Epiphone Hummingbird Standard EC

Epiphone Hummingbird Standard EC - Natural

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Epiphone Hummingbird Standard EC - Natural

The Epiphone Hummingbird Standard EC in Natural takes one of the most recognisable acoustic guitar designs ever made and gives it a very sensible working-musician update. You still get the square shoulders, ornate pickguard, split parallelogram inlays and unmistakable Hummingbird swagger – but now there's a cutaway, all-solid construction and a proper Fishman pickup system waiting for the stage.

And the all-solid construction is worth making a bit of noise about. Epiphone pairs a solid spruce top with solid mahogany back and sides, giving the Standard EC the classic Hummingbird tonewood combination without relying on layered woods for the body. Expect a strong, balanced acoustic voice with plenty of warmth from the mahogany, definition from the spruce and enough projection to cope with enthusiastic strumming without everything turning into soup.

The single cutaway is the obvious departure from the traditional Hummingbird silhouette. It gives your fretting hand much easier access further up the neck, which is particularly handy for lead lines, higher chord voicings and those moments when somebody says, “Sure throw a little solo in there.” Suddenly fret fourteen isn't located in another county.

The mahogany neck has a comfortable Rounded C profile, paired with a bound rosewood fingerboard, 20 standard frets and genuine mother-of-pearl split parallelogram inlays. Epiphone sticks with the familiar 24.75" scale length, while a 43mm bone nut provides a traditional, comfortable string spacing. A tapered dovetail neck joint completes a construction that's very much aimed at giving this guitar a substantial, traditional acoustic feel.

Visually, the Natural finish lets the timber do plenty of the talking, but this is still a Hummingbird – restraint was never really part of the brief. There's multi-ply body binding, gold hardware, a 60s Kalamazoo-style headstock with mother-of-pearl Epiphone and Gibson Crown inlays, and of course that enormous tortoiseshell Hummingbird pickguard, complete with the famous bird, butterfly and floral artwork. It's decorative enough to make a plain black pickguard feel like it forgot to get dressed.

For gigs and recording, Epiphone has fitted the Standard EC with a Fishman S-Core under-saddle pickup and PreSys II preamp. Side-mounted controls give you Volume, Bass and Treble, along with a Phase switch to help manage feedback and a built-in tuner. Plug straight into an acoustic amp, PA or interface and you've got plenty of control without needing another box full of gadgets on the floor.

A rosewood belly-up bridge, bone saddle and Grover Rotomatic tuners round out a particularly strong hardware package. Better still, Epiphone includes a premium gig bag, so this one arrives properly prepared for lessons, rehearsals, sessions and gigs rather than immediately sending you shopping for something to carry it in.

At Musicmaker, the Hummingbird has always been one of those guitars that needs very little introduction. What makes this Standard EC especially interesting is how practical Epiphone has made it without sanding away the character that made the design famous in the first place. Solid spruce, solid mahogany, Fishman electronics, a cutaway and that gloriously unsubtle Hummingbird pickguard – tradition has learned a few new tricks.