Epiphone Masterbilt AJ500ME

Masterbilt's lowest price acoustic/electric. Solid spruce top, mahagony sides and back. Binding on front of body and neck. Satin finish. Bone nut and saddle piece. Esonic 2 pickup system with two pickups; one at the end of the neck and interior mic stle. Built in tuner. Typical EQ. "Jumbo" size with sloped shoulders. Not a lot of curvature and I have read preferences for a more curved body style lending itself to it being more comfortable on the lap.

Bright without being tinny, warm. I think the voicing of this guitar is wonderful. Projects really well fingerstyle, with a pick its loud and I have heard it called a "banjo killer" which is a good term.

The Epiphone fit and finish on these Chinese models is outstanding. Binding is very well done. Mahogony back is well matched. Tuners are a nickel and gold combination, open backed and high quality. Guitar stays in tune. Onboard tuner is an added benefit to this guitar. I have had no problems with the electronics. I live the stickpin headstock and old school logo. The satin finish kind of disguises the quality of this guitar, so you can't say this guitar is stagey in any sense. No abolone around the soundhole or such stuff.

There are a lot of the factory second floating around with the "used" stamp that voids the warranty. I paid full retail at $549 and got a case from Sweetwater.com for only $60. $600 out the door with a lifetime warranty from Epiphone for a guitar of this quality is a great deal.

No issues, thus no opinion.

I am converting back to guitar after years of playing bass. First real acoustic I have owned and I was on a budget. I played Martins, Taylors, Guilds, Seagulls, Breedloves, Recording Kings, Fenders in the $300 to $1200 price range and this Masterbilt slayed them all in terms of full bodied, warm, playable, well-constructed instument. In my younger years I was name brand conscious, I am sorry to say, as well as being US made bias. This is just a great guitar for the money and I would not hesitate recommending this model.

I BOUGHT A EPIPHONE MASTERBILT GUITAR, IS SOUNDED GREAT BUT WOULD EAT THE BATTERIES IN 2 DAYS. I HAVE HAD A HARD TIME TRYING TO GET AN ANSWER FOR THIS PROBLEM. I FINALLY FOUND OUT ON MY OWN. IS IS A FAIRLY SIMPLE REPAIR THAT REOUIRES NO PARTS, IF ANYNOE NEEDS TO KNOW HOW TO REPAIR THIS PROBLEM JUST E MAIL ME AND I WILL GIVE YOU MY NUMBER TO EXPLIN HOW TO REPAIR THIS PROBLEM. GPICKINGBOB3@YAHOO.COM

No need to go into the details as they are already in several of the reviews here. Today I went to my local music store to request that they bring one in for me to try out and they actually had one in stock that arrived yesterday. I played it and it was instant satisfaction. Mine in particular is a natural finish and has the stereo pickups; the nanomag and the nanoflex. I've got a few guitars and this one is as well appointed and finished as any of them and better than some. The neck is perfect. I can't find any flaws with it.

I'm not an acoustic player normally but this is one of, if not, the best sounding acoustic guitars I've ever played. I've tried Martins, Gibsons, Alvarez, Fender, Taylor, etc and found many of them lacking in some respect. I can't say the same for this one. I have another Epiphone acoustic, an EJ-200, that sounds very nice as well but nothing I've played has the warm, full sound that this one has. It's got nice highs and well-rounded tones instead of the boominess that I find in some of the higher-end instruments. True, I've only had it for 7 hours but I like it a lot. It sounds very nice through my solid state amp and the mixture of the pickups works quite well for what I like to hear from a guitar.

The action, fit and finish are very nice. No flaws that I can find.

It seems like it could stand a bit of abuse. I'll never test that theory though.

Dunno.

I don't know what Mr. Carter got but he must have gotten the lemon in the batch. I can't say anything bad about this thing. After a few months of playing it, we'll see, but at first blush, it is one of the nicest acoustic guitars I've ever played. I've been playing for over 30 years and I've got several other acoustics, including a vintage Gibson 12 String, but this Epi just works for me. I've played quite a few Epi Acoustics, from the DR series to the Masterbilt series, and find them to be generally more even-toned than a lot of the Gibsons and Martins I've played. I'd definitely get another if I had to.

