Brand New Epi Dot: Wow!

[ultrevex]

My neighbor kid just turned 13 and started playing guitar 3 years ago. He's totally hooked, idolizes Angus, soaks in youtube lessons 4 hours a day and recently got interested in blues rock styles. His dad and he came by last evening to show me his newest toy: A brand new, plastic and tags hanging, blonde Epiphone Dot w/ hard case. He's ecstatic.

I've played plenty of Dots in the past, this one has a much more Gibson feeling carve to the dark maple neck. Frets, nut and setup were excellent. Grover tuners felt great. The pickup heights were near perfect. The neck pitch was great, the bridge posts were jacked way up and the action was still lowish, with tons of room for adjustment. The finish looked great. Played unplugged in my reverby foyer, the guitar sounded huge and really woody and resonant.

We took it downstairs to plug in. He wanted to rock out, so I dimed the old Magnatone Troubador and hit it with a treble booster. Yowsah. He was grinning ear to ear and just wailing away, letting notes ring into feedback and digging the vibrato. I was coaching him to switch to the neck, roll down volume, try both pickups, roll tone up and down.... the guitar responded great.

I plugged him into my 68 Deluxe Reverb next, straight in with plenty of reverb and volume on about 6. He grinned even bigger and had a blast exploring the different settings on the guitar. I was blown away by how responsive the stock pickups and controls were. There was no mud and totally usable tone on either pickup with volume anywhere from 3 to 10. Great, warm yet cutting dirt tones whe he was really banging on it.

He switched over to my SG with Antiquities which sounds great but just cant drive the amps like that big hollow body and quickly switched back. Apples to plums but the Epi honestly sounded every bit as good as my Gibson SG. Someone might say better...but this is a friggin Epi, it's not possible, right?

I could tell the kid already was in love but he obviously got a big kick out me oohing and ahhhing over his new guitar. Sick bastard that I am, I couldnt help but do a price check this morning..... hmm, only $399?? Must....resist......hide....credit....card.....

The formula these Chinese factories have settled into is frightening. That is one HELL of a guitar and my little buddy is going to put a lot of hours in on it. Speaking of which, he's stupidly good for 3 years in. He tries to play every lick as fast as he can but he already knows tone , posesses it in his touch and is developing an unreal vocabulary of licks and styles.

I hate him.And his damned nice guitar.

[Soul Man]

Originally Posted by ultrevex

I hate him.And his damned nice guitar.

LOL!

[redgold]

I have a Dot and was fully intending to replace all the electronics... haven't felt the need to yet.

[GAD]

What a cool story!

I think some of the Epi's are better than some of the low-end Gibsons. Score the right Epi and you can get as you put it; a damned nice guitar.

Cool to see a kid so excited too. Must have made your day.

GAD

[kylek350]

I was considering a Gibson J-160e, but then tried the Epiphone EJ-160e. $359 later, I had a used Epi w/ hard case. Regardless of the price, it's honestly a great guitar! The inlays and frets are better than my R8's!

[CitizenCain]

I grabbed a natural finish Dot at GC the other day to try out. It felt great! I have to agree, very solid guitar in both feel and sound.

You mention a dark maple neck. I looked really closely at the neck because I was surprised at how dark the wood is. It sure looks like mahogany to me. It didn't have any of the grain characteristics of maple that I could see. It might make sense since the Studios have mahognay necks, they might be consolidating inventory. With a mahognay neck it's even closer to the ES-335 spec

[ultrevex]

Originally Posted by CitizenCain

I grabbed a natural finish Dot at GC the other day to try out. It felt great! I have to agree, very solid guitar in both feel and sound.

You mention a dark maple neck. I looked really closely at the neck because I was surprised at how dark the wood is. It sure looks like mahogany to me. It didn't have any of the grain characteristics of maple that I could see. It might make sense since the Studios have mahognay necks, they might be consolidating inventory. With a mahognay neck it's even closer to the ES-335 spec

You know, I think it was mahogany. It seemed REALLY dark for maple, although I didn't inspect it too closely. The dad is a fairly serious woodworker and even asked 'Is this neck mahogany'?, I said I thought these came with maple necks but it sure is dark and then we immediately went downstairs to crank it.

Man, that guitar sure felt and sounded Gibsonish. The kid also has an Epi SG, his first decent electric, which is okay but nothing to write home about. It feels nothing like any of my SG's where this Dot felt like a nice 335. The lack of neck binding kind of blows, though.

[CharAznable]

That is good to know..
I haven't played a new one that matches the Korean ones from the late 90's early 2000's. I hope they're really getting better.

[ultrevex]

Originally Posted by GAD

What a cool story!

I think some of the Epi's are better than some of the low-end Gibsons. Score the right Epi and you can get as you put it; a damned nice guitar.

Cool to see a kid so excited too. Must have made your day.

GAD

You've got that right. It's real easy to get bogged down in my world of adult minutia... work deadlines, tax bills, money woes, parental duties, blah blah.

And then the kids, whether mine, theirs or yours show up and start squealing about something they love and it's completely infectious and liberating..... especially when it's over a NEW GUITAR!

I'm going to ask him to bring it back over tonight and teach me some licks!

[mcdonaldkd]

When you find a good Epi Dot it competes well with anything. Recently, I found a MIK '96 Dot in immaculate shape that just felt great and sounded wonderful. I replaced the wiring, jack and pots with RS Guitarworks, replaced the pickups with WCR American Steele (basically a Crossroads neck and Godwood bridge) and put a Tonepros bridge and stop on her. This is my best sounding guitar now - better than my R8. I have had it long enough and played it enough that I know it is not just that "new guitar" feeling any more. Everyone that has played this guitar is blown away by the feel and tone.

Great you can share the excitement of the neighbor kid, too. Enjoy!

[Boogsy]

I have a Epi Dot myself. Much pleased with it but I did do a ton of upgrades just to see how much more it can improve. Really happy with it then and now

[Tone_Terrific]

'Epi's are junk!'
I totally fail to see how that attitude develops.

[kylek350]

Come to think of it, my Epiphone classical guitar totally impresses me as well. Bought it used 10 years ago for $150 and it's still great. Ironically, I've had to do very little to either of my Epiphones over the years, whereas I've had rather extensive setup issues my Gibson and Rickenbacker (both requiring fret levels). Granted, my USA Custom Guitars strat has been one of the most trouble-free, beautifully made guitars I've ever had, but that wasn't cheap.

Hooray for Epiphone!