Epiphone launches Eric Church's Hummingbird Dark signature acoustic, with a Gibson-tonewood whiskey

Gibson and country artist Eric Church unveiled a new signature acoustic on July 8, 2026: the Epiphone Eric Church Hummingbird Dark, a $799 acoustic-electric in a moody Cobra Burst gloss finish with black binding and a custom Hummingbird Dark pickguard (Gibson). It brings Church's higher-tier, Gibson-branded Hummingbird signature down to an Epiphone price point, and it is available now with a hardshell case printed with a reproduction of his own signature.

Church described the guitar's role in his own songwriting process in Gibson's launch copy: "We've been working on this Epiphone Hummingbird Dark, and it's been with me out on the road for the past two years. It's where songs take shape, where ideas turn into something real. I'm excited for other players to get their hands on it and see where it leads them" (Gibson Gazette).

The Hummingbird Dark is a square-shouldered dreadnought, Gibson's classic Hummingbird body shape, built from a solid European spruce top over layered mahogany back and sides. Its 4-inch "Performer" body depth runs slightly slimmer front-to-back than a standard dreadnought, a comfort and balance choice rather than a tone downgrade. Black single-ply binding runs across the top, back, and fretboard for the guitar's dark, near-monochrome look, and the fretboard's grey pearloid split parallelogram inlays continue the theme (Gibson).

The set mahogany neck uses a Rounded C profile with a 12-inch fretboard radius and 20 frets, built to a 24.76-inch scale length. Grover Rotomatic tuners handle tuning stability on a Kalamazoo-style headstock, finished with a mother-of-pearl Epiphone logo, a Gibson crown inlay, and a gold reproduction of Church's own signature on the back. For plugging in, it carries a Fishman Presys VT preamp paired with a Fishman Sonicore under-saddle pickup, powered by a 9-volt battery that is not included.

Gibson's own spec sheet for the Hummingbird Dark lists its factory string gauge as .012 to .053, a standard light acoustic set, six strings. What it does not do is name a brand, so CYS is not going to guess one. What we can do honestly is point to the exact-gauge match already in our own catalog: D'Addario's EJ16 Phosphor Bronze Light, the same .012 to .053 spread, a common choice for a mahogany and spruce dreadnought that wants a warm, balanced tone. Full sourced breakdown of Church's gear lives on his CYS profile.

The launch's odder detail: Church's own JYPSI distillery released two whiskeys alongside the guitar, both finished using toasted maple tonewood offcuts left over from Gibson guitar production. Tonewood: Vol. 1 comes in at 109 proof with mature oak, vanilla, and honey-like flavors; Tonewood: The Collective sits at 103 proof with a smokier, graham-cracker character (Guitar World). It is not a string story, and CYS is not going to force one, but it is a genuinely unusual pairing: a guitar and a bottle sharing the same scrap wood.