Epiphone AJ-10

I've had this guitar for 5-6years from new, so I guess it's a 2000 model. Pretty basic guitar, all laminate, paid around ??95. Held up well though, frets are a little damaged now because I've played it so much.

For a laminate, very good. For the first few years I didn't play so much, but for the last year or so I've been playing evey single day and have improved a lot. Thought I'd treat myself to a better guitar. Problem is I've found I have to spend ??500+ to get something that sounds better. I tried lots of solid-topped guitars in the ??2-300 price range that really didn't sound any better. I do always use decent strings though (phosphor bronze EXPs). Can sort of roar a bit when you give it some stick, but for such a cheap guitar, I'll give it a 10. Oh yeah, I play all sorts of styles, folk, blues, fingerstyle, even a little punk and it copes with all of it pretty well!

The action was a bit high near the body originally, but my bridge actually had a thin strip of plastic underneath, which when removed evened up the action nicely. I find the guitar very easy to play. The finish is pretty basic, with no binding anywhere really, and a pretty cheap looking high gloss finish, but for the money what do you expect!
The tuners are great though and I've had no problem with them (grovers I think).

As I said before, some of the fret are a little damaaged, probably because I played it too hard when I was learning, but apart from that it's held up very well, considering I'm not exactly careful with it and have taken it camping, and many times transported it in the back of my car with no bag!

Never needed any.

Obviously the sound rating is relative to the price and I'm sure it doesn't hold up to any high end guitars, but it compares very well to the mid-range solid fronted guitars I've played and once I took the sliver of extra plastic out of the bridge was very playable. For the money it's been brilliant and has given me a real headache about what I should buy now 'cos I just can't find anything I like that much more without spending a lot more!

This is a great all around acoustic. The tuners on mine seem pretty good, way better than the garbage on my Epiphone Special II. The neck has a good feel to it. It feels like a more expensive guitar than it really is.

This guitar does have a good deep sound. It seems to get better with age. I've got some fat strings on it that help with the tone, but make it more difficult to play.

The action on mine is good, it's not too high. I'm not sure how a stock one is since I bought mine used without a nut and I couldn't find one to fit so I had to carve one out of a bone blank. I also had to do some tweaking on the height of the bridge.

When I got this guitar, it sounded like ass and would not stay in tune. I almost threw it out until I discovered the reinforcements were cracked and it allowed the bridge to flex. I got in there and glued it up, and clamped it in place for 24 hours. After that it was like a totally different instrument. It plays and sounds great and it stays tuned forever. I'm pretty sure it was abused by the previous owner, because it seems like a good sturdy guitar.

I only paid $20 for this guitar, but I really like it. I haven't played too many guitars, but I don't think you'll do better for the money than this, I think they are only around $100 new.

Probably made in 2002. I purchased it new during the spring of 2003 just to use it for practicing in my bedroom. It was made in Indonesia. Standard mid-sized Dreadnought. I believe, and according to other reviews, it's got a laminated top. I'm not sure what the body and neck are made of. I believe the fretboard is rosewood.

I mostly play stuff like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Greenday, etc. So...for a 150 - 200 dollar practice guitar...it's just fine. Great for beginners...way better than the "Esteban" guitars...which have high actions.

The action is not too high..but not low like i would prefer. nothing probably some filing wouldn't fix...

I've had it for 3 years now..havn't had any problems, except... I guess i hit it on something one day and now there is a chip in the nut...it's not effecting the sound or playablity though. The sound it has...I wouldn't want to use it for gigging....as I said.. Good for beginners, and good for taking on a camping trip to play around the fire when you'r drunk off your ass lol...

Haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing on and off for about 5 years now. It's a good guitar for beginners, practice, and using at times/places you wouldn't want your good expensive guitars around. Don't buy "Esteban", Jasmine, or Applause. Buy one of these...for good, inexpensive Acoustic

im not sure of the year of my guirar but it was made in indonesia. it was my first acoustic guitar and for the price its absolutely brilliant! its got a spruce top, with mahogony back and sides, rosewood fretboard (i think). i dont know much about these guitars to be honest but these are absolutely perfect for a beginner!

i use D'addario 011's on mine and they give a nice rich sound. with thinker strings the sound is abviously deeper but with every set of strings i've used on it, its always performed well

as far as i know it is as it was when it came out of the factory. the action is perfect, and everything was as it should be. no flaws or anything!

i've had mine for a good 18months now and its picked up the odd knock here and there but nothing major. its standing the test of time very well

N/A

i've been playing for 18 months now, and i play this as well as my squier strat. i think its a brilliant guitar for the money, and id definately reccomend it! it plays as well as my mates Gibson which he paid around #200 second hand for. id definately buy another if it was stolen or lost.

see web site for features. it is now called the AJ100. I gave it a 9 only because of the laminated top and no name tuners now used.

