Epiphone Dot Studio

i have a chinese studio dot. faded red.
changed the pick ups out to SD hb-01 neck and JB for bridge.

i play blues to anything with a good groove.. my main is slide.
i play thru a music man 1-12 rd.
the only effects i use is fulltone OCD.
the noise is limited compared to my single coils...
bright and full...
depending on the the style f lead i want to play i usually up stroke my pick or use my fingernail... i get plenty of good tones...
i like the finish... looks...
dislikes... none..... when i buy something i make sure its all i want or nothing...

its not a bad set up from the store i bought it from . i still have a slight fret buzz.. when i used .10's it buzzed like hell... now i use ghs carlos big bore . 9.5's and have no buzz.
I changed the pick ups to SD 's and no gripes..
This is a players guitar.... most of the flaws are easy to corrected... you just have to play
all the ones till you find one you like... this is same as with all guitars////

I have played it live and have been blown away by how it stands out...
hardware? no probs..
finish is going to be no problems lasting...
i can depend on this guitar...

never had to call them....

You just have to know how to get your tone....
I have a g&L strat and love that guitar..its going thru a remodel at the moment so this is my main axe... i love it... i hate to compare it to any other guitar..since all them have there own style....
I worked in the industry as a engineer...Gibson. groovetubes rivera amps,sw,r gt electronics 360 systems, k-muse so i know about what i want... i can make this guitar sing beautifully....since then i have done many recordings and even own a film production company.... i can take with me anywhere and enjoy it....
one thing i have noticed Being Hawaii,. when it gets really humid it will alter the sound a little..but this goes with any guitar....
buy it... add it to your players guitar list...

2008 epiphone dot studio
open coil alnico humbuckers
black finish and hardware
bought it for $500 aud and another 40 for a bag from allans music

i play pretty much anything from suicide silence to blink 182 to eric clapton on this guitar simply its incredibly versatile and it does everything easily my favourite guitar in our house and we have 2 SGs a strat and a les paul junior.

the only problem i had with any of this was the jack falling out but i fixed this otherwise it is perfect

this guitar is built like a tank ive never had problems with it

never talked to epiphone but it took allans a month to get my jack replaced

ive only been playing for 4 years and i will definetley have this guitar for a long time as it never lets me down. my brothers all have epiphones as well, but this one is so much better and way more versatile. the only thing i will change soon is the bridge pickup to a seymour duncan or gibson pickup and add a bigsby. otherwise its perfect and i recommend it to anyone who wants one guitar that will play anything from death metal to pop punk.

ots pretty much already been said
made in china, 05?
finish is glossy arctic white (pretty sure its now discontinued)
stock pickups
stock tuners
i replaced the cable jack.
nice fat neck
1 volume and 1 tone knob

i play a lot of queens of the stone age kinda stuff
also 60s pop/rock/psychedelic/surfy kinda stuff
most of my stuff is influenced by the vines, the dandy warhols, qotsa, arctic monkeys, blur, earlier kings of leon, radiohead.... i could go on and on....
and this is what i believe the PERFECT guitar for not just my music, but for whatever you want to use it for
it has that great 335 feel, and an even better grunt when overdriven.
i use it through a fender 65 twin reverb and it sings
and its versatility is great, well, its soo versatile that my dad uses it heaps for recording and playing his dorky music :)(which can be a bad thing sometimes, as he does forget the fact that it is MY guitar!!)
and i know a lot of people will disagree with me here, but i think the stock pickups are fantastic, ive dreamt about changing the pickups to p90s but have never got around to it.
ive been playing, recording and performing music for 15 years, and ever since i purchased it, the epi dot studio has been my number 1 guitar (thats infront of a '71 american fender tele, a gretsch duo jet and an old 60s rickenbacker. theyre all great guitars though)

the guitar was setup quite poorly and the pickups kept slipping, but i took it back to the shop and after an hour or two they had fixed all the problems free of charge. ive owned it for 2 years and havent had a problem since...
there were only some very minor flaws (the f holes werent painted very well down the sides, the binding was a little bit off on some parts...)
but once properly set up, it was and is a great guitar

ive dropped this guitar so many times, nothing at all to show for it.
this guitar is as solid as a rock
yes this guitar will and has withstood playing live. it has already graced the stage around 200 times.
the hardware seems fine
the finish seems fine, the gloos looks and feels actually pretty thick.
the strap buttons are solid, but i did end up replacing them, just for safety..
i know i can depend on it, but i always need a back up, just in case....

been playing for 15 years
and its ****ING great
if it was stolen id buy a new one, but id buy a black one with white bindings.
it would be awesome if it had a bigsby option, and i think im gonna spend the 400 just to get it..