MY EPIPHONE MASTERBILT AJ500E CAME WITH A SATIN FINISH, THE FINISH WAS UNEVEN IN SEVERAL PLACES ON THE GUITAR BODY. THE AUTHORIZED EPIPHONE DEALER ADVERTISED LR BAGGS PICKUP, MY EPIPHONE CAME WITH A E-SONIC PERAMP PICKUP. FROM AN AUTHORIZED EPIPHONE REPAIR SHOP I WAS TOLD THE GUITAR NECK WAS WARPED AT THE 8TH FRET

THIS GUITAR HAS A NICE RICH FULL SOUND THAT IS INTERUPTED BY THE BUZZING OF THE E-SONIC 2 PREAMP. THE PREAMP VIBRATES VERY LOUD. THE E-SONIC 2 PERAMP WORKED FOR 2 HOURS THEN STOPPED WORKING. THE EPIPHONE AUTHORIZE REPAIR SHOP TOLD ME THE E-SONIC PREAMP DIED.

THE ACTION WAS A BIT HIGH. THE SATIN FINISH WAS UNEVEN. AN AUTHORIZED EPIPHONE SHOP TOLD ME THE GUITAR NECK WAS WARPED AT THE 8TH FRET

MY EPIPHONE MASTERBILT AJ500ME HAS NOT BEEN RELIABLE. THE E-SONIC 2 PREAMP AND PICKUP STOPPED WORKING AFTER 2 HOURS. IN 2 MONTHS THE GUITAR NECK WARPED AT THE 8TH FRET. GO TO EPIPHONE FORUM AND READ THE REVEIWS ON THE E-SONIC 2, MANY PROBLEMS.

EPIPHONE ANSWERS QUICKLY. WHEN I ASK THEM I WANT MY MONEY BACK, THEY KEEP TELLING ME IT'S UNDER WARRINTY.

THIS IS THE WORST GUITAR I HAVE EVER OWNED. I CAN'T BELIEVE EPIPHONE WOULD PRODUCE A GUITAR WITH SUCH POOR QUALITY.

This is considered to be an American Jumo. However, it isnt as bulky as the jumbo's I've played. It's really just a tad bit bigger than a drednought. The AJ500ME comes in a couple of color options. They both have a satin finish. I have the natural color (AJ500MENS). As others have pointed out, this model has a solid spruce top and solid mahogany neck, back and sides. The fret board is rosewood. The grain on the fretboard is very nice and tight. The neck on this thing overall is very nice. The frets are dressed very well and are installed nicely. There are no rough ends on the fret as you slide your hand up and down the top side and underside of the neck.

I've heard there are two types of electronics that are usually installed on these guitars. Mine has a baggs element under the bridge and doesnt have any EQ or preamp. The only sound control is a small volume "finger wheel" mounted just inside the sound hole. It didnt come with any type of gigbag or case (but I had one). It did come with a humidifier.

The sound of this guitar is very rich and well balanced between the low's mids and highs. The lows are boomy but very tight. The mids are pleasant to my ears as are the highs. The highs are not bell like, as you would find on a Taylor, but for half the price of a Taylor 300 series, this guitar sounds great.

I like folk, delta blues and a little country and this guitar will perform all of them.

After a couple of failed attempts by the Guitar Center 2hrs away to get the right guitar from their warehouse delived to the store, the manager had this one drop shipped from the supplier to my house. It arrived well packaged but needed a neck adjustment (action was a bit high). Also the factory strings were not that great. I had my local shop set it up and string it with some Elixers (11's). WOW, what a difference.

Aside from the initial setup, everything else on the guitar is flawless. I looked the entire thing over and everything was perfect.

I dont gig, so I cant speak for the live playing thing. The hardware seems to be good quality and I dont see why this thing wont out last me. The machine heads seem to operate very smooth and the guitar seems to stay in tune (new strings, so slight adjustments before playing).

