Epiphone Dot

Beutifull cherry color. Made in Korea. I bought it here en Mexico, hard case included. 6,850 MXP this is like 680 USD.
My dream was own an arch top guitar, now I have it, but my new dream now is a p-90s arch top guitar. This is an expensive hobbie, you can spend thousands of dollars and you still want more!
Very pretty from the outside...

I like the sound of the hollow body, and the sound through the 4102 JCM 900 is like the warm coffee an cream sunday morning. Of course this sound after changeing the 57' humbucker epiphone bridge stock pickup which had a very weak bass sound. Great trebly end but lack of that warmth humbucker sound. And the E string had a very weak sound in comparison with the the first three strings.
I changed this bickup by a 490T gibson, and know this it produces an awesome humbucker hollow body sound. The price of this pick up was like 100 USD.

This guitar is an imitation of an 1,300 USD hollow body but with a less of the half price, son don't expect a 1,300 USD guitar quality.
It seems like if it fells from my hand will get broken in pieces.
My first guitar was an epiphone "strat" style, and the freets had a very low quality in comparison with my fender tele. I bought the dot like 4 months ago and it hasn't shown wear on the freets until today.
The switch stoped working between the first three weeks and I had to change it too. Because of the reputation of the epiphone guitars I knew that sooner or later I'd have to change the switch. The potentiometers seems to be fine but I may change them too for othres of higher quality. The head machinery is excelent, no problem with that, either with the input jack until now.
I think the hard case is made from carton but is the less thing i care.

The problems above are what I have in this 4 months I don't know what is gonna be the next, but you can't expect more af a guitar from this quality.

I haven't deal with them. In a third's world country it's hard to keep contact with suppliers abroad.

I won't buy another of these guitars. I'll always be looking for a better guitar until I get my rickenbacker when i'm 45 years old.
As I said my first guitar was an epiphone "strar" style, I sold it to buy a mexican Telecaster which is my baby. My first amp was a shitty peavey, then the VS30 marshall, then the VS100 marshall and now the JCM900 combo. And now I want the fender bassbraker or the tonemaster.
I also own the boss TU2 tunner, CS2 sustainer, DD3 delay, CH1 chorus, a procorat, the fulltone soulbender (awsome), the ibanez tubescramer and the dunlop wah.

The important thing for me about this guitar is the fact it is archtop, with a solid lump in the centre to give it the strength and sustain of a solidbody, but with hollowed out sides to give great resonance. Mine is (I think) Korean, but I don't think that's important. I wish it had one of the fancy tailpieces, like on the other Epi archtops, but it doesn't. Tone and volume controls for EACH pickup are neat, too

I try to play 50's Chicago Blues, which suits the guitar perfectly. My amps are both crappy, but it still sounds very sweet thru them. The sound is about 5 times thicker than some solidbodies I've played (eg a Telecaster)

The thing is finished OK. A magnifying glass would show errors, but I'm not looking for them. The Cherry colour is gorgeous (but the blue is nice, too). The 3 way switch is pretty crappy

I am happy with everything about it so far

n/a

I've been playing for about 12 yrs. I own a semi acoustic, a dobro, a bass, a banjo, and this dot. The dot is the best, and I would definitely replace it if it got stolen. I compared it with solidbody guitars before buying, but nothing suited so well

PS: it plays John Lee Hooker stuff spot on

Purchased 30-days ago, made in Korea. Comes with 22 frets, rosewood fretboard and laminated tops. Two-tone, Two-volume and new Humbucker pickups, dipped in paraffin wax. Selected the ebony finish.

I am a rank-beginner, so the sound has more to do with my playing than the guitar. From my perspective I find the sound to match my expectations for a clean, smooth hollow-body tone in the style of BB King. I am working my way through the learning process of how to apply the bridge and neck pickups along with the tone/volume controls. What I can say is the slightest change is noticable so I am able to get immediate feedback on the effects. Very pleased with the sounds coming out of this instrument.

Purchased from 'The Guitar Factory'. Disappointed in that it was not set-up. Had to spend another $35.00 to have it intoned. The fit is great, but the finish is not perfect. Blemishes along the back neck and joining points on the sides. Mostly discoloration nothing to do with weak joints. So the fit is great, but the finish is less than perfect. Compared to other models in this price range the neck fully attaches to the body, with a seamless fit. Not sure what I should expect for a $349 guitar so I'll just score this a 7 based mostly on the weak finish. The fit and action are great!

Rock solid hardware, chrome finish, all good stuff. Nothing cheap on this guitar. Noticed that the volume/tone knobs are skewed a bit, but otherwise they fit fine. Since having it intoned I've found the guitar to hold tune much better and respond more easily to my fingering exercises.

