Epiphone AJ 18SCE

what i've read in the reviews,there must be a lot of difference in the ones coming from korea and north america.i have a custom aj from north america,grover keys,blond front,shadow electronics,silver fret inlays,gold keys,and iv'e ben playin guitar 35 yrs and this one exceeds most all of what i've played.

smooth full sound

excellent action,but finish little uneven,bottom a little darker,but does not affect sound(on front)but sides and back excellent

very dependable

no

i'd replace with an north america copy,don't like the reviews on korea

Made in 2003 in China and I'm shock that China can build guitars like the Japanese and Americans (maybe even better). Jumbo cutaway, solid spruce top (nice grain), mahogany back and sides, gold grover tuners, Shadow active pickups with 4-band EQ, bound neck and body, and high-gloss finish. Only bummer is that there is no pickguard.

I play all styles and it seems to work for all. You can get just about any sound you need thanks to the wonderful pickup and electronics. Very big sounding guitar. Lots of clean highs and powerful bass, but the midrange is the best of all.

Well the action needed to be lowered abit but as for everthing else it is flawless. All the frets were leveled perfectly, finish was better than my 810 Taylor. For that matter it beat my Taylor in sound aswell.

Tough as nails. No need really for a backup but you never know what could happen.

Never had to deal with them.

Been play and building guitars for over 30 years and not to try and sound to girly but this guitar is one of the best guitars in my collections of 40 plus guitars. I own just about all of the acoustic standards like J-45, OOO-28, D-28 J-200 and 3 or 4 Takamines, collins, and many others. I like the whole guitar accept that it does not have a pickguard.

It was bought from Musicians Friend as a blem in 2000 I guess. Same stuff as the others, grover tuners, shadow p7, binding, inlays, gold hardware with ebony (black) finish. I bought a nice epi case for it. If you don't have it, you should get one! For the money, the features you get are way above average. Even against guitars costing twice as much, this guitar can hang.

I play blues, rock, alternative, some easy listening and country if you make me. It does those no problem. I use a Roland blues cube all the time. I have a DOD vgs50 but rarely use it, and dont need it for this guitar. Unplugged, like most acoustic electrics, it sounds a little thin, esp. being a cutaway model. However, NOT like most acoustic electrics, it sounded suprisingly good and full unplugged! Has a bright sound. My only complaint would be the lack of low end. This is very common on acoustic electrics, esp. cutaways, so should be no surprise. It wasnt to me. And its not that big of a disparity between a straight dreadnought, but it is noticeable. Of course, if you use an amp and the eq you can get a decent low end sound with some tweaking. Just know that you cant buy this cutaway acoust. electric and expect it to sound like a guild super dreadnought, cuz it won't. I get tons of sound and response from this guitar. I was surprised by that. I think the sound is one of the strengths of this axe. My only beef is lack of a low. Like all of my ratings, I am not saying this is a Martin or a Taylor. Its also not 2500 bucks, so think about the ratings as based on what you are paying. I dont play it much plugged in, which speaks volumes about the unplugged sound. There are guys who won Gibsons who love the way this thing sounds unplugged. Need I say more? Plugged in it is very versatile and can sound like any acoustic you want it too.

Like most here, I wasn't that pleased with the factory setup, in fact I think it was here that I read that I should get it set up by a pro before it would sound decent, and they were right. You have to do that. Buuuutttt.... I was able to get all the adjustments done under WARRANTY and Epi covered it, so WHAT are you bitching about people??!! A little time taking it to the luth, and you have a 300 dollar guitar that sounds as good as most others. Works for me. Oh, I have to say, I think one of the reasons people hate this guitar so much (besides needing adjusting) is the damn strings! You MUST go get some good bronze light strings and get it adjusted. Those two things turn a pretty piece of crap into a pretty nice guitar. Now my guitar was a blem, but I would have to point out to you the spots that I am guessing are considered "blem-ish." Take that to mean, doesnt bother me in the least. I have a shiny, shiny glossy black finish that makes chicks wet! Everything is smooth and fits well together. The tuners are the bomb. I have had this guitar for 4 years with no problems, and though I make an effort to take care of my stuff, I by no means baby my guitars, and sometimes knock them around quite a bit. The finish on this axe is thick enough that I have whacked it several times (by mistake) and not a single scratch. How many guitar owners can say that? The neck is thin, so those who play electric will make the transition no problem. The down side of the neck is that it is also very narrow, so if you have fat fingers like me, you will have trouble making chords at the top of the neck. Dont ask me why but it gets resonably wider once you get past the second fret. You will get a little bit of fret buzz from this guitar, but after the adjustment and strings, its not that bad. This is a 300 dollar guitar.

