Are Epiphones really Gibson guitars?

Epiphone has been owned by Gibson since 1957. When they bought the Epiphone company, all the Epiphone guitars were built in Gibson's Kalamazoo, MI factory until 1970, when production was moved to Japan. In 1983, production was moved to Korea, where it has remained ever since (with occasional exceptions).

Epiphones are built to Gibson's specifications, but they're *not* built in the Gibson factories in Nashville, Memphis, or Bozeman, MT. Got it?

:)