Epiphone

Epiphone is an American instrument company that started with an instrument making company founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire. The company moved to New York City in 1908. It was taken over by the owner's son, Epaminondas Stathopoulos. He named the company "Epiphone" by combining with his own name and the suffix "-phone" (which comes from the greek phon-, which means "voice"). It also started making guitars in the same year it was named, in 1928.

An Epiphone Casino, one of the company's best known guitars.

In 1957, the company was bought by Gibson, its rival. Gibson changed Epiphone's guitar making factory to Kalamazoo, Michigan.