Very bright and full. Has a sort of Taylor clarity sound to it.

I am amazed for a guitar built overseas how well it is constructed. The Vintage Sunburst finish rivals any I've seen.

For $150 who cares.

I went in to buy a Big Baby as a beater for my LTD Edition Taylor. Never played an Epi before. Looked just like a Gibby J45. Honestly, I was shocked at the beautiful sound from this guitar. Asked the guy at the shop about the quality and he said he has been very impressed with these cheap guitars. So am I. I have had it for 6 months now and find myself picking it up over my Taylor's. Knowing I only paid $150 makes it sound even better and I don't worry about bumping or scratching it either.

not sure of year of manufacture, but i bought this in 2001. Other reviews have said it all - laminate top etc. Mine is black. very black. Spinal Tap black in fact! One of the reasons I got this.
Grover tuners - I haven't tried any others but these things stay in tune forever.
10 here, not for the amount of features, but it does what it needs to do and for the price it serves its purpose extremely well.

I bought this as pretty much a beginner. I tried a good few in the shop as did the assistant who was way better than me. The others in the price range i thought were good until I heard this one. It just sang out above the others. sure more expensive guitars sound better still, but this is essentially a cheapie, and I was surprised to find one that gave me that "wow!"
It can sound a little dull towards the low end when strings have been on a while but new ones sorts this out no problem.

The action on this was set really high in my opinion. further investigation revealed plastic inserts under the saddle to raise things. not sure if this was factory or shop that put these in there. I took them out which lowered the action significantly and my bro helped me with trussrod adjustment.
It also made the guitars tone improve even more, I think because of the more direct contact between saddle and bridge.
I'm now much happier with the action.
The finish is really excellent, very black as mentioned before. frets all seem smooth enough and everything where it should be. as mentioned before the tuners are totally solid - this thing just stays in tune.

It's a good, solid guitar. I don't do gig so that doesn't apply. but at the price it is great for taking everywhere with you and not worrying about damaging it.
I have a young daughter and this guitar has had a few "accidents" and has come to no harm.

have had no dealings so cannot comment

As I say i bought this as a relative beginner and have continued to find it great to play. whether I play light stuff on it or some stuff more suited to electric it sounds good. If I lost it I'd get another straight away. When compared to others at the cheaper end of the market it was just heads above the others, brilliant tone for money.
I certainly have no qualms about Epiphone given the quality of this instrument for the price. If you are a beginner then this is definitely one to consider - it will keep you satisfied far longer than most others at that end of the market.

Made in Indonesia. 2000? 4-piece spruce top. Mahogany back, sides & neck. Chrome hardware. 'vintage sunburst'- ie. tobacco-burst. Grover tuners. Pearloid dot position markers. Rosewood fretboard & bridge. Black neck & body binding. Black pickguard. Pinstripe rosette. 20 frets - 14 clear.

Goddamm this thing sounds good. Fat, full bottom. Sweet, bright highs. Rich mids. I use d'addario 80/20 bz coated strings. They stay in tune and sound great for longer than they should. I am in the transportation bizness and just play for fun. This is my work guitar.
I play rock, blues, folk, surf, 3 chord montes, etc. This thing sounds
even better when someone else plays it. A half dozen or so friends on the road have picked this thing up and all of 'em can't believe I paid
peanuts for it, NEW. Like one of the other reveiwers wrote, I'ts the best guitar MY $$$ can buy...It's a Gibson J-45 clone, except a j-45 costs about a grand.

I'm not kidding. When i got this thing out of the box from UPS, it was in tune. The top is where the cheese-log factor shows up. It is easy to see all three seams and the outer pieces are darker than the inner two, but hey...

This little so-and-so is ROADWORTHY. It sees way more abuse (temp change; jarring) than if a REAL musician had a hold of it and it still sounds f'n GREAT.

Dunno.

I started late. I started playing around my thirtieth birthday and am 34 now. I was looking for a guitar to learn barre chords on and the other two guitars I had were limited at best. I went to the local shoppes and played Fenders, Squiers, Deans, Ibanezes and Epiphones (Gibson, Martin and Guild are way out of my price range). For my hands Epiphones were the easiest to fret, were light, and had great tone.

My AJ-10 acoustic in wine red, was made in Indonesia of 2002. I was told where I bought it from that it was an 'exclusive' because of it's color & it's a select spruce top with mahogany back and sides. It also has a 25.5" scale mahogany set-neck with dot inlays & a 20-fret rosewood fingerboard. It has body binding in black & chrome strap buttons & tuners. When I bought mine, it just came with a truss rod & an order form for a Epiphone warrantee.

