I purchased this Guitar from Music 123 on the internet for $750 plus $85 for the hardshell plush lined case. They were having a special with free shipping for orders over $99. I wanted an Archtop Electric for good clean tones and the ability to play without an amp if I so choosed. From my own experience and others opinions the neck is better on some of the Epiphone's than alot of Gibsons. It is a beautiful natural maple color with a wonderfully straight neck and lots of detail. It comes with 2 gold Humbucker's and a gold frequensator tailpiece. It has the dot inlays on the upper side of the fret board for instant identification of the pertinent frets. The rosewood finger board comes with large "pearl" inlay. The headstock is black with beautiful design "pearl" inlay and gold mult-turn shaller keys for ultra fine tuning. Its tone is gordeous electrafied and nice by itself. There was no fret buzz on the one I purchased. I love the action of this guitar with slightly lighter guage strings than the original .013-.056 that it came with. The sound of the original strings were rich and vibrant. Intonation was slightly off making it a little difficult to tune without a tuner as it came to me from the manufacturer. This was due to the one piece wooden bridge saddle with no adjustment execept for string height. I easily corrected this by purchasing a gold metal bridge saddle with adjustable saddles for $19 plus tax at Guitar Center. As with most gold plating care must be taken to keep it from wearing off at some point in the future. As with all hollowbody electrics they will tend to feedback readily if too close to the amp with higher volumes. I have read where one can purchase "f" hole covers to counter act this inherent problem. Personally I had to really crank the amp up while playing in my bedroom to achieve feedback. The construction is laminated maple on the sides and back with spruce on the top. The neck is solid maple with a rosewood fingerboard. The Gibson's are typically solid wood while the Epiphones are laminated. Most likely one of the reasons for the lower cost. This is a subsidiary of Gibson, though assembled in Korea the setup is in the USA. Unlike a solid body electric that can take lots of punishment, one must take precautions not to drop or bang this guitar around. With proper care and maintence it should give many years of pleasure to the owner. This is an excellent value for those who wish to purchase a wide body archtop electric. Very good for Jazz, Blues, country, or pop. I would recommend a solid body for rock though. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
(Originally written by nado64/translated from Audiofanzine FR) *** Where was it made? *** made in Korea *** How many frets, what kind of pickups and what is the pickup configuration? *** 20 frets, six over the body. Two humbucker pickups. *** What kind of bridge (Floyd Rose, Wilkinson....)? *** Floating bridge with locking string system to reduce the vibrations. *** What about controls (volume, tone, pickup selector...)? *** Volume and tone controls for each pickup. *** What kind of neck? *** Standard Epiphone/Gibson neck. 2-color inlays. *** Misc *** Golden hardware. Natural finish. Maple body. Spruce top. Nice-looking guitar, average finish and details, varnish is too thick at some edges. No noise. Epiphone version of the Gibson L5. UTILIZATION *** Is the neck comfortable? *** Yes the neck feels very pleasant, much more than its competitors. *** Is the access to the upper frets easy? *** No remarks. *** Is the instrument ergonomic (body shape, weight...)? *** Considering the size, it's a real jazz guitar. The body is very thick. It's a great asset for the sound but it can be annoying if you have short arms. Otherwise, no problems. *** Is it easy to get the right sound? *** This guitar was conceived for jazz and jazz only! You quickly get a good sound using the neck pickup and setting the tone control to 2-3. SOUNDS *** Does it fit your music style? *** Yes, I play jazz and the guitar is wonderful for that sort of music. *** Which amp(s) or effect(s) do you use it with? *** Roland Jazz-Chorus 20 but a Fender also sounds very good. *** What kind of sounds do you get and which settings do you use ("crystal-clear", "fat", ...)? You get a super jazz sound even unplugged. It has simply a nice tone. Settings: flat-wound Thomastik strings, Dunlop Jazz III pick, tone control at 2-3. The sound is the main asset of this guitar. I guess you won't hear a huge difference if you compare it to an L-5. OVERALL OPINION *** How long have you been using it? *** One year. *** Which feature do you like the most / the least? *** I like its jazz look and sound. I don't like the average-quality finish. *** Did you try any other models before buying it? *** Yes. Peerless, Epiphone Joe Pass, Ibanez, etc. *** How would you rate its value for money? *** The guitar is worth its price. *** Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? *** Yes, I'm pretty satisfied with this guitar. I strongly recommend it to all jazz fans. I would definitely buy it again if I was looking for this type of guitar in this price range.
