Epiphone Dot

You know the features

The sound is great overall. The pickups feed back very easily and I am considering replacing them

The action was horrible from the factory. Go to a Luthiar and spend $50 to get just the action you want.

Good reliability accept for the pickups

No customer support needed yet. It does have a limited life time warranty.

I would buy it again but get the pickups changed out right away.

Gibson ES-335 Corean copy, made in 1998, 22 frets, laminated maple top, 2 volume pots and 2 tone pots, 3 way toggle, 2 chrome covered Samsung passive humbucker PUs, glued two piece neck (maple), rosewood fingerboard, dots, medium frets, big Epiphone headstock, no name sealed tuners, Gibson copy stop tailpiece and tune-o-matic lookalike bridge (not quite like the original), thick "orange to redburst" finish, no case of any sort provided.

I've changed the PUs recently so please read my own review of the new PUs for more info (DiMarzio PAF Humbucker & HD Z-90 single coil).

Originally it sounded like this:

- Neck unit: The worst of the two. It sounded cluttered and muddy. Plenty of mid-range but loose and "funny", bass was booming and mean and highs simply weren't there much.

- Bridge unit: Slightly better than its sister. Still it lacked personality and that pro sheen found in more expensive PUs was absent. Rather un-hot but in the end it was a good thing because the woody character of the semihollow body of the Epi really could be heard through a good amp. Good for Glam Rock impressions or o.t.t. Noel's nonsense but not quite good for discerning ears.

- Both: Some hollowness became apparent and it was a good addition to the already "almost-decent" sounds. Good for strumming or Britpop jangly rhythms.

Summing up, The Epi sounds A LOT BETTER now I've changed the stock PUs. Stocks are fine but they are slightly below the overall quality of the guitar and I'd do it again. Get a two good PUs, a soldering iron and plenty of patience (changing pickups in a ES-335 is not an easy task, no Strat's scratchplate here I'm afraid...)

Some PUs I know would work great for the Epi would be:

Neck:
- DiMarzio PAF (the one I've got): plenty of sweet but punchy tone.
- Seymour Duncan Seth Lover: Great vintage tones. Feedback could be annoying, though (no potting techs). Try a SD'59 if on a budget(same character but without the final touch).
- Gibson Classic: Roughly the real thing (more or less)
- HD Z-90: Great HiFi-like tone. It's a single coil though. Unique and lovely. Not for everyone. Loud and mean.
- Seymour Duncan The Jazz: Middy and rich. Not just for Jazzers.

Bridge:

- HD Z-90 (the one I've got): raw, wild, open, fat single coil. Like a Strat on steroids. VERY, VERY sensitive to pick attack. Loud. Luvit!
- Any of the above would be excellent choices.

The guitar was alright straight from the box although a few things could be improved:

I used to get some pings and creaks when bending the strings so I recut the nut and now those alien noises are gone. Still the plastic nut eats frecuencies like mad. I'm going to change it for a bone made one a.s.a.I.c.

The tuners are fine but not top-notch at all.

Electronics are cheap but work efficiently.

Finish is flawless, nevertheless the F-holes are an awful piece of work. They look tacky and cheap. I rather not look at them much. Most Coreans guiatr makers are still a bit naff in things like this.

Nevertheless everything worked perfectly from day one. Not the best Oriental guitar I've seen but adequate enough.

Semihollow guitars are the dream of a certain Mr. Townsend (ie you can smash them really easily!!)and this one fits the bill perfectly. If you care for it it'll last for many, many years, though. Still, buy the BEST hard case you can afford for it.
This guitar would take plenty of road punishment if properly used but it's not a Strat or a Tele by any means!!

Only made a question (via E-mail) and Gibson/Epiphone people answered it in a rather polite and useful manner. Good for them!!

I wanted a good no frills semihollow guitar for not much money. also I wanted something worth upgrading. And I've got it.

The Epi hasn't got the glamour of the Gibson and some people would be put off by the average hardware, the lack of case, the cheap PUs or the laminated neck. But if I'm honest, I don't think any of those aspects are that important. Especially when you can improve most of them. ES-335 are lovely guitars but are too expensive (at least in Europe) for what you get.
My Epi is decent guitar which cries for attention and time.