Not contacted.

I've been playing less than 6 months. This is the first guitar I've owned. Had gone into guitar center and picked up a Jay Turser, Johnson (Mandalay Music) and Oscar Schmidt. The Epiphone by far is built better and beefier. If you are a beginner looking for a great entry guitar that will hold up and carry you into the intermediate stage than look no further.

I bought my DOT just a month ago ,so it's a 2002 korean model in Sunburst finish. I specifically wanted a semi-acoustic at a reasonable price and the DOT came as the ONLY option on the market that fits my budget for a new guitar.
A couple of years ago i sold my cherry Hofner/es 335 style semiacustic wich must have been the dumbest move i made in my entire life, ever since doomed to a sleepy half - life state, until i finally examined the marked for a replacement for that guitar ( wich by the way became an collectors item for the guy who owns the guitarshop from were i bought the DOT. It now hangs on the wall behind the counter) :(
Conscious of the fact that a new guitar breathes anything but soul I decided that i probably am able to live with it, despite the non-quality feeling of knobs, switches and the 3 way selector wich gave in after 8 hours of playing ( Must be a new record).
Yeah, and strings are buzzing at the frets, the nut adds not wanted harmonics for my taste and the overall impression that this guitar needs careful nursing more often then i want, never left my mind. But still : It's a semiacoustic sunburst and thats enough for me to start the romance.

Rich and mellow sound. It doesent really need effects to sound musical, just play like you would with a spanish guitar and it has the basic expression that a guitar SHOULD have. Wire it to your effectrack and it can sound just like anything your taste. The advantage of an hollow body lies in the making of harmonics that are just not possible for a i.e. telecaster. How does it sound to other Semi`s ? I would say that the DOT in that respect certainly , in sensitive hands , can deliever the same texture as a full classic orchestra. There is only Gretsch (Lots and lots of $k) comparable to the richness of sound.
Naturally the Amp is crucial, and now we are talking good old fashioned valves. As anything you plug in a "miracle - simulation" box that could mimick the texture of every very very expensive amp : You are most likely to be gravely disappointed at your miracle Pod, if you compare it to real life. Good Valveamps are not that much more expensive as these overpriced pieces of S%@T !

I would say : Not at all tuned and set up from factory and it shouldent either. There you have the next option : To learn how you do it yourself. The Finish flaws of the DOT are universal : just about anything but the tuners are from the junkyard, so replacing the parts after some time (In the very near future :) is inevitable. What you basically have is a Body,neck and fingerboard that are pretty good at creating harmonics that resemble to the original es 335, and as that a strong competitor in the Semi - acoustic guitar universe.

Action number one : be prepared to spend 10 $ to replace the totally unreliable 3.way switch, you could by the way just wait a day more or so to let the shop replace it right away. DON`T wait with this one !
Action number two : Replace the volume and tone pots AND the Knobs.The simple reason is that the 500k pots have more musical impact and you gain in volume-control too. The knobs are ugly and unreadable. Prepare to spend 4Xpots and knobs (At least 50$)
Action number three : If strings are buzzing, learn how to fix it yourself, there are inumerous numbers of self-help books in that subject.
If you do that you would have a playable guitar. Any other replacement is purely of academic interest, but these subjects are discussed further on this page down.

This is a new natural finish Dot, sent from the Nashville Gibson/Epiphone office... also came with a hardshell case. Standard in every way, and it came with a cool little cable in the case's storage compartment.

This guitar sounds lovely... snarl and bite when I want it, soft and mellow. It handles attack really well: you can cruise along softly, but hit the strings a little harder and it roars nicely. I don't think I'll bother changing the pickups, they seem fine.

This is where you realize that the guitar is a little chintzy... the f-holes were painted a little sloppy; the headstock "epiphone" inlay is not so great, with the dot on the "i" in the wrong place. The little E on the pickguard was sloppily glued on, etc., but this is minor stuff: I'm a working guitar player and they always end up battered after a few shows, so I don't really care about detail stuff. I just looked at the new Gibson 335's in the shop and the fretboard inlays are shit. This is still a very handsome guitar, especially from about 8 feet away. The factory intonation was bad, I took it in to be fixed.

Seems sturdy... I just took it on a three week UK tour, with shows every night, and it seemed to hold up fine. The tuning seemed to stay quite a bit more than my Telecaster, and the selector switch is pretty low quality, but I'm not too worried about it. I bought it originally as a backup, but ended up using it as my primary guitar.

I've dealt with the Nashville office some, and they seem quite friendly. I paid "artist pricing" so I don't think they would care to do much customer support, but hopefully I won't have to ever find out.