Same as stated elsewhere. I like the simplicity live, studio I prefer the extra tone and volume. I bought mine used with a Jeff beck bridge and a Dirty fingers neck pickup.

I like the Jeff beck pickup upgrade in the bridge! Dirty fingers are just bad, here and elsewhere, still probably better than the Stock pups which are not good.

If you want a better sounding guitar stock, an Ibanez AS-73 is the ticket.

OK, here's why I'm writing. The finish is just bad, but they saved $$$ here. Good news for you! Tape up the pickups so they don't attract wool shavings and rub this thing down for an hour or 2 with linseed oil and steel wool. The results are amazing! This and new pups and you have a serious hotrod with a worn vintage look.

I ran over it with my car. BAD. snapped the headstock but it fixed up OK. Other than that no problems. A set neck guitar will probably break if you drop it often, or even once just right, or drive over it...

Never used it.

I like it. It's vintage looking and loves to solo. I feel that I had a hand in making it a great guitar from a OK budget guitar.

2008 Dot Studio, Worn Cherry, two humbuckers, one toggle, one tone, one volume. 5 rating since it has.. what I expected.. no more, no less.

Acoustically this sounds awesome - bright and jangly. Lively. electrically, the pickups are duds totally. BUT.. this isnt my first epiphone - I knew in advance I would have to replace the stock pickups. So I give it a 5 here too - no more, no less than I expected.

Needed a setup. I used to do this for a living so I am not unfamiliar. After setup, the guitar plays great. However.... this guitar was built a lot better than I anticipated, especially for the cost. Frets were finished okay. binding, paint, etc., were good. Neck is straight, nut is cut fine (might take it down a little more), controls were tight. In general, a very well put together guitar, what you would expect for a guitar at this price. Okay actually, WAY better than what you would expect for the price. I have used epiphone on stage in clubs and on the worship team with never a problem.

I would without a question depend on this. the only thing to watch out for on epiphone guitars, is the toggle switch seems to get flaky. On my previous epi, I sprayed contact cleaner in the toggle switch, then it worked fine for the next 4 years.

Never had to use it. besides, I build/modify my own guitars.

playing 30 years. no kidding. gigging about 25 years.

satisfied with this guitars. I've owned prs, gibson, frnder, ibanez. they all have their plusses. this is a good solid guitar that when broken in, set up, etc., should work quite well in any professional situation.

I'd buy this again. or maybe a different one. But I do like epiphone.

I have owned it about two years, bought it used at GC in fairly good condition. Features are same as everyone else, except that this one has apparently been professionally set up. Mine is black satin, and it came with a non-standard case, and a strap. Not many features on this guitar, but that is actually part of the appeal.

This guitar was mine from the time I picked it up in the store. It was an unplanned purchase, but has turned out to be my best. I play Christian rock and contemporary, with a smattering of folk. I currently play it through a Digitech RG80, and a Behringer Accoustic Amp. The guitar does not seem to be noisy. I would term the sound as booming on accoustic, but can make about any sound you want. The range from sweet clean to raunchy distorted is surprising. I like the versatility, but it takes some fiddling to get just the right clean sound. This guitar has pretty much taken over the spots formerly served by three others. I like not having to switch out guitars, and fiddle with settings between songs.

The guitar had been professionally set up when I got it, so it doesn't get much better than that. The action is low, fast and comfortable. Pickups are super. Pots and pickup switch are clean and quiet. Tuners are cheap feeling, but the thing stays in tune very well. No flaws noted in the finish of the guitar. It is black and beautiful. The only complaint is a common one for this guitar, the jack is loose, and the threads are stripped, so it will have to be replaced soon. The strings on the guitar were old and crappy, and I immediately replaced them with Elixers, which do a great job and last a long time.