Rating: If stock 8 / 10. If upgraded 10/10.

If anybody is interested I'm going to record some samples using my Epi and a borrowed P.O.D. E-mail me if you are interested.

Originally a stock 335 copy, but I got it to customize it: It now has a Schaller roller bridge and fine tune stop tail piece, Grover super roto-matic tuners, Tom Holmes humbuckers, Buzz Feiten tuning system, tung oiled neck, Dunlop strap locks, bone nut, audio taper 500 K Ohm pots with .050 mF capacitors, a strat style input cable jack mounted 90 degrees aft of normal so that the cable comes in through the strap and directly into the jack with no weird looping. The only thing stock anymore is the wood and the frets

I use this as a jazz/blues instrumetn and it sounds great. I play it through a Roland JC90 into a modified VOX V847 wah, a Full-Drive 2 overdrive box with Evidence Audio cables (the best, you gotta hear 'em to believe 'em)

When I originally got this guitar ir was playable and actually sounded decent, but as I said I bought it to cusstomize.

I've been plaaying it for almost 2 years now and it still is solid. Looks and feels as good as new.

They wouldn't even talk to me after all I've done to the poor thing!

I've been playing for 30 years in many different levels and styles. Currently I play mostly jazz and jazz flavored blues and am getting ready to start playing out again. I also have a heavily customized mid 80's Jap Strat, an Alvarez acoustic and a 70's Fender Palomino acoustic (a dreadnought with a bolt on neck...it's too cool!). I also have an Epi EB-0 bass for just messing around with and recording

1998 Epi Dot used. Semi-hollow body thinline. Natural finish, 2 Gibson Classic '57 pickupus, maple neck, laminated maple body w/center block, etc. See above for more details.

This guitar kicks ass! I was originally looking for a Gibson Dot 335 when the salesman pulled out this baby. The previous owner had the Classic '57s installed, replaced nut and put in switchcraft switch. It sounded EXACTLY the same as the Gibson Dot I tried out. Nice fat warm 335 sound. I play mostly Beatles, Oasis, Weller, OCS, and other Brit-pop stuff. There's nothing to dislike about this guitar, especially when it costs 1/4 the price of the 335.

The guitar had been worked over and set up well by previous owner so I really can't say much about Epi here.

I treat guitars with care and this one is built well so I don't expect any problems. I don't gig without a backup but I would fully depend on this guitar-it's solid and the finish is flawless.

Never dealt with Epi.

Excellent used Dot with some nice upgrades and setup done by previous owner. I was really set on buying a Gibson 335 until I played this baby. I've been playing about 15 years and I also own a Gibson Historic Les Paul C.S. This guitar sounds as good except with a little more top end. With the money I saved I was able to buy an amp and a bunch of pedals! And I still stayed under my 2k budget. I would replace this guitar in a heartbeat with another Epi Dot if it were stolen. FYI: I tried a stock Epi Dot and was impressed with that one too.

The Dot is a semi-acoustic with two humbuckers. It has a rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets. It's worth to mention that it was very well set up right from the start and the frets were in excellent condition. This saves you money, and it would be great if every guitar you buy was in the same good condition as this one. In some shops they can fix this, but in most cases they'll charge you extra for it. No need for that here though.

This guitar has a great overall sound. I play mainly pop/rock when using the Dot. It's pretty obvious that you don't use this kind of guitar for grindcore or death metal, but for most styles of rock or pop it'll do a great job. I've found the pickups to be a bit microphonic but if you (I'm not saying you need to...) replace them with some quality PAF:s the Dot will eat almost any semi-acoustic for breakfast. No joke. It is also quite sensitive to feedback, but that goes for all semi-acoustics and is something one should be prepared for when purchasing a guitar like this. Better pickups would probably remedy this to some extent.

Mine has a beautiful maple body and neck with a smooth rosewood board. The finish is very good - way above the standards of other guitars I've seen for this kind of money. As I mentioned earlier the guitar was very well set up from the start with medium action. Very comfortable to play. I mainly play Ibanez guitars so I'm used to playing with a low action but this guitar is almost as easy to play as my Ibanez. This may or may not be a good thing since the Dot is not made for lightning-fast leads. It's more likely to be used for meaty riffs and chord-work and in that case you'll probably want a higher action and heavier strings to improve the overall sound. However, such adjustments are fairly easy to make. I really couldn't find anything wrong with this guitar. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I shit you not - it's one of the best investments I've made this far.

