EPIPHONE IN KOREA
In the early '80s with the rising cost of Japanese production, Epiphone relocated to Korea in 1983 in a collaboration with the Samick Company. In 1986, three Harvard MBAs; Henry Juszkiewicz, David Berryman and Gary Zebrowski, bought Gibson/Epiphone from ECL/Norlin. Reviving Gibson was the first priority for the new owners, and with Epiphone making less than $1 million revenue in 1985, the 100 year old company was once again set aside.
But new owners Juszkiewicz and Berryman soon identified Epiphone as a sleeping giant and travelled to Korea to decide how the company could be pushed to match the success of other Asian brands like Charvel and Kramer. As they absorbed Epiphone's pedigree, models were revived and new production techniques started getting results. Soon, sales were growing again.
By 1988, the Epiphone listed a new PR Series of square-shouldered acoustics along with an interpretation of Gibson's J-180, several classical guitars, a banjo, and a mandolin. There was also a solid selection of Gibson-inspired models like the Les Paul and SG, new archtops like the Howard Roberts Fusio, and a revival of the Sheraton.