Now, what is this gorgeous new gang of Epiphone guitars? Why, it’s none other than the new Epiphone Futura series, a bold and beautiful re-rendering of some of Gibson’s finest designs. They look wild, sound wilder, and you need to know all about them!
What is Epiphone Futura?
Epiphone Futura is a new series of guitars that feature a host of cool details, amazing finishes and brand new pickups. These are for contemporary players who want a heavier sound, in a package that’s altogether more eye-catching than standard instruments.
The Futura series keeps things traditional with body shapes but goes for luxury by opting for the ‘custom’ glow up: multi-ply binding, extra decoration and all of the trimmings. This is all in addition to some head-turning finishes and newly designed pickups, both of which I’ll look at in a second.
What Guitar Models are included in the Epiphone Futura Series
So, Epiphone have gone down the road of choosing classic Gibson designs and dressing them in their best ‘custom’ attire, as I’ve mentioned. There’s actually a great range of models here, which is awesome to see. It’s like a hall of fame for the best looking Gibson guitars, all dressed in their finest and sporting slick new colours. Here’s the full lineup:
- Les Paul Custom
- Flying V Custom
- RD Custom
- Firebird Custom
- SG Custom
- Explorer Custom
- ES-355 Custom
Chromashift Finishes
How about those finishes? It’s difficult to adequately capture them in pictures, because the whole thing is that they show up different hues and shades as you move the instrument around. In the car industry, this is sometimes called a ‘flip-flop’ finish, which makes as much sense as anything else. It’s basically a blend of metallic colours with small flakes that catch the light differently, giving a sort of ‘petrol’ effect when moved.
Each Futura guitar has such a finish, and there’s a few of them throughout the series. Firestorm Shift, for example, is mostly a sort of burnt orange with gold flecks; Dragonfly Shift a metallic green with contrasting teal; and Quicksilver Shift is a pearly silver with - to my eyes at least - both an orangey-pink and greenish-yellow contrast!
There are more colours in the series but they all behave in this cool chameleonic way, and each guitar model has a choice of two finishes.
New Pickups
The Epiphone Futura series features new pickups which are currently unavailable anywhere else. They are ProBucker Ignite humbuckers and they’ve been created to offer up a high-output, modern rock sound with punch and clarity.
These are coupled with extra switching options to allow coil-tapping and phase switching, depending on the guitar model. What this extra switching allows is greater versatility, with skinnier tones becoming available in addition to the chunky rock fury that’s available on tap. We can’t mosh all the time, can we? We do need our hard rock guitars to give up some pretty clean tones now and again, and so the coil tap features are most welcome.
Top Dollar Features
There’s more to these Futura guitars than just cool colours and hot pickups, though. Here's a quick rundown of what you can expect to see on each model…
- Stainless steel frets: a big upgrade here, these will last indefinitely.
- Ebony fingerboards: smooth to the touch and beautiful.
- Compound radius fingerboard: flattens out from 10” at the nut to 14” at the top fret, which makes soloing easier to execute.
- Modern C neck carves: the best all-rounder profile for all types of playing.
- Grover Rotomatic tuners: Industry standard stuff here, and very welcome by their presence.
- Quality gig bag included: this takes away extra hassle, particularly with the ‘shape’ models like the RD and the Explorer which refuse to fit in standard gig bags.
I’d note a few extra points that are worth knowing about specific guitars: the Les Paul Custom has ultra modern weight relief, which means there are small empty chambers within the body to make the guitar lighter.
Also, the RD Custom has a longer scale length of 25.5”, as opposed to the other Futuras which have Epiphone’s customary 24.75” scale length. This makes it good for using drop tunings, since the longer length will help add tension to downtuned strings. A good idea, given how much of a ‘riff guitar’ the RD is!
Boldly Classic, and Classically Bold
So that’s the new Epiphone Futura series, and I think they’ve pitched these ones really well for the market. The quality is high, the prices are right (certainly considering the spec and included gig bag) and, most importantly, the balance between recognisable Gibson aesthetics and fresh colour vibes is bang on the money. To me, they are sort of like affordable quasi-custom shop versions of top Epiphones, but in production models, if you get me? This is a range of guitars that deserves to do well: to be seen on stages and taken on tours.
Which is your favourite? I love seeing the RD back in the fold, and if I were to choose, I’d have a really hard time between the Firebird Custom and the Flying V Custom. Well, actually, they’d make a good pair…
Anyway, these are sure to be popular, so make sure you grab your favourite whilst stock is available!
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