First of all: you NEVER go onstage without a backup guitar. NEVER! I feel very confident with this guitar and I haven't experienced any problems with it to this day. I trust this guitar not to let me down. The finish still looks fine, but I take good care of my guitar so I really can't say that much about the finish. It appears to be a very solid instrument.

I haven't dealt with them - and hope it stays that way!

I've been playing for fifteen years and I have tried a lot of different guitars - Ibanez, Anderson, Fender, Jackson, Westone etc. The Dot is a very good guitar, and has the potential of becoming an excellent guitar if you simply replace the pickups. They don't suck, but a set of Gibson (or other...) PAF:s would probably make it sing. You shouldn't worry too much though, I haven't replaced them myself yet, but I will in the near future. It works just fine as it is, but a quality pickup can make a HUGE difference to your sound and could in many cases be just what you need to get "that little extra" that you didn't even know you were missing in the first place. I play it through my Laney VC-50 2x12 combo with Zoom and Digitech effects and get a lot of good sounds. If you're into Brit-pop or similar this could very well be just the right guitar for you, but of course it's not limited to that style of music. Just keep away from the Pantera and Korn stuff and you'll be fine (as if you haven't figured that out yourself...) It's also nice that you don't need to buy a Gibson 335 to get the kind of sounds you find with the Dot. A true Gibson may be a better instrument in terms of build quality etc. but you get what you pay for and sound-wise the Dot is second to none. Just think of the cash you save. Spend it on a good tube-amp instead and you'll be happy as a pig in mud. This guitar is excellent value for money.

It's is a '98 model, and it's bougth strait from the factory, in Nasville, Tenneessee, USA. And it has 22 frets. It is a semi-aqcoustic guitar. It has four pots, two volume, and two tones, like any decent guitar should have! Pickup configuration is H/H, stock pickups, which are passive. The body and the neck are maple all the way with a rosewood fretboard (beautiful).
It's a thinline model, with tune-o-matic bridge, and non-locking tuners.
The scale of the neck is 24,75 inches, with jumbo-frets.
I've changed the stock strap-buttons with a Dunlop-strap locking system.

It's a very nice guitar if you are into brit-rock like Oasis. It suits me very good!! Excellent!! I'm using a sucky Epiphone Ep-800 amp with the Boss SD-2 pedal. That makes it sound much more nicer!
It provides a great feedback like any humbucker-guitar. The rythme HB has a rich and reverbish tone. The lead HB is a great solo HB!!
I like this guitar a lot!! It's just what I need for my kind of music.

I had no problems what so ever with the guitar.

It dosen't take as lot of beating like an solid body guitar of course, but when you have a great guitar why do you want to beat it up!?!?
Since my guitar dosen't have a "color"(just a natural apperance) I wouldn't know but the lacquer seems very solid! Build to last!!
The stock strap buttons seemed solid, but I wanted something more reliable!!
This guitar could definitely last the whole gig through!

Never dealt with them.

I simply love this guitar!! I've been playing for 3 years. I also own a Epiphone-amp and a Boss-pedal.
If it very stolen or lost I wouldn't buy anything but an Epiphone!

Mine is a 1997 model, cherry red, made in Korea. The features have been described often enough, but here's another rundown: semi-hollow body, double cutaway, with laminated maple top, back and sides, maple center block, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard; two samsung humbuckers; three-way selector; two volume and two tone controls; stop tail-piece and adjustable tune-o-matic style bridge; horrible black plastic nut; enclosed tuners; 22 frets; black plastic scratchplate with epiphone 'e' embossed logo ; black plastic truss-rod cover with 'gibson' printed on it; 335 style ornamental inlay on headstock; all hardware is chrome. It's pretty well made, with everything neat and tidy. Lot of glue overspill around the center block if you look inside the f-holes. The knobs and swithes operate smoothly. I had one badly fitting string post, loose as hell, which I didn't discover until I changed strings. There's no obvious way of tightening it, so it's still loose, but the string tension keeps it stable. No case or gig bag included.

