Epiphone Studio Dot

Features: 7
2004 perhaps, 22 frets, 335 style, laminated maple body, maple neck/rosewood board, 2 alnico 5 humbuckers, (?linear?) volume, tone, TOM/STP, poor tuners, 24.75" scale. Color is TOMATO w/ black body bind(paint)ing. Think Warhol(a). I absolute love and hate the color, but the black hardware makes it attractive. I'm having a grilled cheese colored pickguard made.

Accessories? It came w/ strings and the receipt. I asked about a free case. The guy said no, and asked me if I wanted to buy a hard case for $100. After I slapped him, he sold me a less-than-padded windbreaker/gig bag for $10.

Sound: 8
Will be used for unplugged practice while traveling. Plugged-in sounds good'ish, 335-like'ish considering cost. Not especially noisy. Bright sounding, like maple, but also has good mids and bottom. Wish for 2 vol/2 tone, I may add them myself. I may add a couple of boutique pickups, but then I'd have to care if it was stolen.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 10
This is why I bought this guitar. Of all of the Epiphones (and Gib$ons too) that I've tried, this had the best nut setup (slightly wider spacing on the higher strings) and most even/level frets/neck that I've ever seen on a pedestrian guitar (and MANY not so pedestrian). I put wide (1 3/4" to 1 7/8") replacement necks on most bolt guitars that I buy anyway, so the neck work is paramount to me. The pickups were adjusted fine, the soup was evenly applied. Very minor finish flaws, if you can see them, you're way too close for my comfort.

Reliability/Durability: N/A
Robustness? I don't play live, and being over 50, don't tend to jump around that much. We'll see if it will it last (and not rust).

Customer Support: 5
Their web site is less than optimum. It ain't broke yet, so I give a 5 because I'm hopeful.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing for about 4 years (this time, the late 60's were a while ago).

If stolen or lost (would ANYONE really steal a tomato colored guitar?), sure, at the same price and setup. If maliciously destroyed due to color, I'd understand.

I love the price and setup. I haven't learned to hate it yet (soup's up!).

I returned to the Mayfield GC 'cuz I knew that they had about 20 decent guitars on clearance (for all of Jan 2005) and I was back in Cleveland that week on business. I tried SG's (I really wanted to like the Gib$on Platinum SG), Jimmy Vaughn Strat, Lite Ash Strats, etc., and none were impressive. As I was walking out the door, I glanced over at this one (it was right in front of the front door, I ignored it earlier 'cuz it was just an ugly cheap Epi) and saw the nut and neck setup. Further inspection sealed this minor deal.

Have a Fender Am Dlx S-1 SSS Strat, MIM Nash Power Tele, Stu Hamm II bass, Squier P-Bass Special ($50 new - GC), Carvin AE185 and 6 string walnut active bass, Godin xtLG?, Parker P-38, MPC Electra 340 (best LP style I've ever heard), Valley Arts Tele, Ibanez 540 Ghostrider, Variax 500, Kramer XB-9 aluminum neck active stereo bass. I've owned about 20 others over the past 4 years (rediscovering the toys of my youth). Have 4 Warmoth projects currently in the oven.

Amps are Fender Bassman 100, Cyber Deluxe, Acoustisonic Pro, and some Crate bass amp that I lent to someone(?).

Effects are GT-6, ME-50, VG-88, and various discrete pedals.

Submitted by ChrisK at 01/17/2005 19:01

Features: 9
2004, Made in China. Laminated maple top and body. Rosewood Fingerboard. 2 Vintage Alnico Pick-ups. 24.75" scale. All black hardware, Stopbar Tailpiece. A little short on features - one volume, one tone, and a 3-way pick-up selector switch. Mine came a nice glossy black. The features and the finish keeps it simple yet elegant.

Sound: 10
Great Sound! I play rock and some jazz and it fits perfectly. I've been alternating between Marshall and Roland Amps and am very happy with the results from both. Distortion is good, but clean the sound is excellent - rich and full.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 10
Mine came beautifully finished and set-up. Perhaps keeping it simple helps. Mine is all black and looks pretty darn elegant.

Reliability/Durability: 9
I've only had it for a few weeks, but, it seems exceptionally well built and promises to hold up well.

Customer Support: 10
I've dealth with Epiphone/Gibson in the past and they were terrific. I had an issue trying to identify an SG Model and they were very helpful. (Great guitar too - turns out they had built it as a custom model for a dealer contest that ended up not happening.) At any rate they went out of their way to help.

Overall Rating: 10
I love this guitar. It's simple and straight forward. While it may be considered a little shy on features by some, it has a beautiful sound. I find it rather Zen like. This guitar does everything I want and does it very well. I wouldn't mind an additional volume and tone control, but, considering the price, this guitar is one of the best deals out there.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/01/2004 07:54

Features: 8
This guitar is new "2004". Made in China, inspected in USA. Twenty two frets that are well and smoothly dressed. Laminated maple top, one volume and tone control for the two uncovered humbuckers. This guitar is styled like the Gibson 335, two "f" holes, no pick guard and stop tailpiece. Mine has a very fast flat, not too wide medium neck and finger board. This one is painted shiny black with cream colored binding, with black hardware. This guitar is very impressive in this price range. Volume knob is very close to the bridge which is very good for my style of playing. Can do volume swells very well with this set-up.

