Looking for advice on Epiphone hollowbodies...

[cpeck]

I have slight hankering for a 335-esque guitar lately.  I don't want to spend a ton of money on a Gibson, but I can probably fork out what is necessary for an Epiphone version of a Gibson classic.  Are there things I should be aware of?  I certainly want it to be playable and sound decent....but this is new non-offset  territory for me

[spaceghost]

my friend has one of those matte finish Epi Dot guitars. it sounds great, even the stock pickups. they aren't as throaty as the real ones, but they are definately choice guitars.

[woody]

The Epi Dot, in any of its forms, can be a very decent guitar. Play as many as you can and find a peach.

[monark]

i bought a sheraton at a guitar shop, it's one of the ones that says "epiphone by gibson" in pearloid on the headstock, and it's a great guitar. fully bound, pretty inlay work on the neck and headstock, plays and sounds great. at $700 with a hard case i think i probably overpaid a bit, but guitar shops in NYC are expensive and i really wanted a semi-hollow.

i've read some really bad reviews of the epi dot 335, but also some people seem to get good ones sometimes, you can't really know until you play the specific one i suppose.

another thing you might look for is epiphone elitist guitars on ebay, they were made in japan to much higher quality standards than regular korean or chinese epis.

also try looking for orville or burny 335s, more MIJ stuff that shouid be really nice and significantly cheaper than gibson 335s. Lately though it seems like people  want ridiculous money for those on the bay, to where you might as well pay a few hundred more for a used gibson.

[Sonic Youthz]

Yea, definitely check out the elitist series Epiphones, if that's still around that will be the closest thing to a Gibson 335 for under 1000

[flatfiver]

The Epi Dot, in any of its forms, can be a very decent guitar. Play as many as you can and find a peach.

I agree - I've found Epis to be real hit or miss in my experience.  The good ones are good, though.  I used to have a Korean-made Joe Pass model that was real nice.

Edwards makes some nice looking 335s; a wee bit more than a Dot, but still way less than a Gibby.
http://www.guitarjapan.com/edwards/spec ... 18lts.html
http://www.guitarjapan.com/edwards/spec ... 30ltc.html

[chrisjedijane]

I know a guy with a Sheraton and a couple of guys with Dots, and they're nice guitars. Definitely try to play a couple though, and pick the one you like best.

I played the Dot Studio and didn't really like it - it felt cheap to me

[Orang Goreng]

You may want to check out this thread as well.

Which reminds me...has anyone heard from Mewit recently? Has he been murdered by the guys who stole his amp? Did Spud's aliens take him? Should we send out an offsetguitars.com search party?

[Tweez]

You may want to check out this thread as well.

Which reminds me...has anyone heard from Mewit recently? Has he been murdered by the guys who stole his amp? Did Spud's aliens take him? Should we send out an offsetguitars.com search party?

Maybe he got bored and sold himself.

[manwith2brains25]

Should we send out an offsetguitars.com search party?

i think your onto something.

[chrisjedijane]

I think Tweez is onto something...

[HeartfeltDawn]

My Epi Dot is a 1999 build, Korean, made in the Saein factory. If you're browsing through Ebay, see what you can pick up there and ask them the serial number. I got lucky two years ago and picked up an Epi Dot from 1999 with a Bigsby, Gibson Classic 57 pickup at the bridge position, locking Planet Waves tuners (which were horrible) and a gaphite nut for under $300. Nice player, sold it on for a good profit even after shipping to the UK.

My Dot has a bone nut, locking Grover tuners, Bare Knuckle Stormy Monday PAF at the bridge, totally rewired and it sounds fabulous. I have a Sheraton and didn't like it. The inlays didn't do it for me, the stock pickups were bad and the whole guitar was ridiculously heavy, especially at the headstock. That one also got sold on for a good profit

If you're in the US and you fancy something well made and vintage-ish, go for this. If I had the money, I'd drop some dollars on this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... &rd=1&rd=1


But alas, I need the money for my dear Ibanez 355 needs some work next month.







yes that is tape holding the pickups down. She's beautiful, 335s and 355s are my favourite guitars, although the JM is certianly making it's presence felt now I have one...

[HeartfeltDawn]

Oh yes, someone said Orvilles were getting expensive.. too right. I just sold mine last month for $1400 here in the UK. Really I could have put a Buy It Now of £750 and I think it would have gone.

[ManBearPig]

Epihones are pretty decent.. I HIGHLY recommend a Supernova, and have had good experiences with the Sheraton II line alltogether... Elitist are great, but you have a lot of decent choices all-around....!

I love my Supernova, and though I've gotten offers for it up to four-times what I paid (I guess they didn't have Ebay?). I doubt I would ever part with it...


I have the Union Jack version, but there's a blue one on Ebay for "Buy it Now" 625.00 (US) right now... I can tell you they go for over a thousand quite frequently since they stopped making them, if they are in good shape...

[Oyster Boy]

I'm a big fan of the Casino. It's a real epiphone, from back when they were their own company, not just a subsidiary of gibson. If you get a newer, non-jon lennon, version it's about 600 bucks. It's pretty beatle-y. Jon used one, george had one, and Noel gallagher has one.