The Dot seems pretty well built, and I have played many months of practices, gigs, and church services with it without any issues. As indicated, the jack will have to be replaced, but the rest of the hardware seems fine. I would like to replace the tuners with something more substantial that is locking, but this is a wish list item, not a necessity. The finish has held up well, and the strap buttons are solid. I will probably replace them with quick release ones eventually. I have been able to depend on it, but things happen, and I will never gig without a backup.

No experience with this guitar, but I just purchased a Mandobird IV, and as my first ever new instrument, was very happy with what came from Epiphone, including a very cool poster in the box. The Mandobird was sent in great shape and with good action and intonation. Hopefully I never have to call them.

I have been playing since I was a kid, but semi-seriously only in the last five years or so, as I was called to music ministry at Church. We do stuff from Third Day, Casting Crowns, L. Brewster, Tomlin, etc. (the usual). I have a bunch of guitars including an Ovation Legend, Carvin T60, Cort Strat, Takomine GS 12 string, and misc. others. I don't play that well, but my role is that of worship leader, not axman. This guitar was the perfect answer for my limited skills, in that it is simple, versatile, and it sounds very good. It has pretty much taken over as the guitar of choice. If it were damaged, lost or stolen, I would replace it with the same thing, same color. It has pretty much what I need, and I don't have any complaints, just things I would upgrade like the strap locks and locking tuners. I'm sure there are a bunch of better guitars out there, but for the price, and the versatility, I cannot imagine anything better than this.

same as everyone elses pretty much. worn brown colour. interesting thing is that it's a factory 2nd meaning it wasn't good enough to pass 1st inspection, so they revamped it and sold it again. when i got it, honestly nothing wrong with it at all. it looks SICK though for sure. body binding is really straight and clean, same with F hole colour. Plus I payed like 300 for it altogether.

well, shit. i play pretty much everything you can think of. i play what genre hounds will call 'hardcore', 'post metal', 'metalcore', or as i like to just say, alternative. A lot of Alexisonfire type stuff, Underoath, Circa Survive, Chiodos, City and Colour, etc. It's great for any type of music really. For the acoustic type feel, i have it playing clean through my not so amazing Digitech RP80 going through the Acoustic simulator with a touch of reverb, and it sounds great, especially when using both pickups. the pickups are decent. not too much to say about them really. mine don't generate that much noise, but when i use my Digitech Hot Rod distortion, lots of white noise. Sound is pretty rad. Plus i payed like 300 altogether for it.

Action PWNZ. Pickups are adjusted nicely. Everything is awesome. Plus I payed like 300 altogether for it.

Reliable fo SHIZ. I have played around live for a while now and i'm usually throwing myself from each side of the stage into things, and even my Barracuda Telecaster (mine actually is not bad at all) held up to the thrashing. I think this will do a sick job live for sure. Plus I payed like 300 for it altogether

I'm sure Epiphone has really nice employees...? Plus the guitar was like 300.

I have been playing for about 5 years so far. I really like going nuts live and everything like that because of the music i play, and i think if my "bad" guitars can hold up without going out of tune, this guitar will for sure. It is really solid and really easy to play. You can not beat the value of this guitar, it is soooo damn awesome. If you want a hollow body and you don't have the "coinage", get this guitar. you will not regret it. sure, a few different pickups would be great but the sound is fine to me the way it is. I just think it's a sick guitar in general. Plus, i only paid like... 300 for it... so...

Another tone and volume knob would be nice.

The pick ups on a clean channel sound dirty when strumming a chord at high volume... this is the only thing I do not like about these pick ups. As far as on a gain channel, they are made for rockin hard...

Since set-up and action is all a matter of preference, I set the guitar up with .010 gauge strings when I got it and the nice thing about this guitar is it stays in tune. The finish is perfect on the one I got. Dot inlays would be nice, but they are not needed. I get around the scale just fine without em. I also like the 50's style neck profile. If it is suppose to be a 60's slim taper, it's awful big for it.

After a few minor adjustments to the stop bar and setting the inntonation, this guitar is gig worthy. It is solid as any $500 guitar and costs less then half.