Sound: 10
This guitar can suit just about any style with the exception of metal. I play contemporary Christian with jazz,rock, r&b influences. I tried this guitar with fender amps. Sounds very good. Very bluesy, excellent for blues, sound with a lot of crunch. Pickups are not noisy like I've heard on some of the reviews. Full sounding, medium bright/mellow depending on your setting. The only dislike that I have is that you cannot control the tone of each pickup individually:very minor dislike.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 8
I've tried several of these guitars and each one felt different as far as height of strings, neck thickness and fingerboard width. I chose the one that suited my taste and I'll have minor adjustments made as with any guitar that is new. I could not find any flaws in this instrument. I've been playing over thirty years and I own top quality instruments and some ugly ducklings too. This is definately not an ugly duckling.

Reliability/Durability: 6
This guitar looks just as sturdy to me as the upper class "Epi's". It's built well and neat. Hardware looks good but may be deceiving in quality compared to Gibsons or the Elite class of Epiphones. A bit too soon to make judgments on this guitar. Finish looks good but I'm just a bit afraid that the black may start to wear in time. I would use without a backup.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with Epiphone before. I'm not sure about the warranty.

Overall Rating: 10
I have too much gear to list. I play mostly Gibson guitars and this is as close to Gibson as I could find at a very economical price. I have compared this to various dot Epi's, Sheratons, Gibson ES333's, Ibanez Artcore and Hamer Echotones, and I always came back to this guitar, not because of the cost but because it is a great sounding instrument and is not a copy of a "335" but a great sounding guitar in its own right.

Submitted by OMW at 08/12/2004 13:34

Features: 6
New model 2004. Made in China. Top, sides, back all made of laminated maple which is plywood. One volume and one tone control. Two humbuckers. Painted shiney sky blue, neck is also painted. Neck is supposed to be maple. Fretboard is rosewood. Tuners are very cheap black. No case or gig bag. Not even a tag on the guitar.

Sound: 9
I play da blues, jazz, rock. Suites them all. Sounds especially good through Tube amp, slightly crunchy. Thick, warm sound, but not harsh even at loud volumes. Not much variety here, but that's what the tone controls on the amp are for. My rating is based on guitars <$500
so it may seem high, but I really like the sound clean and dirty.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 3
Here is where I have a problem. Nut was about 1/8 inch higher on the low E side than the high E side. Needed some filing of the nut and the first fret. First fret was about 1/16" higher than second fret. Needed filing. Buzz was severe. Action was extremely high. I fixed all the problems myself.

Reliability/Durability: 1
I would gig with this - in China! If it broke it probably will not be worth fixing, basically a throw-away guitar.

Customer Support: 1
Long distance to China seems expensive. Do they even have cell phones there? I fixed all the probems myself, they were severe quality flaws. No warrenty as far as I know.

Overall Rating: 4
Been playing 20 years. Owned every major brand guitar and amp there is, this is my second Epi. First buzzed like hell too. I should have noticed the weird nut when I bought it, my mistake. If it were stolen I would rejoice and be glad. Gibson does not even put their little logo on the truss rod cover. Smart move. This guitar is for beginners or some one on a budget. Sounds good, very poorly crafted.

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/25/2004 20:18

Features: 7
Made in China. I hate to think how old the laborers are who made this. Made completely out of plywood (top, back, and sides). Maple neck? It's painted, not sure why. I'm sure it's a softer maple of low quality. Has two vintage Alnico pickups. They are not humbuckers, dispite having two coils, weird. Mine is a funky blue color. Single tone and volume contols, no case or gig bag. I always deduct at least 2 points just for that alone. The neck looks like rosewood, probably a very inexpensive variety.

Sound: 8
I use this for blues, jazz, and heavy distorion sounds. Sounds very good clean, but pickups are a bit noisy. Sounds great with a lot of gain. Good sustain for a plywood guitar. Pickups sound a little harsh when cranked, but about what you'd expect in this price range.
Has a dull, flat, sound compared to my LP which is not nesessarily a bad thing. I play through a Marshall tube combo amp and a cyber deluxe, although when I bought it I used a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb and a Marshall tranny amp. Sounds awesome through the Deluxe, not bad in the tranny amp.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 9
Set up needed adjustment badly. Action was way high, but the guitar tech adjusted it before I walked out with it, now it is about the same as my strat. It's hard to see any flaws in a guitar made completely of plywood, the paint is so thick, even the entire neck is painted except for the fretboard. The fretwork is oerfect, no buzz. Slight intonation around 5th fret, no big deal, it can be tweaked out. Black stipes painted around the edges look cool. Tuners are about as cheap as they come.

Reliability/Durability: 7
I would gig with this guitar in a heartbeat. I have no idea how well it will hold up, made in China with Chinese materials. Craftsmanship does seem extremely good for a guitar of this price. I'm not sure I want to give it any points becuase it is plywood made in China and I haven't had it long enough to rate it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
For the price, a very good deal. If you know your wood, you may not like this. Maple laminated = plywood. If that doesn't bother you and you believe this is not made by forced labor school children, consider the pickups, they are very cheap but sound very good. It's not as bad I make it sound. I have been playing 20 years and own high quality stuff. It's a well made guitar and plays great, just don't expect it to sound like the Gibson 335 version for $1500.

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/16/2004 19:35