Epiphone Dot Studio

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.

Alnico V Plus stick pickups, semi-hollow 335 body, all around maple. Simplified controls; one volume, one tone, and of course, the three way toggle switch. Set neck. Stopbar tailpiece, 24-3/4" scale, 1-17/25" nut width. Mine is black. This guitar is really modest on the features. Kinda heavy though.

I play just about anything, and this guitar has no let me down. Obviously, since it's a 335, it's great for blues and jazz, so I'm not going to focus on those two. I have played metal with it was good. Country, also good. Folk rock, classic rock, alternative....the truth is, this guitar can do it ALL. It's VERY versatile. And that's just with the stock pick-ups. However, the bass is boomy and the bridge doesn't have much bite...enough...but it can use more. I run her through a Boss ME-50 pedal and a 10 watt Marshall (this what I use the most because it's for home practice). I have run it through a Roland Clean Jazz Chorus, and a Fender amp. The Alnicos were too much for the Fender.

The action is just right (on mine anyways), but it can be very easily adjusted. The only flaw was the jack. A common issue with most guitars. I was able to get mine fixed for under $40 bucks (apparently jack work is more expensive for 335s).

I've had this guitar for about 5 years now. Never given me any problems (after I got the jack fixed). It's solid. I don't even use a backup or anything. This is my standard, it's really all you need.

This is a good guitar. I like it because it has simplified features ( I really don't like messing with knobs much). The black finish is the most expensive running at $299 new. But the real beauty of the guitar is that it sounds more expensive than it really is. This guitar is the best deal I have seen out there. It's also a good guitar to invest in. I'm planning to get a '57 for the neck and a Duncan Alnico II Pro for the bridge. That's all that I would really change about this guitar. Also, if you have good pedals and a good amp, you're set. You can sound like a million dollars. Overall, I recommended, whether you're just starting or you want a simplified 335.

it's a worn brown sunburst made nov 2007 in china qingdao plant. 22 frets, plywood top and back. two knobs. matte like finish, grover style tuners. tune-o-matic bridge. always wanted to try a semi-hollow body. this one was bought off e bay as a u-fix it for $85 plus $40 shipping. it had all the parts, but the headstock was broken off. after another $40 for glue and clamps, it was ready to string up.

it's a good sound for oldie rock, blues, and jazz i suppose. it get's woofy or jangly depending on how you use the switch and knobs. it's got a lot of sustain. unplugged it's great as well. i use 11-50 string guages, and it stays in tune about as well as any guitar. all of mine need tuning after about three songs anyway. i like the way the body hangs in just the right place.

my big surprise came when, after the headstock repair, the frets were all level, the neck was straight, and it was easy to get the action low and fast. the worn finish is perfect for me. i play in a sixties rock cover band on tuesdays, a rock/punk band sometimes, and a reggae/rock band occasionally. i don't have to worry about anything but playing. the output of the pups seems even, yet a little soft.

this is an all around good beater. you can't really hurt it, and i assume the more you personalize it with accidental dings, dents, and scratches, you'll love it even more. it's easy to wipe down, and looks like it will last for a while. i won't be upgrading it or anything, it is what it is. i love being able to get up to all the high notes.

most everthing can be fixed with stuff from radio shack or stu-mac. i doubt if epiphone would honor any warranty since i bought it broken. however, i know i'm the first one to play it because the frets are immaculate.

been dabbling in music for about 29 years. i've had my share of instruments and will probably go through more. i'm trying to only collect one of each style now and i like the bargain potential of the you fix it types. nothing about a guitar is hard to fix with some patients and the right tools. i've smashed a few in my time, now i like to fix them instead.

Plywood bodied semi-hollow with a no-frills stained satin finish. Basic features, has only one volume and one tone control. Has stoptail and tunamatic bridge. Enclosed Grover-type tuners. Rosewood fingerboard has typical Gibson-type profile and medium-jumbo frets.

The sound is very muddy and imbalanced. I'm using a Hartke GT60C combo and the overwound pickups tend to bring out the overdrive too much - can't get a clean sound. Note: I replaced the pickups with GFS Mean 90s, which made this guitar sound wonderful - considering how inexpensive they were ($38 each retail), I see no reason why the stock pickups should be of such low quality.

