By the end of the 1990s, a new Epiphone had emerged as a result of Gibson sending production of it’s guitar line overseas. It was still an import line, but as the AJ-30CE illustrates, it was becoming known for affordable guitars that combined the best elements of rich tradition – especially Gibson’s tradition – with features that would appeal to modern players.

The “AJ” in this guitar’s model name stands for Advanced Jumbo, one of Gibson’s legendary flat-top guitars of the 1930s. Epiphone appropriated it for their “round-shouldered” dreadnaughts in 1998.

The “reverse-belly” bridge is also a Gibson feature. The cutaway, however, has never been available on this body shape under the Gibson brand.