Epiphone Masterbilt AJ500R

Epiphone Masterbilt AJ-500RNS. Solid tight grained Spruce Top, Solid "Premium" Rosewood back and sides, Solid Mahagony neck, "Satin" finish (RNS). Professional installed iMIX L.R. Baggs pick-up.

I play alternative, contemperary, and modern christian music (Worship). I use a Marshall 50 watt acoustic amp which sucks but sometimes i need it. No....effects, buy a electric if you want effects. Its Loud but clear, and everything is warm and mellow. Its not bright like a Taylor, nore is it dull like other gloss topped guitars. Its pure tone to the qualified ears. I set everything to the mids on my iMIX pre-amp and my mixer nob 1/3 past the peizo. With only about 30% mic. This gives the closet to natural sound. Yes..it is rich and full of amazing sounds. There is nothing to compare this guitar to but its daddy the Gibson J series Rosewoods. Even the Gibson does not hint a Masterbilts quality. I have only seen a few try and say that it can not beat the pricer guitars but really your just paying for the label, it does not mean its a knock-out of anything cheaper. Gloss finishes kill a guitars sound period, even Martin guitars

The action can be set just like any other well built guitar. There is no question to that.

The guitar plays over anything "live". I always get comments on how great it sounds. Groover put some really nice tuners on her and she seems to never get out of tune. Its very dependable and the sound will only get better over time. Its not to be mocked as a back-up player.

Never had to call

I have been playing for about 5 years, practice quiet alot to know the differ in quality, and i have to say i have had Taylors, Gibsons and Martins at my fingers and none compare to this apple. The Masterbilt is stunning to the eyes when come "live" with it and is confrontable to play. Martin is the only guitar that can come close to this guitar, and its brothers the EF-500mns and EF-500R.

I have had my AJ for almost 3 years now and wanted to put in a review because I thing it is such a great guitar. Until recently I thought this was a dreadnought with slope shoulder but in fact the Advanced Jumbo is deeper than a dreadnought, it must be one of the biggest acoustic bodies you can get, and it pumps out a big bottom end.

It has a satin finish, which I don't mind. I suppose it helps with the tone, but essentially is a cost/time saver in the factory. Mine is getting shiny where my right sleeve rests on the body.

I have been reading reviews saying Masterbilts are turning up without the open Grover tuners. Mine has the really nice open Grovers and stays in tune very well.

The neck is really nice to play with medium well finished frets. It has that solid Gibson feel to it, rosewood with dot inlays. The neck itself is a nice piece of Mahogany and joins to the body with a solid dovetail joint. The top is a nice piece of spruce with some faint figuring in part. The back and sides ye olde rosewood and very nice.


I think my guitar is 2004 made in China. I like the case, which is light but strong.

Well, this guitar sounded great when I bought it and has been through different strings, truss rod tweaks and a new bridge. Most recently I put a very thin film of epoxy on the bone saddle, sanded it back so when it went back in it was tight, gently tapped it back into the bridge and voila better transfer of sound onto the top.

A great test of a guitar is an outdoor barbecue around the campfire. The AJ is so loud and resonant in this situation, the other guitars are reduced to a faint string slapping percussion compared to this beast!! I also played the AJ detuned to DADGAD with a drummer using brushes a banjo and flute and it held up well. Yep, it's a real room filler, has a lovely dry woody tone. Also it has great dynamics, you play harder and it gets louder.

Really clean good finish.
The factory setup was good for low strumming. I have added a little more relief to the neck and all is good. It's a big guitar that can handle drop D tuning.

It's holding up well. Top nice and flat, this guitar is sounding better as it ages.

I bought this as a sample in Sydney Australia. Did not have a warranty, so can't comment here.

I just love this guitar. I have been playing for about 20 years and I really like the big bass response on this instrument.
I own another Masterbilt too, the EF.