The factory setup was so-so but plays well after some minor adjustments. The bridge pickup was a bit high and sounded better after lowering it a bit. The wires show through the F hole. The fingerboard is a bit rough in places and there are some finish problems on the top - BUT it is a B-stock guitar

This guitar is solid and I would be comfortable gigging with it. From other Epiphones I've seen, I suspect the pots, switch and jack will have to be replaced before long with higher-quality components.

I did ask Epiphone customer service if the visible wiring would be fixed under warranty - they said "no", but at least they promptly answered my email. Has a lifetime warranty.

I've been playing over 40 years, although this is my first electric since the 70s. It was given to me as a gift from my son, who knew how much I liked semi-hollow guitars but it probably wouldn't have been my first choice. That being said, the guitar has good action and stays in tune well and after I replaced the pickups with GFS Mean 90s, this guitar sings! After the pickup upgrade, this guitar cost under $300, a bargain in anybody's eyes. If lost or stolen, it might be difficult to get the same bang-for-the-buck with any other guitar.

Its white, I like the lack of features, the pots switch and jack are pretty crap though, mine went all crunchy after about six months plus the usual jack input twisting round until the wire comes off. Be prepared for repairs after a year

Im using it with a vox valvetone 15. Its a good solid sound, errs towards the thick side in distortion but thats the sound I was after, its fairly flexible and being a hollow body has a good clean tone. As has been said you'd probaly want to change at least one of the pick ups, id get the rest of the electronics done at the same time. Still, bloody ace for the money!

I bought it from JOHN BOOTS, HYTHE, UK. Its a Great place and set the guitar up well, looking at others experiences it shows the benifit of buying from a real music shop rather than a warehouse, other wise youll need to budget an initial set up but then thats pretty standard. There was a tiny bit of overspill from the neck paint onto the rosewood but it came of easily with some T-cut.

The guitar is pretty reliable to be honest just as previously mentioned be prepared to change the pots, for such a cheap guitar its not a big suprise though and id rather the money had gone on the 'acoustics' rather than pots since there not hard to change.

Ive been playing for 3 years and read music at uni (sax is my prime instrument) for the money its amazing, good tone, good build minus the electronics, looks great and it shits over other guitars at the same price. I just wish I could afford a 'real' one.

Same as all others; mine is in black. Initially I thought it would be restricting only having the two controls but in a live situation it can actually be advantageous not having so many knobs to worry about.

I have replaced the humbuckers with a set of Bareknuckle Mississippi Queen P90s, which are wonderful, so the sound it makes now isn't really relevant to the review. I wasn't very impressed with the stock pickups, finding them very soupy and too thick for my style, but then again this is what I find with nearly all humbuckers, so you may find they aren't too bad if you're a soup fan.

The factory set-up was terrible. Action was unimpressively high, the jack socket rotated loosely and it felt like a cheap guitar. For some reason I persisted with it and spent ??50 or so having it properly set up. The luthier levelled the fretboard, fixed a rather poorly soldered bit of electrics (and at the same time replaced the pickups with the P90s as stated earlier).

The difference was like night and day. Apart from the obvious improvement in sound from the pickups, it plays and feels like a far more expensive guitar.

Due to the solid centre section this is surprisingly heavy and could hold its own in a fight. As this is a budget guitar all the hardware fripperies have been stripped down anyway, so there is little to worry about there. I would depend on it, and although I would never play live without a backup, this doesn't mean that I have doubts about its reliability. This is, of course, after the pro set-up I had done.

Can't comment here.

I've been playing now for 35 years and have over 30 guitars, including several other semi-acoustics. For the money (including the set up cost) I think this is a very good guitar and compares very favourably to the other semi-acoustics I have. I like the basic, stripped-down quality. In this sense it reminds me of the Gibson Les Paul Studios; an instrument to be played rather than posed with. It's just a shame that the sloppy state it arrived in (mine, at least) from the factory might well deter potential buyers.

I was shopping for a guitar for the near future so I went to Guitar Center. As soon as I walked in the door this baby was calling me!

It was so different from the other guitars I had to pick it up and play it!

OK enough of the jabbering!