Only called to give them my serial number to find out where it was made.

Been playing guitar for 20 years and have owned just about everything in the Gibson USA line and USA Fender. Now that I have little ones, my days of buying $1000+ guitars are over. If this guitar was stolen I would definetly miss it, and would buy another Epi arch top of some kind. I love how this guitar sounds in the lead position with a little gain. It is nice clean, at lower volumes. High volumes the pups are dirty sounding. Almost like you have a little gain on. What I like the best is the quality of this guitar for the price. I paid $179 for a used worn brown one and it was in mint condition like whoever owned it, didnt touch it much less play it for 4 hours a day like myself. Overall, this is a phenomenal guitar for the money. You would have a hard time beating it with another guitar in this price range. These guitars are Chinese made. Not Korean made.

set neck
22 fret
open humbuckers
centre block
semi acoustic
side dot inlay (none on fretboard)
stop tailpiece
tune-o-matic bridge
generic kluson(?) tuners

i like a very old fashioned rockabilly sound with warmth and sustain.
i prefer open over closed humbuckers and this guitar has the shimmer i like. bite when needed and flow also when needed.

a ringing sound that i prefer. even though i like the epiphone broadway sound there just isn't enough natural sustain so i'd have to use a pedal.

i used to have a 1962 maton starline semi. it has been reissued by maton at a (wait for it) staggering $8,000.00!! i paid 1,200 for mine and it was an original issue with gold bigsby hardware. the maton was my second favourite.

my first favourite had no name. an associate told me it was a 'saturn' 335 copy. it had zebra humbuckers and was the most awesome sound i have ever heard. i still have home recordings of it and it howled (especially when matched up with my ross r-30 comp/sus pedal). i threw the pedal and the guitar away and gave up music for 10 years after burning out getting gigs in melbourne with my original songs.

i'm kicking myself for that now but i'll tell you something... the dot studio (or nosebreakers as i call the black ones..tell you why in a minute) are the closest i've heard to my old saturn.

i don't own one yet and i am going to buy one soon and every time i go into a shop to test one i end up spending 2 to 3 hours on it and get kicked out of the shop (i don't really but you can tell that's what's on their minds by closing time).

they grow on you like a very pleasant rash.

the neck is thick. you have to like that to apprciate the guitar.
for me it is a plus as i have big hands with squashy fingers.
i am fussy with guitars and their actions.
i have an odd set of chords i use regularly and they are a pain on a thin neck. one reason i sold the maton was that the neck was too thin so it was hard to make and fiddle with chords in a hurry and the base of the headstock was always in the way. i use a b that is 2nd string on first fret and last two strings on first fret. i move the finger up to the thick e for an f. great sound but your hand tends to ball up on the nut.

the dot studio has plenty of room without being too spacious. i find the action sleek on every one i've played and it feels like it really wants to be held.

i would prefer the dot inlays on the fretboard, especially for lead picking past the 12th fret where the side dots are hard to see (if they're even there) as i HATE not having a reference point. but i'm sure i could get used to it. i haven't had a lot of bother playing my songs in the shops.

the one real downer is that there is no epiphone or bigsby tremolo option. this guitar is SCREAMING for it. you have to get a kit and put it on later. not something i'm looking forward to but i have to do it as it's vital in some of my songs (especially the lead for 'in heaven everything is fine' by david lynch from the movie 'eraserhead'...i have my own special cover).

but on the up side of that you can buy the guitar for as little as $499.00 here in australia or up to $750.00 depending.

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - can this guitar stand live playing ROFL!!!

allow me to explain.
remember a little earlier i said i call this guitar the 'nosebreaker'??
are you starting to form an idea of how that happened yet???

if not, i shall enlighten you.
i was carrying a black dot studio and a natural dot to the back of a certain melbourne music store when i slipped on some brick steps.

the black dot studio was on top. as i was falling, like any good muso, i was doing whatever i could to keep the guitars from being damaged but i had as much hope as being mistaken for kate moss as i was in mid air and making an enemy of gravity.

the black beastie fell face first in the middle of the step making a fulcrum. down came my knee on the back and my face and head made a resounding 'crack' sound as the rear of the neck of the gat hit me in the face with the full force of 18 stone of my own body weight.