I'm extremely pleased with this guitar... it's solid, well made, and sounds great... I don't play blues or jazz, I play hard R&B/Punk/Garage, through an AC30 or Twin, LOUD, and it performs wonderfully... very Eddie Phillips, with really controllable feedback. I don't think I'd want a real 335 anyway to tour with... mid-price guitars cause less stress and worry... if they get broken, buy a new one. A well made workhorse.... I can't wait to try it out in the studio.

As stated in other reviews, although I was disappointed that you can't control the volume of each pickup/tone independently when in the 'both' setting to give a 'mixed' sound, but this is a small quibble.
Not supplied with any helpful instructions, unlike my Fender.

Exactly what I was after. I wanted a rhythm guitar sound that would sound sligthly angry when clean & then distort well, and this is perfect (I particularly like the sound on New Order's Crystal).
Very good through my Fender Champ 12 (which has a mid-boost that makes the sound super-humbucker), less so through a POD 2.2. POD is handier as a pre-amp.
I prefer the neck sound (very rich) and combined sound: the bridge pickup is a bit treble-y but sounded better when I raised it closer to the strings.
But it's the sound I bought the guitar for, and it's exactly what I'm after. The humbuckers sound fine.
I did replace the nut at the shop (on advice of earlier reviewers - thanks fellas) so can't comment if this helped or not.

Unamplified sound is pleasant too - enough to hear clearly.

Action is fine: intonation was nearly right anyway. May have it professionally set up once it's played in.
Raising bridge pu helped.
I wasn't mad keen on the colour initially (prefer sunburst) but the cherry has grown on me enormously: feels like a slightly brash friend, and the Dot sunburst was a bit naff.

The pu switch does feel flimsy, suspect will need replacing, but everything else seems fine.

I'd been thinking about getting a 2nd hand Gibson 335 for ~ 1500GBP, and on a course in Cardiff wandered into this shop and saw they had a cherry Dot reduced to #385.
I went in every night after work, read the reviews on this site (thanks again all) and finally bought it (and a hard case for 50 quid).
Very pleased with it since, and my collection is now complete (also have a Fender Strat Plus Deluxe and Epi electro-accoustic).
The shop was very helpful as they happily pointed out the flaws in the more expensive/pretty Epi's (eg gold hardware covering comes off) and to get this for under #400 made it a must-buy.
I'd strongly recommend it, plus a Fender valve amp, to anyone. (And the Peavey Bandit I tested it on in the store sounded great too.)
Happy plucking to y'all.

2002 korean made. Laminated maple, natural finish. 2 Humbucker, 2 vol, 2 tone, 3-way switch, stop/tune-o-matic bridge. Typical 335 clone.

While this guitar is not "perfect", I really like the sound. I play mostly rock/blues, with a little jazz. I play through a Fender stage 160. I find the sound to be full and rich. However, try out as many as you can BEFORE you buy...they all sound different. I tried the Dot, and Ibanez side by side and the Dot kicked the more expensive Ibanez's butt. I've played mine next to a Gibson 335, and the sound is pretty close, not quite as rich not as much texture. It does everything I want it to...I like it better than my American Fender!

Set-up was actually pretty good...for a lower end guitar. Action was good. WARNING...Epiphone make the worst 3-way pick-up select switches in the world!!! If it works when you buy it, just wait...It will break!!! I knew this going in, so I didn't mind that it didn't work when I bought it. I got the store to throw in a new switch and I wired it up when I got home. The dot has all no-name parts, they work good but not great. Finish is GREAT!

I've been looking at the Dot for some time, and finally got one. I did not expect it to be perfect, but to my suprise it was much better than I thought it would be. It feels and plays like a much more expensive guitar. Its well worth the money. I plan to switch out the pu's and electronics as well as the nut and tuners...by then it should be top notch!!! If it were lost or stolen I would be very pissed and would replace it without a thought.

'99 Korean. 22 frets. Original factory parts and electronics.
Used model.

Overly trebly. Horribly metallic.

Factory setups are poor. After professional setup, this guitar still had several places among the fretboard which caused buzzing and inconsistent intonation was apparent.

The fit looks passable from far away, but once you get up close you realize its some dime store shellac on that thing.

Volume and Tone knobs are obviously from the 5 cent store. What they call 'humbuckers' are no doubt bargain basement. They sound it, too.

This guitar feels about as solid as brittle twig.

It has the worst tuners I have ever experienced in a guitar.

Customer Support does not exist for companies with over 20 customers.

DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE GIBSON ASSOCIATION WITH THIS BRAND OF GUITAR. The cost of the materials and the workmanship put into this guitar and marketed by any other name would fetch half as much as it does with this insignia. Gibson and Epiphone are two entirely different companies.

