![Image](http://i.imgur.com/7vPSj1g.jpg)
And it's great. Like so many of us I've been watching the quality of Epiphone guitars creep up year after year and I just don't really see any way that this guitar would be any better.
For starters, the hardware, the tuners feel great (they'll get replaced with locking ones), the bridge is good, the Frequensator tailpiece is solid and well constructed. I'm told the electronics are CTS so Epiphone is just putting the same stuff in there that Gibson does and you can feel it. The pickup selector switch has some noise to it and for a while the bridge pickup only position was intermittent but seems to have reconciled, or maybe I'll need a warranty repair.
The pickups are good, everybody said they would be online and they are. I don't particularly feel any need to change them out for anything else. Of course, this is the first mini-humbucker guitar I've ever had, and it just came today.
The fingerboard is laurel, some examples of that looked a little light, but this one pretty much looks like rosewood to me. I know some people care a lot about what wood the fingerboard is, I've never given a shit. This one is as good as any.
You can see the finish is good, it's great in person. Used to be that Epiphone's finishes were noticeably worse than Gibson's, but this is just wonderful. It seems to be applied lightly.
The guitar is heavy, but not heavier than an ES-335. It's a resonant guitar, a lot of sustain there, and a good acoustic sound for being what it is.
So, yeah, if you were looking at these have at it. It seems that Gibson's philosophy is that Epiphone should be the best guitar they can make in China, no more limiting the quality of the instruments so as to draw a clear distinction between Gibson and Epiphone.
Granted, this is the first Epiphone I've ever owned. Anyway, it's a cool guitar.