This guitar HAS withstood live playing and HAS lasted, and I put it up against a Gibson any day of the week. Comments on the finish written above. I can always depend on my Epi, and the main reason I am writing this review was to offer a different opinion from those who were trashing this guitar. I don't know what their problem is, maybe it is like most imports from second-tier offerings like this one where it is sort of luck of the draw, or maybe it was just guys looking for a sucker with a real lemon of a mistreated axe, maybe they didnt get it set up properly. Whatever. For 300 bucks you will not do better. I promise.

Paid for my professional setup under warranty no questions asked. And liek all Epi products, guaranteed for LIFE. Find THAT on your Takamine, baby!

I have been playing 22 years. I own a Les Paul, and SG and a Yamaha. I have a Roland Blues Cube and a Crate which is little more than a mic amp these days and the VGS50. I have a Yamaha piano too if anyone cares. If it were stolen or lost, I would look at some others first, maybe something with a fuller sound, but its a matter of economics, what you can afford at the time. For the money, I would buy this one again. I love the looks, and the playability. The action is low and the neck thin, so it plays like an electric. That is hard to find on an acoustic. There is no guitar in this price range that comes close. That is the point that needs to be made here I think. For the money, you can not expect a Martin or even a Gibson, but you get incredible value for what you spend. I wish it had more low end, but it doesnt bother me enough to think about it much. I am adding that more for the sake of thoroughness. I wanted to point out that it is not perfect. I think there are a lot of people bashing this guitar and Epi for reasons I cant understand. I have played other Epis and to be honest, of you like Gibsons, buy Epis and save your cash because Epi is closing the gap very quickly. Yes there is a difference, but is it a 2000 dollar difference? I dont think so. Those that are dogging Epi as a company I dont think have a real handle on their products. And just in case someone is wondering, I dont work for Epiphone. I just own one of their guitars. I own some DeArmonds too that I like a lot.

Brand new, made in Korea, just got it from Musicians Friend. It has a solid top,laminated sides and bottom of mahogany The neck is made of mahogany with a rosewood fretboard. The electronics are made by Shadow and have a four band tone control with a phase shifter, (could be for feed-back control). Very nice clear finish with pearl inlade in the neck and head stock.

Sound is very good and will get better with age on the solid top. The factory strings have a good sound to them and gave the guitar a bright sound but I changed the strings to Martins and are the sound is more mellow. I could not pass the deal they were having on this guitar and it has all the basic features built in that you can upgrade on like replacing the saddle with one made of bone and replacing the plastic bridge pins with wood pins, this should even enhance the sound more.

Action is low like I like it with no buzzing, I won't have to do any adjustments at all. The string spacing is a little tighter than what I am use to but not a big deal.

This guitar is contructed very well. I look in side of it and could good workmanship, no excess glue joints look tight and I could see some scallope bracing.

The first guitar I received from Musican's Friend I had to return because the electronics didnot work and I received the second one in two weeks with all shipping paid.

I have been playing to over 20 years. I would replace this guitar if it were stolen with the same model. Great value and workmanship, this is a guitar that can be built on for better sound.

I don't know what year this was made. It is a solid top, burst with a cutaway. Laminated top. Gold finish tuners Grover. Shadow pickup. Rosewood fret board. Thin neck.

I didn't mind the sound when I first bought it. It had a nice bassy sound whihc was what I was looking for.

Terribly set up. The action was way too high; I'd be embarrassed if my company tried to sell a guitar like this. The pickups were alright but they buzzed once and awhile. Just terrrible set up.

This guitar was not reliable or durable. I had it into the shop about three times in the first year because of fret buzz and the bridge started to crack after ONE YEAR! The hardware was decent.

Their customer service was a shame. It's an embarrassment. I had a number of dealings with them and I feel they tried to rip me off. They fully convinced me to never buy another Epiphone in my entire life.

Have been playing for about three years. This was my first acoustic guitar and I wish I had of read the reviews before buying it. The guitar looked nice and sounded decent when I bought it. The setup was terrible but I didn't know much about that then. It's a piece of garbage and I think the customer service was terrible. A company on the way down.

