. It's since been reverted to the G-cut.
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- Rated: 25 ↑
Oct 1, 2008 8:29 p.m. Parabar:
Thanks, dignan --- I think this pic confirms you're right. The handle on both the B7 and B3 ends at approximately the mid-point of the bridge pickup.
So it really does just come down to the break angle as to whether it's functional or not. And unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, I think the Sorrento and Casino have essentially the same body size and contours, except for the single Florentine vs double cutaway, so the bridge to endpin distance should be the same, n'est ce pas?
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- Rated: 47 ↑
Oct 1, 2008 8:51 p.m. dignan:
They are close, but not quite identical - the bodies do indeed share the same contour (and will fit the same case), but as you can see the handle on the Casino will sit a bit more forward than the Sorrento. You'll just have to see how it feels in your hands, I suppose.
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- Rated: 25 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 12:56 p.m. Parabar:
The Sorrento arrived yesterday, and the Bigsby handle position was just fine. It had some very light strings on it, though (felt like .009's) and would not stay in tune, plus with hard playing the strings would occasionally pop out of the bridge saddles.
I put on a set of Gibson L-5 .011-.052's, and ka-zing! No more intonation problems, strings stay put in the saddles (even with Bigsby up-bends), and the tone of the guitar opened right up, even acoustically. Plugged in it has all the chewy, twangy P-90 goodness you could ask for.
The neck is slimmer than the Casino (I found it very comfy to play), and the neck pickup sits lower in relation to the strings than the Casino as well, but adjusting the polepiece screws up a few turns balanced it nicely with the bridge pickup, which sounds especially lively on this guitar.If I was to choose, I'd opt for the B7 style on this guitar, but with heavy enough strings, the B3 is perfectly serviceable, and overall the guitar is a definite winner! (especially for the price I paid!)
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- Rated: 41 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 2:07 p.m. dubkitty:
I actually prefer the B3 on my ES335 because the bar falls in a good place to pick near the bridge...the typical Bigsby handle forces me to pick closer to the neck PU than i prefer. in fact, if i could get a shorter arm i'd put one on the Wildkat stat.
