NAMM 2026: Gibson has revealed what it has in store for its wallet-friendly Epiphone guitars throughout 2026, headlined by a Futura range that's ready to take the brand into “a new era.”
By Gibson’s own admission, it is regularly “inspired [by] our history,” but nostalgia is just 50% of the Epiphone recipe this year, as far as its Futura range is concerned. It “takes the most iconic Gibson body shapes and remixes them with modern, professional-grade features at a price point for every player.”
Aesthetics play a big part here, as it draws from the automotive industry for inspiration. There are Chromashift finishes that change color in real time, with premium features like stainless steel frets, which make their long-awaited Epiphone debut, and compound radius fretboards to bolster their specs.
Electronics haven’t been ignored either. They get ProBucker Ignite pickups, which are extra-hot passive humbuckers, and push-pull knobs for single coil spank on the fly, which conspire to “deliver the feel and fire to match,” ensuring players can get plenty of bang for their buck.
It’s a shrewd move from Epiphone. As competition in the budget guitar market is arguably fiercer than it’s ever been, the Futura range ensures its lower priced Epiphone models can persuade many to choose the company's electric guitars over, say, Harley Benton, by offering more than just stripped-back versions of Gibson mainstays. Expect them this spring.
The theme of value-for-money transfers over to its Inspired by Gibson range, too. The series was established to bring the “premium feel and performance” of Gibson guitars, via Custom Shop features, to lower price points like never before, with vintage icons like the 1959 Les Paul Standard, and a far more affordable version of a new classic, the Les Paul Special Double Cut Figured, on the menu.
There’s also an Explorer 80s EMG model, complete with control knobs in a triangular formation and, as the name suggests, high-output EMG humbuckers – reviving a cult classic. Sadly, though, we’ll have to wait until the winter for their launch.
Signature guitars aren’t limited to Gibsons, either. While a limited-edition run of Gary Clark Jr’s custom-made ES-335 has been confirmed, so too has an Epiphone version, set to follow closely behind.
There’s also a Gibson Custom Shop-inspired Alex Lifeson ES-355 reissue – celebrating “Whitey,” a workhorse guitar that has featured on virtually every Rush record in one way or another – and an all-new axe for Lzzy Hale.
The Halestorm songstress, who dropped a white-and-gold Epiphone Explorer in 2019, is back with a far more glittering visage. It rocks a standout sparkling finish, a chrome pickguard, and pickup covers to match for its twin humbuckers.
“[The Hale Explorer] is just eye-popping and so cool,” a smiling Gibson VP of Product, Mat Koehler, told Guitar World on the NAMM floor. No kidding.
See Gibson for more.
