Is Dave Grohl’s new Epiphone DG-335… Gold?

Last Friday, a photograph of the Foo Fighters in their rehearsal studio ahead confirmed the rumours that Dave Grohl did have an Epiphone DG-335 signature guitar incoming. This pic by Danny Clinch accompanied the NME’s review of But Here We Are, was shared on Instagram, and it gave us all a good look at it. 

The only problem? The photo was black and white. The details of the electric guitar's spec were open to conjecture, right down to its finish. Well, YouTube guitarist and social media six-string enthusiast Andy Ferris, aka The Guitar Geek, might have found the answer to that last detail because, after colourising the image, he has revealed on Instagram that Epiphone is giving this forthcoming DG-335 is gold. 

Our first guess would have been Pelham Blue. Red would surely have shown up much darker on a B/W pic. But gold is… Well, it’s gold. A Gold Top DG-335 sounds pretty cool. We’d be in for that. But perhaps what is more likely is that this gold is going to be similar to the Gold Metallic finish we saw on Gibson’s DG-335 circa-2014 [pictured below]. 

If so, maybe all hope is not lost that we will see this in Pelham Blue, too. That 2014 release [offered the DG-335 in both finishes. Time will tell. Ferris, who said he was hoping for Pelham Blue, might yet be in luck.

We should note that news of this model is yet to be confirmed by Epiphone, and the Gibson-owned brand are the ones who are actually making the guitar. In a recent Instagram AMA, Gibson's brand president and interim CEO Cesar Gueikian came close, responding “OK” to a fan who asked for one. Hardly a denial. 

Those who enjoy reading the social media tea leaves for news of gear to come will have learned many things Gueikian said have come to pass. Epiphone Dave Mustaine signature models? They’re here. An Epiphone Kirk Hammett ‘Greeny’ Les Paul Standard? Well, nothing has been released but Hammett is on record as saying it’s quite possibly his favourite replica of the guitar yet.

From similar Epiphone artist models, we would imaging this to have a pair of ProBuckers, an Indian laurel fingerboard, LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge and tailpiece. 

There will no doubt be a hard-shell guitar case to sweeten the deal, with the design itself cribbed from a Gibson design that itself is inspired by Grohl’s favourite 1967 Trini Lopez model. 

Speaking of which, there might be another Gibson refresh on the way, too. In the Foos rehearsal footage with new drummer Josh Freese, Grohl was playing a white DG-335

But this is as much speculation we can deal with today. Let's sign off with some real hard news; Foo Fighters shared the latest song from But Here We Are. It's titled The Glass, and you can check it out above.

Jonathan Horsley

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.