The sound is quite good for the style of music I'm playing now, which is classic rock, alternative, & pop.

Compared to the last acoustic guitar I owned, the Fender DG-10, this Epiphone AJ-10 has a pretty nice mid-range sound that I like. Whereas the Fender acoustic was much to bright sounding for me.

Being that it's an Epiphone low-end acoustic model, to me, this guitar sounds good & it looks great... much better than the Fender DG-10! But in the future, I would probably invest in a much better Epiphone acoustic, maybe the Texan.

The set-up on my acoustic was done very well. I haven't spotted a problem with it so far, only that mine came with a slight scratch on the black pickguard, right under the silver "e" emblem. But other that, I haven't found any other flaws on it... yet.

I don't know how well this acoustic will withstand live playing, since I only play mine in the comfort of my own home, but I would believe the AJ-10 would do fine. The srap buttons seem solid enough & the finish on this guitar is what you might expect on most low-priced guitars, that shiny - almost 'plastic' look. But if you take care of the finish (by giving it a good cloth & guitar polishing, ever so often) it should last you a very long time. As for dependability & gigging purposes, I think this acoustic can very reliable, especially when it's less expensive to replace it if something should happen to it.

I haven't dealt with the company so far, but I do have my acoustic under a limited lifetime warrantee.

I've been playing on & off for about 10 years now. I've owned a Fender DG-10 in black, which was my first acoustic guitar, a Rickenbacker 330 electric guitar, & also an Ibanez electric bass. Now I have my very first 'Epiphone' acoustic, in a beautiful wine red color, which I like much more than my Fender - which to me, there is no comparison. Hey, I guess this why the Beatles chose Epiphone guitars as one of their main instruments!

And if it were lost & stolen, I would definitely buy another Epiphone acoustic, but maybe next time it'll be a higher-end model, like a Texan, or an acoustic/electric PR5-E model.

I would definitely recommend this guitar to all beginners & enthusiast alike. Or for people like me, who haven't played in a while & want something cool, yet affordable, to play their music.

A mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard is married to a mahogany body and select spruce top, polished off with a high lacquer finish. The guitar is incredibly light, feeling as if it?s made of balsa wood. However, it?s surprisingly strong.

The Vintage Sunburst (the finish I chose) is a nice look. With other guitars in the same price range, the laminate typically dulls the resonance; however, the Epiphone A10 allows the notes to ?ring? resulting in a ?bright? sound.

You?ll also find a 25? scale although only 14 frets are playable.

While shopping for this guitar, I compared it to other models within the same price range: Simon & Patrick, Yamaha and Takamine. I chose this guitar because it had a clear bright sound which I liked. While the bass lacks guts, and the highs are a bit thin, this guitar really excels in the mid-tones.

I haven?t yet touched the action, but am considering lowering it to get a faster, smoother playing sound (and to preserve my fingers. Ouch!). I have noticed that you really need to plug the note on the fret or you?ll get buzzing out of long-held strings.

The fingerboard and frets are already showing minor signs of wear (this may be due to how often I play it).

The finish is superb and easy to care for.

I?ve been playing this guitar for a few hours every day since I?ve bought it and it has held up well over this six month period. It?s thin compared to other guitars but surprisingly well built. I?ve knocked it around a few times (by mistake) and it has withstood the abuse without a scratch.

Not used.

I knew nothing about guitars when I bought this one, but I?ve since found that the Epiphone A10 is a fairly good guitar for the price. It?s got a good sound, nice finish, is surprisingly strong and can be taken anywhere. One bit of advice is to have the action lowered to preserve your fingers. Ouch! (again!)

A great value for the beginning guitarist.

I don't know much about this guitar other than what I was told about it from the seller on e bay.It has grover tuners, and is made of mahogany.

It has a beautiful bright sound that I just love. I have an Epiphone PR 200 and I got the AJ 10 as a second guitar but have now made the PR 200 the second guitar because it sounds that good.

It is all great the previous owner kept in perfect shape. Although I did have to have my guitar shop do some work on it as the neck backbowed during shipping and the frets were sharp. Also, the inside has some tape or something that held the braces together when the glue was originally drying. But this does not effect the sound one bit.

As I said earlier I was going to use this as my second guitar but it sounds so great that the PR 200 is now my second guitar. I just love my AJ 10.I can't stress that enough..

My local guitar shop has done all the repair jobs. I even doubt that the warranty is valid since I am not the original owner.

Well, we'll start with the born on date, 1999. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact, I can say it's the last great thing I got in that millenium. Pretty standard laminated top, pickguard, you know the drill. The contruction is pretty flawless, though I've heard some bad things about Epiphone, I've experienced nothing of the sorts. There's no pickup, but I didn't really want one anyway. I just wanted something I could take down to the park or beach with and just play.