Not sure what year it was made. Has the extension NA after the SCE. Does this mean it's a North-American-Made one? I dunno. I bought it in Manila (Philippines) NAtural Finish, (Blonde?) Rosewood Fretboard,
20 Frets. Spruce Top. Has both Lo-Z and Hi-Z outputs on XLR and 1/4" Phone jacks, which is nice. Has Electar Pre-amp/graphic EQ for the pickup.

I play blues rock reggae and jazz and this guitar suits my style just fine, for either lead or rhythm. I use it with M-Audio Delta 44 thru a PC to a Roland PM-3 Monitor System. It's not noisy. Sounds as good or better than my VERY expensive Gibson J-185-EC, at 1/10th the price. Anyone who can't make good music with this guitar is probably not much of a guitarist. It's a poor workman who blames his tools.

Action and intonation were excellent right off the shelf. Just needed new strings immediately. Bridge is set right, Nut was cut right, not a single complaint about the finish, action, or tone.

This guitar made it from Manila to San Francisco in a soft gig Bag, and it's just fine. I've played it hard as can be and it's just fine.
Everything about this guitar is as solid as a gibson, and I would prefer this guitar in a live setting because repairs to my Gibson would cost a fortune. One Nick on the Gibson = $800 and 2 months in the shop... so we'll use the Epi for a lot of live sets.

It's Virtually a gibson. I have nothing but the highest regard for the 2 companies, Gibson and Epiphone. "tradition" and I don't care where it was made, it was made well with good wood.

I've been playing for 25+ years. I also currently own Gibson J-185-EC acoustic, Gibson ES-335 Dot Neck, 1962 Strat, Soundgear Bass, Roland VK7 Virtual HAmmond B3, Roland V-Pro Drums, Roland PM-3 Monitors, Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4*10 60W guitar Amp. If this guitar were stolen I'd be glad it wasn't my Gibson. I'd look for another just like this, as I can't always take a $3300 Gibson to the Philippines with me just to jam a little. This will make an excellent second Acoustic for me, and for the price I can't ask for anything more.

2003 Model, made in Korea. Solid mahogany set neck with rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, snowflake inlays w/ bar inlay at 12th fret. Solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides. Single cutaway round-shouldered dreadnought body style; gloss finish. Active piezo under-saddle pickup with 4-band parametric EQ, phase switch. Gold Gotoh tuners, plastic nut and bridge, rosewood saddle with plastic bridge pins. Narrow 25-1/2 inch scale neck. Came with light gauge (11's) acoustic bronze-wound strings.

Very good, balanced and mellow unplugged sound. Fingerstyle and solo blues runs come through on upper strings very well, but not over-bright. Very good, full tone for hard strumming, with plenty of bottom-end punch. Plugged in - I use it with an SWR California Blonde acoustic amp - gets a little "bassy" but EQ (on amp and on guitar) evens this out pretty well. Piezo pickup also gets a little "thumpy" when fingerpicking in the upper registers. Otherwise, good amplified sound for this price range.

Excellent setup, no buzzes, medium-low action perfect for my tastes or else it would still be at the store! Came with light gauge strings, not bad sounding and seem about the right gauge, but I'm going to put on my fave Elixirs right away. Finish even and smooth, top and back bookmatched very well, frets finished much better than average. No visible flaws anywhere.

Seems to be a solid guitar, only problem with live playing is lack of a notch filter on the preamp unit which higher-end guitars (Gibson, Taylor, Martin etc) tend to have. Hardware seems durable and solid. I'd never gig without a backup, with this or any other guitar. I got this one mainly as a backup anyway, and I think it will serve this purpose very well. The price was definitely right, seems like a lot of guitar for the money.

Haven't dealt with Epiphone directly, but the local store (Northridge Music) has a free 30-day checkup and their service is always excellent on anything they sell so I'm not worried. Epiphone has a limited lifetime warranty, which adds some peace of mind.

