Epiphone Steel String Guitars

Bought from Guitar Center, for around $550. I was looking for a ALL SOLID WOOD guitar for a good price, I found the Guild models ''for around $600'' first but did not like the sound nor the construction. Then I came across the AJ-500m. This is the finest instrument I have played in a long time, the sound has a more mellow but not too dark sound, and has amazing tone, the bass strings are boomy and loud without any nasty sounds like some more expensive guitars ive played. The constructioon is flawless, I am picky, the slightest scratch or wood imperfection annoys me, I scanned this thing from top to bottom and it is Perfect. The guitar actually has a classy look to it too, it has the sloped shoulders which makes it very attractive, and has a very cool looking pickguard as well that holds up. Nothing, except maybe the lack of the top strap button, but thats about the smallest problem Ive ever had, im installing one for about $10 so NOT a big deal. As I stated before, amazing construction, THE THING I LIKE MOST about the construction is it looks like it has ''soul'' guitars nowadays have layers of SHINY gloss on them which to me... makes them look fake, this has a protective coat of somthing, but has absolutely no glossy shine, you can actually feel the fine grains of the solid mohagony top. This for the price should be the best guitars in the world, for $500, you get a solid top, back and sides - ALL SOLID WOODAlso amazing sounds and tone and looks PLUS you get the best guitar case ever made, its a hardshell wrapped in a soft shell, thats the best I can describe it. Even has a moisture meter inside to measure the moisture in the case. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Bought new at Long & McQuade in Toronto, paid $600 Canadian. I was looking for a good sounding acoustic guitar for awhile, tried the Dove, Jumbo and also some other makes, but none were as good value in my opinion. The action is not extremely low but it is a very playable guitar. Very easy to strum or finger pick. Plays great for country & western, folk, and I also do some old rockabilly and very early Elvis tunes (Sun Studio vintage) and it rocks pretty good too. Wonderful deep sound with good sustain. Tuners seem to be okay, no problems syating in tune. Good straight neck. Body is easy to hold and well balanced. The color is very nice in vintage cherry sunburst. Gets lots of compliments. The only complaint so far (I've had it 2 months), is that the hummingbird has actually worn off of the pickguard already. I play it about 6 hours a day though, but some of the artwork on the pickguard is starting to disappear from both the pick and my fingers resting there during hand strumming or finger-picking. Other than that; zero complaints. Very solid. Body and neck joint looks clean and well fitted. Fretboard is very good and easy to play. Go for it! This is great value for the money. I tried out several other very expensive acoustics, including Gibson and this guitar sounds as good or better for much less money. I am so impressed with the guitar that I am now going to invest in an Epi Dot as well. You will like the Epi Hummingbird. It is difficult to put it down. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased this guitar from a reliable retail web site. My EJ-200 is in the high gloss "Natural" blonde finish. The purchase price was discounted to $377.00, and I have just had it about two months. I purchased this guitar for it's excellant looks, workmanship, fit and finish. I also had a well known, after market under saddle pick up system installed. This is a beautifully made guitar. The workmanship is excellant. The quality has to be seen to be appreciated. The factory set up was very good. But for my playing taste, I lowered the neck string-action a bit. It plays great when rhythum chording for country music, folk or rock. My EJ-200 is a "Jumbo" size guitar. It has a maple laminated spruce top, and laminated maple sides, and back. It does not have the deep booming sound that a solid spruce top would give it. I knew this when I bought the guitar, but my purpose was to use mainly through an amp. Unplugged, this guitar has a very tenor sound, with short sustain. My only dislike for my EJ-200, is the lack of a solid spruce top at least. Epiphone would do well to to consider that. As I said, this is a quality, solidly built guitar, with no short cuts. The fit, finish and appearance is excellant. It is a strudy, quality instrument. I bought this guitar, knowing the slight short comings, of its unplugged sound. But I mainly use it for my intended purpose of playing with a band, and amplified. Witout the sound improvement of a solid spruce top, in it's own right, it is still a worthy purchase for anyone. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased at West End Music, Allentown PA $269. I am an intermediate player just getting back into music after many years off. I played electric (Fender Strat) guitar in wedding and club bands years ago. I wanted a easy-playing acoustic to learn bluegrass and flatpicking on. I orignially anticipated spending a lot more money on an all solid wood, big name-brand quitar. The tech at West End did a great job in tweeking the set up of this guitar. It plays great. The action is incredibly low and even all the way up the neck. The neck is a bit narrow, much like my old 76 strat. I don't have very big hands so it fits me fine. The smaller body size is very comfortable to play. It's also a light guitar. I was just stunned at how easy this quitar played. I played many more expensive guitars at other stores that did not play near as well. I got tired of salesmen saying about a $1,000+ guitar, "with new strings and a little setup work this guitar will play and sound perfect." It has a good mid-range sound that will fit the flatpicking fiddle tunes I am working on. It doesn't have a lot of bass response and probably would not project very well in a bigger room. The price paid for the low action is a slight buzz above the 10th fret on the low E, which is really not a problem. I think the Epiphone emblem on the pick guard is downright ugly. It's a plain-jane instrument, that's for sure. But the fit and finish are really quite good. Fretting is even and smooth. It's pretty lightweight so I don't know if it can stand much knocking around. For the price I think this is a great guitar. I picked up this guitar "just for fun" and was so impressed by how easy it was to play up and down the neck that I had to buy it. It would be great for a beginner to intermediate player. The tone is really quite nice too. I can still see buying a more expensive acoustic down the line, but this Epiphone will do me just fine for now. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com