Epiphone Limited Edition 1963 AJ-45 Round Shoulder Dreadnought

Classic slope-shoulder dreadnought; vintage sunburst finish; mahogany bridge, neck, back and sides and solid spruce top; rosewood fingerboard on very comfortable neck. Has excellent chrome Grover tuners ($65 value alone!) Cream binding on neck and body. A stunningly beautiful guitar to look at!

Not a bad sound for a newer wood guitar. Obviously it will be more rich sounding as it ages/dries. Very punchy, tight sound right now. Nice sustain and natural tone overall. A better quality set of strings are an immediate upgrade, as the stock strings on new guitars are usually very cheap. A bone nut and new bridge would help, so I may invest in those down the road. Very comfortabel to play - I love the feel of the neck!

The action right out of the box is fine. Actually was still in tune when it arrived, too. Very few flaws that I could find. Some of the binding was off color in places, and there is some extra glue at some edges of the frets and sound hole. Just a bit of over-spray where the black paint meets the mahogany edge of the headstock, but not a big deal really. Overall it seems that it was inspected well before shipping - good QC at the factory and warehouse. The sunburst finish is incredible, especially for the low price paid. Does not look cheap like some SB paint jobs out there.

It feels like something that will last a lifetime if cared for properly. All well-made and solid construction. Nothing seems cheap to me at this point. But, only time will tell. But I plan to paly the heck out of it for years to come. I would gig with it, if needed. I think it would hold up nicely.

Has the standard Epiphone warranty and I've never had to deal with them in the past, so not much info here yet. I'll assume the best until I have direct experience (but hopefully I won't)

I've been playing for about 17 years and I've owned a ton of equipment (as most gearheads). I have owned more guitars, amps and pedals in the past than I can recall, honestly. Many of course I wish I'd held onto. Now I'm down to an old 80's Alvarez acoustic, 1988 USA Fender 62 RI strat, early 80's MIJ Fender 62 RI Telecaster Custom, a Fender-parts P-Bass, 1966 Fender BF piggyback Bassman amp, and 1/2 dozen or so vintage Boss effects pedals, and this new Epi AJ-45, of course. I play and record into my eMac for mixing (still earning that). I chose this guitar because I've always loved the J-45 style and sound but can't afford/justify the price of a Gibson version (perhaps someday). This was close enough for me and for $300 new it's a winner. I'd higly recommend one. You can't get a better quality instrument that looks and plays this nice for $300....period.