I bought this guitar in order to get a Freddie King sound - later Freddie King that is. It is a complex sound that is hard to describe, but you need a semi to even get close. I get close with the epiphone, or let's say I'm in the right ball park. (Solid body mahogany guitars give too dense a center to your tone for that bluesy sound. A semi lets in just the right amount of air.) A 40 or 60 watt blackface Fender would be the ideal amp, but my Boogie Mark III combo switched to the clean channel but cranked gives a good rendition of that Freddie growl. Set the selector for both pickups and open the volume and tone knobs to about 7 - that's the way Freddie set his guitar, as does B.B. Your amp must be cranked for the warmth and the overdrive.
Gibson 335's are known for their versatility. This 335 copy has a similar range to its parent. 'Chocolate' is the word that best charaterizes the overall sound. There is no nasty harshness. On the neck pickup, with the top rolled off, you can get a passable jazz sound, but you won't fool Wes Montgomery nuts. In the bridge or bridge/neck position you can get an excellent Britpop jangle or Beatlesque 60s pop sound.
It's easy to get feedback from semis, some would say too easy. But I've never known it to get out of control on the Epi Dot. It swells and sings, depending on where you stand, and how your volumes are set, but it doesn't tend to screech microphonically. Used well, feedback is a beautiful effect.

This is a hefty beast. It's easily as heavy as my 70s strat - the ones made of swamp ash. But it's nicely balanced and isn't awkward. You'll get used to it, and won't get a Les Paul back. I played about six of these in various stores before settling on this one. It felt better than the others, and was finished in cherry red. The sunburst ones didn't look as good, and were a million miles from the brilliant sunburst on Gibsons. I've recently played a sunburst epi dot which felt better than mine. If it had been around when I was buying I would have had a tough decision to make. The finish on this guitar is okay, definitely not as rich or luminous as on a cherry Gibson. It comes to life under stage lights and in the sun. I'm hoping it will improve with age and sunlight. There is no such hope for the chrome hardware, it is tacky and shiny. Beside the beautiful nickel on Gibsons it looks like a cheap tart. The action was too high when I bought it. Now it's a shade low with a slight buzz on the 6th and 5th strings in a few positions. The nut is dreadful and is cut too high. When I have it changed - soon - I will have a professional set up. On the whole, though, these guitars are playable out of the box. The profile of the neck is modern. It is wide, slim and flattish. If you are used to something more clubby and vintage it takes a bit of getting used to. The frets are jumbo and seem well set and finished. There is a slight sharpness at the edges which neck binding would have eliminated, but hey, this is a budget guitar. I've heard some complain that epiphone's from Korea use soft fretwire. I can't tell, there is some wear after a year, but nothing to worry about yet.

A good guitarist playing a cheap guitar is still a good guitarist. I've seen too many excellent live club players with Squiers and Ibanez replicas to be worried about the reliability or efficiency of imports from the East. Having said that, an average or an above average player, like me, likes the extra assurance of having top quality, named gear when he goes on stage. The epiphone dot doesn't do this. I have used it, and will continue to use it, but want to upgrade to a Gibson one day.

Can't imagine calling Korea to inquire about replacement string posts. I deal with the store. Nothing has gone wrong with this guitar to warrant complaint. It doesn't come with a case, so I bought a hard case from the store as part of the overall deal. This isn't a bad strategy as it gives you extra negotiating power on price. Use it.

If you want to know if you can get on with a Gibson 335 but don't want to risk serious bread to find out, the epi 335 dot is a VERY good place to start. I have two problems with this guitar: the first is that it doesn't FEEL like a 335. The shape of the neck is too modern. It looks good and it sounds pretty good. My second problem is that I don't think I could ever LOVE this guitar. It may deteriorate with age rather than improve and flower. I could be wrong, but I don't see it becoming an old friend. For these reasons I would not bother splashing out on replacement pickups or expensive tuners. I'd rather make it serviceable, and save up for a nice used Gibson.

N/A Look it up on www.epiphone.com

Great!!!! I play alot of Beatles,U2, and Weezer, it sounds great for all those, its right on the money for Weezer songs you will be shocked!