FINISH: Brown wood stain with no clear coat or polish.

BODY: Semi Hollow Body 335 style with two F-holes

BODY MATERIAL: Laminated Maple

TOP MATERIAL: Laminated Maple

BRIDGE: Black Stop Tailpiece with Tune O Matic Bridge

TUNERS: Grover Rotomatic

NECK: Set with Body and made of Maple

SCALE: 24.75"

FINGERBOARD: Rosewood "Not Oil Treated" "Not Sealed"

FRETS: 22

CONTROLS: Volume / Tone / Straight 3-Way Switch

PICK UPS: Alnico Classic @ Neck / HOT Alnico Classic @ Bridge

ELECTRONICS: Passive

WORKMANSHIP: KOREA

ASSEMBLY: USA

Thought it would go well for what I needed sound wise, except I found my style is too eclectic for it's Alnico Classic Humbuckers.

MY MUSIC STYLE: Rock, Goth, Rockabilly, Industrial Rock

EQUIPMENT USED: DigiTech Grunge, Behringer Ultra-G DI Box, Behringer Digital Reverb, Behringer Digital Multi-Effects

NOISE: This guitar is fairly noisy. You are at times unable to determine certain chords depending on setting.

Noisiest Setting: Neck

Clearest Setting: Bridge

RICHNESS AND WARMTH: At the neck this guitar is somewhat weak with tuned down low end notation. Sounds decent when tuned in E and is warm when using standard strings.

TUNED DOWN TO: A

GAUGE OF STRING: 10 - 60

BRIGHTNESS: This guitar is way too bright as the high note strings override lower end notes when using Bridge. Mids are almost undefined.

HARMONIZATION CAPABILITY: Harmonizing is weak

EFFECTS COMPATIBILITY: Works great with Chorus / Reverb / Delay / Vintage Distortion

LIKES: She does great blues leads and sounds moderate to good in clean mode. Also she sounds beautiful when not plugged in. The Semi Hollow Body brings out enough acoustics to hear strings clearly and moderately loud. "Not as loud as a full acoustic, slightly quieter and not as deep."

DISLIKES: Can get sloppy at times with heavier riffs and does not have a very long sustain due to the stock humbuckers.

FACTORY SETUP: Terrible! The strings were rattling all over the place! Also the Volume and Tone knobs were hanging on to dear life they were so loose! The quality control person must have been on a coffee break.
Then came back and placed the Pass Inspection sticker on the back of the head.

PICK UP ADJUSTMENT: Fine

TOP AND BRIDGE SETUP: Did good job could not find any flaws in placement.

FLAWS: 3-Way Switch is crap! It cuts out every once in a while when switching from bridge to neck.

Will this guitar withstand live playing?

I think it could. I have accidentally banged her a few times during recording sessions. Also I have been pretty hard on her when playing heavy riffs (not abusively).

Does the hardware seem like it will last?

The Humbuckers will last. The switch and electronics suck! They should be replaced.

Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off with lots of playing?

This guitar is like 501 Levis Jeans. The more you use her the better she looks. Not that she isn't perfect the way she is. This is a guitar made to have character!

Are the strap buttons solid?

YES

Can you depend on it?

I couldn't say it would be with stock parts. I suggest upgrading for high end parts, I did! You will not be disappointed! This beauty just needs a little TLC.

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

Not with stock hardware. She can with upgraded hardware though.

I have done all the work myself. If you can build a Skill Level 3 Model Car Kit then you can work on a "passive circuit" guitar with basic knowledge of wiring and soldering.

I Purchased the guitar at Guitar Center and they are great there. They are fairly to well knowledgeable and are not going to try and sell you the most expensive product. They are actually interested in what is going to work best for you.

How long have you been playing?

13 years

Is there something you wish you had asked before buying this guitar?

No, I knew what I was getting myself into. I was planning on upgrades from the beginning. THIS GUITAR ROCKS WITH HIGH END REPLACEMENT PARTS!!!!!!!!!

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?

I would do it all over again! This guitar is beautiful and when you take care of her and give upgrades she will be a loyal companion. She is worth every penny I have spent on her!


What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?

Didn't we already go through this?

Did you compare it to other guitars?

