The Company
Epifani was started by Nick Epifani in 1994. But the roots of Epifani go way back to another time and another place; Italy. Nick was born.
Before making equipment, Nick was a working musician, playing guitar and drums. While he studied electronics in Italy, Nick's path to the USA came as a singer and guitar player. However, it was not long after Nick arrived here that he found himself re-engineering other people's designs. He did it because he saw the flaws that no one else seemed to notice; something not right in cabinet construction or a woofer surround that didn't move properly. So Nick fixed them, just to get the sound he was looking for. People started to notice the improvements. Shortly after, so did top guitar amp companies, like Fane, who hired him to work on their designs as well making cabinets for Bruno amps and many others. But guitar was easy. Bass was a much harder task. He started out to build just a few bass cabinets, but bassists started to line up to get them. So Nick decided it was time to put down his guitar and sticks and start the bass cabinet business for real. The Epifani Custom Sound got underway officially in 1994.
Epifani started out by building their cabinets by hand, one at a time. Nick worked tirelessly with driver manufacturer, Eminence, innovating designs which have been adopted around the industry. Epifani grew, cabinet by cabinet.
The big breakthrough came when Nick met Joey and Vinnie of Fodera - the bass makers for Victor Wooten, Matthew Garrison, Anthony Jackson and many, many other world-famous bassists. When the Fodera heard Nick's cabinets, they were thrilled, stating that Epifani's cabinets that let them hear their basses properly for the first time. Fodera then introduced Nick to their roster of artists. Nick built a 2x12 for Matt Garrison. Then a 3x10 for Lincoln Goines (to be able to compete with Dennis Chambers). And then Nick met his supreme client, who started demanding all sorts of requirements - 1" Baltic Birch woods, silver wiring, custom drivers, etc. That client was none other than Anthony Jackson, who pushed the company to go where no cabinet company has gone before.
The products that put Epifani in the minds of bassists around the world were the NYC at first and then the UL cabinets. This line changed the perception of what a bass cabinet can be - more accurate sound and less weight. In fact, UL cabinets often were half the weight of the typical bass box, while delivering more low-end and significantly cleaner tone.
While Epifani did start as a custom bass cabinet maker, they but quickly moved into the study of bass amplifiers. Nick was working on his first digital amp - in 1999! That's more than a decade ago and years before most others even heard of digital amplifiers. In fact, Nick's first production amps, the UL502/902, released in 2004, were quite a bit ahead of their time. The UL902 head, is an 1800 watt (900 x2) digital amp with a switched mode power supply (SMPS). But more than power, the UL amps became instant classics due to their "studio-grade" preamps and superb sound.
The last few years have seen the expansion of Epifani sound to new products in all price ranges. We now offer an 'entry' line called EpiFunky, and a new top range of speakers call UUL. We feature a 'classic' sounding range called Performance Series. But no matter what the model, price or style, everything emanates from the mind and hands of Nick Epifani.