my nose was smashed flat and i thought "oooh, that was a bit rough" when i looked down and noticed my nose was spurting out blood like a fire hydrant. luckily i had had broken noses before so i knew i wasn't dying or anything and the owner rushed over with a towel. in 2 months my nose was right as rain but the thing that impressed the hell out of me was that this guitar was the guitar equivalent of a peavey MKIV bass amp (you could throw one off a building and it would still work, they're as strong as superman and not afraid of kryptonite).

now i've seen a few guitars come to grief in my time as i've been playing for 35 years and i know that if you want an axe that's meaner than godzilla then the 'nosebreaker' is the one for you .. maybe i should call it 'guitarzilla' heheheh

no idea. ain't boughted me little self one yets.

the thing i like about the DS over and above is that you and i and lots of poor people (aka musicians) can actually afford one.
sure it would be nice to have a real 335 (though i'd de-solder the bucker covers as i reckon opens are warmer).

hey! how about a gretsch white falcon? single or double cutaway, i'm not fussed. with TV jones pickups and the bigsby in gold....yeah right! 6,000 for a korean and god knows what for a U.S. of A one.

you can get something that doesn't run too far away from a gretschy kinda feel for under half a large. a workhorse that can take the pubs and clubs and festivals and you don't have to be drinking a gallon of nerve tonic for every time you lift it out of the case and pay a body organ's worth of premium for insurance for.

i say three cheers to eppie for giving us the volkswagon of semis. everybody can afford one (unless you live in a cardboard box and eat beetles for dinner).

it may not be a rolls royce but i'd prefer the good ol' griswald family truckster any day.

try one out.

it won't bite...it'll growl a lot though LOL

It's a Hollowbody ES-335 clone, basically. Mine is the Discontinued White finish, and it's flawless despite being second-hand. Simple wiring, two Alnico V humbuckers and a 22 fret neck. Black hardware and a very nice black binding which adds a nice touch to the finish.

I got mine from Ebay for ??200 and the seller included an Epiphone Hard case. Not bad!

I play a bit of everything. for example, in a playing session i'll go from Rage Against the Machine to At The Drive-In, then onto some Jeff Buckley, Then drop-tune for some Reuben and Alexisonfire, Tune back up for some Joe Satriani followed by a bit of Metallica, and then finish the day with some Incubus and some Foo Fighters, and maybe a bit of City & Colour. When writing, i'll write either chordy Buckley-esque stuff or a mix of genred works cause i'm not too fussed about where i draw my influences from.

The Guitar literally does everything! It stays in tune even when i go from E to C standard. It has lush cleans and really draws the tone from the body and rings out. The Distorted sound only seeks to impress, with sustain to the hilt and tonality to match. The simple electronics means a flick of the switch draws you from excellent rhythm tone to thick sustainy leads which can be manipulated easily. it is a blistering guitar for the money!

Naturally, as a studio guitar, it's going to be stripped of some features. However, it's a very clean guitar! The action and intonation needed doing after a change of strings but nothing too high-maintenance.

It seems like a sturdy guitar but only time will tell. it came to me fully functioning and it's a solid piece of work. I took the bridge apart and put it back together and it is all good...The finish could wear down but at this time i don't know.

I always gig with a back-up (cause you never know with a live show), but if i had to, i feel this would hold up on it's own!

Never used Epi Customer Service.

I've been a bassist for 4 years and a guitarist for 1 1/2 years. My rig with Guitar is as follows:-

Epi Dot > Morley Pro II Wah > Big Muff > Behringer Bass Chorus > Behringer ultra Phase Shifter > Behringer Digi Delay > Boss TU-2 > EHX #1 Echo Digi Delay > Peavey Solo Bandit 150w w/RC-2 FX-loop'd

I really love the tones from this guitar. In White, it looks amazing and i think of it were lost or stolen i'd cry and then replace it. I think the only thing putting off some people is the neck which is more rounded than most but i personally like that, and with the tonality of this beast it'd be easy to make accomodation for it. for a studio model, it's comprehensive and easy to use. For the money, it is crazy value. just get one and you won't regret it.