Anyone who has ever played a Les Paul will pick up this guitar and put down in under 3 minutes. Why? Simply put, the guitar is cheaply built and sounds like trash.

2002 Korean Epiphone Dot. 22 frets blah blah blah. Ebony finish. Standard epi hardware.

From the time i picked the Dot up at the store I fell in love with it. I play alternative (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, weezer), punk(real 70's punk), and some oldies(Beatles, Hendrix, etc.). This instrument has the look and sound for all these styles. I tried it out through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 410, which i will soon be purchasing, along with numerous other amps. It sounded great with all of these. Somehow I was able to coax my shitty crate practice amp to sound exactly like Red House by Jimi. The humbuckers are a little underpowered for the instrument. My plan is to fix this one up for a straight rock sound. I am going to put a DiMarzio SuperDistortion in the bridge and a DiMarzio Paf PRO in the neck. I think this will give me the sound I want. Eventually I want to puchase another dot (cherry this time) and set it up like a 335. I will put in some Gibson '57 classics.

Action was great when I bought it. However the was some low E buzz, but i don't mind it. Finish is, well, black. Looks fine to me. It is now starting to get some marks from the pick and from me not taking care of it. The only problem I have experienced with this guitar is the toggle switch. Sometimes it doesn't want to switch to the bridge pickup. I only have to move it back and forth a few times then it is fixed for a while. I plan on having the switch changed to a gibson along with the nut.

Don't be stupid, put on straplocks. It has withstood my beating for a few months now and it still is the same. Wouldn't gig without a backup but I don't think this would fail on me.

???

Great guitar overall. One of the best deals you can find.

New Cherry DOT with fabulous grain. I won't repeat the rest as it has already been said... Has all that is required!

This is my second DOT. I had a Gibson 335 but had to sell it as I couldn't justify having so much money in a laminated guitar when the DOT is virtually the same. I sold my first DOT and bought the 335. It was an awesome guitar but really not much more other than binding on the neck over the DOT.

The sound that this thing can produce is phenomenal. Very sweet. I don't think the pickups are bad at all and see no need to change them. I have had a Gibson 335 and this thing equals it in tone without a doubt. These are worth every penny. I bought mine at a local store after trying out many. I could have bought it less over the internet but I wanted to make sure what I was getting as far as tone goes because like all guitars by all manufactures, they do vary in tone. I love the tone this one has without the bump in the wallet. Don't fall for the snob factor and think that you are playing an inferior guitar. I have been there and realize that these DOTS are killer.

This thing didn't need any tweaking at all. The action is superb. The finish has zero flaws. Yes the nut and hardware is cheaper than its Gibson cousin but not $2000 cheaper by any means. The frets aren't very tall which makes for a very fast neck but will need replacing sooner then those of the Gibson. No biggie. I really don't like Gibsons square frets anyway. The neck is fabulous. I like it better then the 335 neck. The Cherry is georgeous. 10's all the way here...

No problems here...

Contacted them in the past and they responded quickly to my questions.

Playing for many, many years. I currently own a Les Paul Standard DC, the orginal ones which sound and look better than the new ones. It blows away any other hard body electric that I put it up against. Other gibson LP's, PRS's, etc. Also own a Fender AMS Strat. Yummm... Dumped some high end PRS's, Historic LP's, 335 and many more high dollar guitars. I love the sound and playability of the 335/DOTS. I like the finger board without binding unlike most people. I find the high E string rolling off the edge at times on the bound boards. This DOT is the bomb and now part of my core collection. I will replace the nut and frets when they wear but otherwise will keep all else stock. People fret about the pickups and tuners. Of all the epi's that I owned, the tuners never let me down and the pickups sound great, IMO. I play through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and also two Marshall JTM 30's. Again, IMO, the best combo amps ever. I also have a GT6 plugged into a board for computer based recording. Also phenomenal...

Would I buy this again? I did... Would I do it if this was lost, stolen or crushed, yes, in a second. I have to have a 335 style guitar and to me, this fits just fine! My band mates and friends snicker until they hear and play it. Then they go, geez, unfreaking real!!! Thats what I think every time I play it... which is often!!! Don't hesitate to buy this guitar. You will not be disappointed at all. If you have the urge to upgrade to a Gibson 335, please refrain, you will not be satisfied after shelling out all that money for virtually the same guitar. Purists will say differently but they are the ones that either don't really play or are in denial. While Gibson uses a better nut and tuners, the nut is minor and the tuners will work just fine for a long time. The pickups sound great and is a good buy!!!!