Yes


Which ones?

Epiphone Les Paul Special II

Why did you choose this one?

This baby has nothing that screams, "Look At Me! I am so cool! Check out all my fancy gadgets!"

This is a true guitar to grow a bond to.

Anything else you'd like to share?

Like I mentioned over and over.

This guitar needs a little TLC and some decent hardware upgrades. By doing this, you will have an extremely reliable and great sounding instrument!

lame pickups. surprisingly good satin finish. surprisingly well built.

no noise. recording clean sounds just as good as a 335. excellent tone and resonance. tsingtao's epiphone factory does surprisingly good work

the most surprising thing about this guitar is the action. it came from the store set up perfectly. there is literally zero buzz on any of the frets. never seen that on a guitar before. controls are solid, but could see the toggle switch going south eventually. tuners are surprisingly good quality, hold very well despite being of chinese manufacture. the main problem is the painted on binding. it looks good, but the paint is all messed up on the f-holes, and the stain they put on the neck is messed up at the joint with the body.

seems very reliable, at $250, this was definitely worth the money

if lost or stolen, would definitely get another one. best cheap guitar ever. if it was a $500 guitar, it would be borderline, but at $250 it's definitely worth it.

update to the Dot Studio... Now i have 3. but thats not the update. I have purchased each one at a different outlet, so i think i can safely say this... the bodies are rough to the touch, unfinished to the eyes... that is what initially promted me to take it off the wall and see what it could do. My 1st was athe reddish color, some call it tomatoe red, I took some very fine steel wool and linseed oil. real pour it on. gave the wood a good scrub down with the steel wool.. nice and smooth, then the shock came after I wipep most of the excess oil. Took a drill with a buffing wheel (very soft) and proceeded to hopefully get rid of most oif the linseed oil and to my amazement the wood became a beautiful almost crimson color complete with shine. The maple is ripe for some oil and buffing,when i say buffing, I mean serious buffing, maybe e few hours on each all totalled. If you don't you will have a finish that with pick up fingerprints and all, if you put in a little time here and there, the reward is beautiful natural would shine.. the brown dot, is especially handsome, looks almost like violin finish (almost) but most importantly, this did wonders for the feel of the neck (backside) smooth like a bowling alley. My first dot studio had rough fret pieces, almost unfinished, took a dry piece of steel wool with a little more bite and have done all 3. If you not looking to pretty up this dot studio I will say that all 3 drank up the oil, dry wood not good in the long term. also, all 3 had the wiring harness that had a stickum square to stay up and out of sight, eventually all three stickums let go, a little super glue and thats that.

AL 3 guitars stock sounded pretty much the same, each tune-o-matic had the slide on the high "e" string all the way forward... I changed the tune-o-mtic with one of the many I collected over time and not only could i adjust intonation perectly, was bad before, I use many weird tunings and couldn't find a happy medium with the stock one... since I put a chrome tune-o-matic on the dot I went all the way and put a chrome stop bar. This reminded me for every action there is a reaction... preface I like the stock sound, left one comopletly stoxck accept for a bath and a buff. This change but a nice bite and attack is cleaner. (my amp is an epiphne blues 30 in the Class A output mode" There is a noticible difference between the stock guitar and the one with the change, no big surprise but the difference is much more noticacble then I thought it would be. Finally my "violin finish dot" I had an old Gretsch tailpiece from a very old Gretsch acoustic, longer then most, well made. I changed the tune-o-matic to chrome, added the tailpiece, (used the bottom hole for the strap button after enlarging it slightly) not this is a huge chnge, I finger pick and this is buy far the best of all my many high end guitars for what I'm after, good string spacing, good neck size, good fret size, and when I thump a string for a bass line a fat but not muddy sound. As for the holes where the stop bar was.. doesn't bother me, in fact they look like they belong. I have an lite casino (big deal) I prefer this maple dot by a mile, seems to have more range (the one with the trapeze) This pickups are great, for my taste, but very string sensative., plus i have only played and gigged through the 30.. can't know what these sound like through other amps obviously. Mayebe this information is trite, but for a guy like me who has been around the block a few times, these guitars have put the zip and fun back into my pickin and a slidin. I re-strung each one with 10's De Addario's (can't spell to gud) stock strins were tired sounding.

spoke on the finsih up top... stock, "what finsish" but thats not bad, a nice funky looking organic look. I'm not 100% sold on the stock tune-o-matic because there is not much room to raom for intonation with especially the higher strings., however the one I left stock is fine, just thats its at the end of the travel.