Besides the fact that the guitar is bright red, the sound is what attracted me. I must have played a hundred acoustics before I settled on this one. Everything about the sound is perfect, it's deep but not too deep and the trebles are not overpowering. The sound is rich and deep, not like on other guitars I've played on. Really, it was impressive for under 300 dollars. This is the guitar I write my music on, it is the guitar I bring to parties, and the guitar I sit and reflect with. Do anything you want with it, play acoustic punk, play classic rock, finger pick, it's all up to you and it all sounds great.

Perfect, not a flaw in the entire guitar...just keep it clean and polished and it will love you too.

This isn't a gig guitar, it's that simple. I take it down to Barnes and Nobles frequently and play there. I don't have a backup, I know this guitar won't let me down. I just have extra strings and my gig bag, that's it. The finish is ultra solid. I play this thing hours a day, for the entire last two years, not a scratch.

I've got no opinion here, I've never needed anything replaced or fixed. Although, now that I've said this, I'm sure I will...I'll keep you posted.

I'd recommend this guitar to anyone, it all depends on what you want. If you're a beginner looking for a solid acoustic, I highly recommend it. If you're an experienced player, I still recommend it, I love it. Plus, it saves my gig equiptment from getting beat up. Take this guitar anywhere you want, it's wonderful.

I bought this guitar actually just to have a good sounding acoustic, and I must say; this one is the right one to start with. A natural laminated top, a dreadnought-like body, and a fine fine neck with 20 frets, and one hell of a sound! This Korean guitar is a great beginners guitar, although I'm beginning to miss something: A PICKUP...

Like I already said, one hell of a sound. It's quite loud and clear whatever chord you play... Its bright sound did really impress me at first, but now I got used to it and impress my friends with it ;) (really it's that good)

The action is good, and the finish is standard, but perfect though...

Well, I have already been playing it for about a year and it still looks and sounds like new (although the last thing can easily be achieved by regulary replacings strings), and if it had a pickup I would surely use it on a gig, without a backup.

I only had one small problem with it, and I could fix that one myself, so I haven't used it until now...

Well, compared to my old classic guitar, this is heaven! Only if it had a pickup ...

This was the first guitar I've bought, I had a really old one before, and it was really crappy, so when I got this it was a big step up. I bought it in 1999 new, so I guess it was made in 1999. I don't know exactly where it was made though. It has 20 frets, and I think it is a laminated top, but I'm not sure. I dont' think it would be a solid top if it only was priced at 250, and the guy sold it to me for 150. It is actually a really good acoustic guitar for all purposes, especially for a beginner. It doesn't have a pickup in it right now, but I might try to put one in later. It's body is made of mahogany. The top is made of spruce. The tuners must be the locking kind, because they are closed off so that I can't grease them. The tuners are chrome, and it has a natural, ebony, and vintage sunbust finishes. When I bought it, it didn't come with any accesories, except for the epiphone warrenty, and you can even register your warrenty online at their website.

When I went to the guitar store to find a guitar, they must have had twenty guitars that I looked at that were under $400, so I played most of them to see how they sounded. And in the end the AJ-10 Epiphone was my pick, and to begin with I didn't really know that much about guitars. The only thing was that it had a great sound to it. Some of the guitars were full of bass, and others not enough, but this one was pretty equal in the amount of bass and treble, which I liked. It sounds best with a new pair of bronze strings on it, it sounds really bright like it's plugged into an amp. A lot of people have also told me that it has great sound to it, and I'm impressed since it isn't that fancy of a guitar.

When I bought it, it didn't have anything wrong with it. The finish was really nice and shiny, and I try to keep it that way by cleaning it with a cloth and spray for guitars. Nothing seemed loose or out of wack, and it still doesn't.

This guitar again is perfect for about anything. It doesn't have a pickup in it, but I think it would sound great if it did. I play it for our church service and youth group all the time, and I even took it to a camp in the mountains with me, and it did really well. I'm surprised it isn't banged up more than it is, cause I only keep it in a gig bag. The finish I think is going to last for a while, and I can always depend on it.

I haven't had any problems with it yet, so I really don't know. the guitar place I bought it from was very helpful though.

I've been playing for about 9 months, and it's treated me really well. You can play about anything on it, and it sounds just like the real stuff. I like it cause it sounds bright and alive, and you can play a lot of variety on it. It's simple looking, but good enough to play in front of people. I like it cause you can take it anywhere, and it's usually in tune. My friend loves coming over and playing it. I'd recommend it to anyone for a beginning guitar, or a dependable guitar.