Vintage Construction, Historic Sound This DR500MCE features a solid Sitka Spruce top, hand-scalloped Sitka Spruce braces, and Mah kerfing along with a Rosewood bridge and bone saddle. One of the great attributes of a Sitka Spruce top is that it gets better with age--and playing time! The DR500MCE's historic dreadnought shape with a spectacular cutaway also contributes to its great tone by providing the classic booming bass and mid-range projection that has made the dreadnought style a favorite of rock, country, bluegrass, and folk musicians.The DR500MCE also has a solid Mah back and sides, which adds to the guitar’s legendary tone as well as a hand-shaped solid Mah neck. The 25.5" scale Mah neck joins the body at the 14th fret and is adorned with carefully cut "split-diamond" Pearl fretboard inlays. The historic "off-set" headstock has a "stickpin" headstock inlay along with a 1.68" bone nut. Players looking for vintage tone and vibe will appreciate the handcrafted dovetail neck joint and hide-glue construction as seen in all classic '30s era acoustic guitars. One of the outstanding features of the DR500MCE that wasn’t seen in the original Masterbilts is its superbly shaped cutaway allowing for easy reach of all the frets. This Epiphone Masterbilt DR500MCE Acoustic Electric Guitar comes alive when plugged-in, thanks to the eSonic2 preamp system. The Sonic2 preamp features a built-in, easy-to-use tuner. Other controls on this state-of-the-art preamp include Master Volume, NanoFlex Tone, NanoMag Tone, stereo blend, low battery indicator and a phase switch to help eliminate unwanted feedback. While this DR500MCE sounds great "unplugged," it really comes alive when plugged-in, thanks to the new eSonic2 preamp system. Made in cooperation with Shadow Germany, the new eSonic2 preamp features a built-in, easy-to-use tuner. When engaged, the guitar's output is automatically muted with no "popping" noise, making it a perfect choice for stage use. You can even push in the "tuner" button and unplug the guitar without a loud "pop." Other controls on this state-of-the-art preamp include Master Volume, NanoFlex™ Tone, NanoMag™ Tone, stereo blend, low battery indicator and a phase switch to help eliminate unwanted feedback.The preamp uses two 2032 lithium watch batteries that are not only lightweight, but provide significantly longer life than old-fashioned, heavy 9V batteries. Under the bone saddle is Shadow's proprietary NanoFlex, low-impedance pickup. Not a harsh piezo like you’d find on budget models, the NanoFlex uses unique flexible sensing material featuring integrated active electronics that not only can pick up string vibrations but also top and body vibrations as well for a truly acoustic tone not possible with piezo pickups.Complimenting the NanoFlex is the revolutionary NanoMag pickup mounted at the end of the fretboard. Exclusively from Shadow, the NanoMag features 3 Samarian-Cobalt magnets and an integrated active circuit to capture all the highs and lows, including a wide range of harmonics. With your choice of either 1/4" mono output blending both pickups or 1/4" stereo output splitting the two pickups, you have incredible flexibility and opportunities to create the perfect acoustic tone live. Other features included quality vintage-style Grover® Sta-Tite 18:1 ratio machine heads, a bone nut and saddle, imitation tortoise pickguard, nickel hardware, and a bound body, neck and headstock. The Masterbilt Story First released in June 1931, the original Epiphone Masterbilts made a big impression on musicians from all styles of music and the new Masterbilts have done the same. The original Epiphone Masterbilt catalog made the promise: "The possessor of an EPIPHONE instrument has the assurance that every possible precaution has been taken to build instruments for lifetime performance and pleasure." And Epiphone still makes that promise! At The Music Farm, we take quality seriously! That is why we have our in-house technicians do a multi-point inspection on each product, ensuring that it'll be ready to play when it hits your hands! Included in your shipment will be instructions on care and maintenance.  We want to help yo