I neverr really know how to answer this... all my guitars have suffered some small 'accidents' over the years, these are lightweight guitars, the wood behind the nut seems a little thin ( to be pick)I wouldn't go to fat with strings or use these guitars for snow shoes. I have already depended on the ;violin".. only take it, have use it busking in the sun.

n/a

I'm no luthier, maybe could be if had the tools, all my guitars have my little mods here and there, up through some fairly major 'steam and straighten" but these epi's are low end money big bag guitars left stock and are especially appeasing when a modificcation such as a trapeze etc is done. I don't think I'll ever change out the pups. i swear in there own way they can rival any. This last comment really doesn't add up to a hill of beans, I never had a guitar that so many gawked at. i think epiphone has found its stride, hard to believe I paid under $500 FOR THE bLUES 30 AND PRACTICALLY NOTHING FOR 2 OF THE THREE GUITARS

If this ain't a bluesy looking feeling noise box I don't know what is. "studio model" to my minds its another way of sying cut corners but try to have a decent product. This guitar is a good example of big bang for the buck. Other reviewers covered the parts and pieces etc.

There aare may reviews that the powers to be posted.. over the last 4-5 years that i have owned a pc, my choice in guitars have become less bux more happy. First guitar in 63, (Gibson) with a tube super beatle, I have had the highly sort after these days, however I have parted with my good high end friends because instead of mojo they had high quality and made pretty sounds. I am so steeped into the blues, have so much in the way of rare footage, be it Maxwell Street with Robert Nighthawk, Lowell Fulsom, obscure names to some but you would reognize many tunes that were the skeleton of tofdays rock. The one part of the puzzle was i couldn't quite get the raunch. One African American blues dude came up to me in a gin mill where i opened and siad,"You got the black chops but you ain't got the raunch" Now where I once had an American Strat I have a Squire, that what I said, had a 335, now have this epi version and so on. back to the epi "studio" it feels as good as any guitar I have travelled the neck with. Thge pickups are generic plus a bit better, for me perfect. This guitar is for slide and picking, ahve to domsome almost blue grass speed with a slide danglin off my little finger.. no proble. I could change all the black hard ware, I have 43 years of parts but like it as it is, looks great against the dull reddish satinish finish. if You are a blues man, the guitar seems to have all the vredentials for being a great Hound Dog Taylor ax with maybe 1 hooter pickup. Fred McDowell. Doesn't have great bite but with a few tweaks on the amp its bite is enough to reak the skin. There is nothing I do not like about the guitar which was under 300 bux. I think it gets looked at more then my other guitars has a nice vibe to it. Plays great with slide and finger picking, sounds great for my catalog and I couodn't be happier for early electric blues.

I set thge guitar up because i reaise d the strings. I usually use 10's which is a little light for slide but gives a nice slippery sound, so ahd to raise and re do intonation.. no biggie. I'm looking st it now, it needs a cleaning, I busk sometimes) but the guitar is no worse tyen what I have seem on higher end guitars, maybe because there isn't much to this one to complain about. Action is great for my style, you slide/pickers will understand, can worry the strings with the slide and thump some bass without losing pitch. My rating is for a low end guitar.. strike that .. its for any guitar

When i busk, sometimes to stay out of the cops way, I find my self in the sun, guitar has been no problem with temp change, no more then You would expect, maybe less. All feels good then I look at it while I'm down-tuning and I remember this is an economy guitar but forget when I'm playing because its created the illusion I'm better then I am.. carry with a gig bag, its taken a spill of my back when I was on my bike with no apparent efeect (in the gig bag)

n/a

I give this guitar a 275, because thats what I paid for it. It feels good to get the sound I want, the feel I want and the vibe i want for little money. When i gig inside i use a Blues 30 epi in the class position, one Celstion 80 and one green back in parallel. Outside I make noise with a little "cube" from Roland.