No problems yet. Limited lifetime warranty. Make sure you get online and register your warranty. Epiphone says you only have 15 days from purchase to get this done.

I've been dinking around with guitars for about 15 yrs. I know a few chords and just enough to be dangerous.

If this were stolen, I'd get me another one of these. I demo'd about 8-10 guitars in this price range and none sounded as nice as this one. In my opinion, the next step up from this guitar is the Taylor 300 series (but again, double the cost of this guitar).

If I could change one thing, it would be that they offered this exact guitar in a drednought shape. This is pretty close but is considered an Amercan Jumbo with a sloped shoulder.

Finish is a satin sunburst finish
Jumbo body
nickel? grover tuners
neck is kind of thick but not uncomfortable
rosewood fingerboard
came with a humidifier
made in china 2007
20 frets
solid spruce top
solid Mahogany back and sides
a shadow pickup system with 2 pickups,you can blend to get it to sound pretty much any way you want has 2 jacks and can be run stereo
has onboard tuner and eq
mahogany neck

this guitar sounds great acoustically or plugged in I play mostly folk rock but this guitar could be used for pretty much any style playing with the pickups you can get all different sounds
very deep bass,and really clear mids and highs very well balanced.
the only thing I would have like better would be a gloss finish ,but the satin finish grows on you.

they factory set up is really good,could be slightly lower action,but no big thing can be set up by a tech to play amazingly
the finish and workmanship is as close to flawless as you can get looks very clean inside and out,no sharp fret ends great guitar

I think this guitar will last a life time with proper care
the hardware is fine
finish looks like it will hold up
seems like a very dependable guitar
I would use it without a backup guitar no problem

haven`t needed any repairs I own an EJ300S I`ve had for about 3 or 4 years and that`s never needed any warranty work,it`s been a great guitar.
comes with a limited lifetime warranty
never had to deal with Epiphone so far

I have been playing 34 years
if it were stolen I would buy another one in a minute
I love the tone of this guitar both acoustically and plugged in,but I`m more into how it sounds acoustically most mediocre guitars can sound good eq`d going though an amp or PA but a great acoustic sound on it`s own is what I look for most and this guitar has amazing tone
if you want one of these grab it they are never in stock for too long.I wanted a DR500P also but couldn`t find anyone that had any in stock.

This is a satin finish, slope-shouldered jumbo acoustic 6-string guitar with mahogany back, sides and neck, a spruce top, and a rosewood fingerboard. The neck seems to be thinner than other acoustics I've tried, only slightly thicker than the neck on my other steel-string, a Larrivee LV-10E. The tuners are open-gear Grovers. Although the dealer's website advertised L.R. Baggs electronics, the guitar came with an Esonic2 system by Shadow, which I'm pleased with. Also, the pickup system includes a tuner. The guitar didn't come with a case, but I bought one for about $80. The guitar was manufactured in China.

I mainly play fingerstyle guitar. The bass response of this guitar rivals that of other guitars costing 3 to 4 times as much. The trebles are pretty good too and I'm also pleased with the sustain.

The factory setup for this guitar was very good, no need for adjustment at my end. No buzzes or dead spots. The guitar arrived with a fresh set of strings, which is more than I can say for most guitars in store showrooms. No flaws, as far as I can see. I also think that the "Vintage Sunburst" finish is very attractive.

Although I haven't had it very long, the guitar seems very durable to me and should withstand years of playing.

I've only had the guitar for about a week. So far, so good. No experience with the company.

I've been playing guitar for about 40 years, mainly classical and fingerstyle, although I also play electric guitar. In addition to the Epiphone and the Larrivee acoustics, I also own 2 classicals (a spruce top and a cedar top), 4 electrics (a Gibson SG, a G&L Commanche, a Gretsch Electromatic Pro Jet, and an Epiphone Casino), a Taylor 12-string, a Tacoma papoose and a Kamaka ukulele. If the Epiphone were lost or stolen, I would definitely replace it!