I've played acoustic guitars for over 30 years and owned/played several Ovations (6 and 12 string) and Gibsons, Taylor (810 currently), Guild and Martin. This Epiphone model's sound compares closely to the Gibsons I've owned and played. The mahogany body keeps it balanced and mellow - not as bright as a Taylor but still very good sounding. The finish is great, and it looks fine. My only complaints are the slightly narrow neck for an acoustic, and the low-end preamp with no notch filter, but then you get what you pay for. Overall, a very good buy. It was the best sounding unplugged acoustic in the store anywhere near the price I paid (sure, the $2200 Taylors sounded better!). I'd probably replace it if lost/stolen, especially for the price. A very good buy overall. Seems most of the bad reviews of this guitar are from mail order purchases, and my experience with mail order on a number of guitars leaves much to be desired in terms of setup - acoustic or electric. That's why I shop the local stores anymore, with rare exceptions.

Not quite sure on the year. Made in Korea. Solid spruce top, mahogony body, rosewood fret board. got suckered by the vintage sunburst.

I don't think this thing can produce anything that sounds like music. When i got the thing i had to spend some cash just setting it up. The frets were all messed up and you can forget about get anything other than clicking past the 12th fret. doesn't sound good plugged in or unplugged. but it sure is pretty.

out of the factory it sounds like crap. the least they could do was dress the frets right. the electronics are sub par so don't even bother. unlike other responses, my action was low, really low. the strings were touching the frets. it sucks. but it sure is pretty. i think i bought it because i was sucked in by the looks. i was drawn to the finish and color like a bug to a zapper.

i've played this guitar for about 5 months and after alot of money and a lot of patience i'm giving up on it. though the construction seems pretty solid. however i think the electronics are a bit shady.

epiphone shows no respect for their customers. it is ashame that such a quality name has fallen so far behind.

i have been playing for 10 years and i would reccomend that you stay away from this guitar. it is too much of a pain in the hind parts to bring any sort of satisfaction. i admit that i got ripped off. the good news is that it looks great on the guitar rack. if you don't play and want a cool looking guitar to impress the ladies (or guys....whatever) then go out and grab one of these catastrophies.

shadow p7 pickup system.......high z low z bal. outputs..... laminated piece of crap...made in korea...single cutaway body... diamond cross inlays with a block inlay on the 12th fret... gold gotoh tuners.. 20 frets... plastic bindings....low marks due to very poor performance during a live rec session..sounded like a toy compared to the takamines that other peeps were using!!!if ya want to impress yer buddies with this guitar juz show it to them..dont play a note or let them play it!!!cuz then theyll hear and feel how crappy it is!!!

the sound is crummy!! you need to change the strings everyday to make it ring clearly!!and even then it sounds wimpy!!it lacks the bass clarity!!!

action is so stupid!! you need to be superman to play this piece of feces!!!ya prolly wont even be able to make it thru the first song with out yer hand cramping up!!!my god epiphone!!!yamaha makes better ac guitars than this monstrosity!!and the pick ups....geez what a joke!!!!juz sounded harsh and thin!!and the frets are to low to the board!!but it is very shiny!!!

well i guess it would stay the same way for awhile as it was when it was new...but thats not saying much...(its an awful ac. even for first timers)note to beginners: if this is yer first ac gtr ,most good ac. gtr's arent this hard to play!!!

its not worth my time to call..unless they can refund my money which i doubt theyll do!!

ive been playin for 13 years and was using my dads takamine but he sold it and i needed an acoustic right away for a recording session.. i didnt have the money to buy a good takamine and opted to buy a cheaper takamine for the session but got swayed by an asshole of a salesmen to buy this piece of poop!!i would never buy an epiphone acoustic again!!DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT BUY THIS GUITAR!!yer better off buying an unknown guitar than this piece of trash not fit for anything ,except maybe as firewood!!!

This dog (and it is a dog), was made in Korea, I think ... which, as everyone knows is the world's last Cold War frontier. What does mean? A crappy guitar from Epiphone, I guess...

I play blues and jazz. The neck almost works, and I paid $75 for a set-up, but it still is lousy overall.

Horrible, horrible, horrible.

The tuners blow. What in the name of Doc Watson and MIssissippi John Hurt was I thinking?

You're joking, right?

I've been playing 30 years. Used to play an SG and a Tele in a blues and roots-rock band. I decided to "reinvent" myself and got more into flatpicking, open tunings, etc. I got taken in by the sunburst finish and cutaway. I should have applied the money to a real guitar. I'm being a little terse (and silly) with my comments here, but in a seriousness, stay away from this dog. Put your money on a Martin or a real Gibson. Don't jump into this one. You'll regret it. And please, please read the other reviews that go into depth about just what this 6-string insult can't do...