I don't really like the Ebony finish that I got, but thats the only thing I hate about it. It needed setting up badly but it sounded good even when it was not set up, it just alittle out of tune. The pick-up are great, I loved the tuners, very smoothe, I was impressed.

I think you could use this guitar to beat livestock for hours and nothing would happen to it. Oh! the switch sucks, it makes alot of noise when it switchs.

I've bein playing for about 4 years now and this so far is the best guitar I've owned, It was my first adventure into Archtop land and it was a lovely trip. If it was stole I think I would cry and then go break something. But I really hate the Ebony finish so I would get over it quickly. If you like clean tones and cool rhythms buy this guitar.

This is an ebony Dot made recently in Korea. It had two standard Epiphone humbuckers originally. Fit and finish are good. The action was set a bit high for my tastes as it came from the factory. Other features have already been described.

I am interested in jazz guitar currently, listening to anything from Montgomery, to Burrell to Ritenour. I purchased the Dot as a 'project guitar', with certain modifications in mind before purchasing it. The original pickups weren't all that bad. I replaced both of them with Gibson '57 humbuckers and the sound is what you would expect, that of a real Gibson ES-335. I am using an adequate Epiphone SC-210 solid state amp with a Boss Blues Driver for a little boost. This actually helps the guitar sound quite nice. I've also played it through an old Peavey Classic tube amp, and it sounded very warm. I am awaiting delivery of a DOD FX84 Milk Box to help round out the sound. The guitar sounds great straight as well. This rating is for the Gibson humbuckers, it would have been a 7 with the originals.

The action was high for me when the guitar arrived. The nut was also too tight and the tension rod needed an adjustment. I had a qualified tech attend to all of these things along with dressing the frets. I replaced the nut with one custom made from Corian, made for Markley medium gauge strings, 11-52's. The new nut is perfectly fit for this set. The action was lowered considerably. It now plays effortlessly, as though it's playing itself at times. I've had and have played many nice guitars, this now plays as well or better than any I've played before. Don't be afraid to customize and fix this guitar up as time and money allow. It can be a terrific guitar. It's not bad as is, either. The rating is for the way the guitar is now, otherwise it would be a 6.

This guitar seems solid enough. I do treat my guitars very carefully and respectfully. Someone suggested replacing the tuning gears, but these seem to be doing the job very well. I expect this guitar to last a very long while, solely in my ownership. This rating is a guess, as time will tell.

As mentioned, there were some small problems relating to the neck and nut. I also found a private sale at a lower price. I brought this to the attention of zZounds, whom I bought the guitar from, and they treated me very well. Customer support from them was as it should be, they behaved commendably. They matched the other price and added an allowance for some of the guitar techs' work. What more could an on-line customer ask for?

I've played off and on for years. This guitar is being used for jazz musings and muddling primarily. You can also do a pretty good B.B. King imitation and it can also rock. This guitar is quite versatile and a complete pleasure to play. I really must find a decent tube amp that doesn't cost an arm and leg to do the guitar justice. The only difference between this modified Dot and a real Gibson ES-335 is in the cost. I have no plans to sell this, ever. Rating includes mod's.

1999 - Korean made-semi-hollow body-ect..

I'm just an old accoustic diehard from way back but decided to try an electric again just for shits and giggles. I can get an awful lot of nice sounds out of this guitar--especially for the money involved. Bought it with a new Dyna Touch series Fender Princeton 65 amp. Didn't want to spend a whole bunch of money until I decided how much I would enjoy playing electric again. Very nice clean sound I think. More than enough distortion for and old guy like me when I feel in the mood.

Nicely set up I thought - no obvious flaws other than the El Cheapo knobs and toggle switch. Eveything else seems nice and tight.

I don't beat on my guitars much and I only play for my own pleasure so I don't see any big problems for awile. Everything needs to be replaced eventually.

No experience with Epiphone-limited lifetime warranty for manufacturers defects.

Have been playing on and off for about 30 years. Have old acoustic stuff mostly, old Gretch copy six string, old cheapo 12 string, and a couple of banjos. I've realley enjoyed playing this guitar-stays in tune nicely all the way up to the 20th fret and I don't hang around on the top two frets much anyway. I had pretty well researched this guitar on the Internet before I bought it and more or less just crossed my fingers and hoped I didn't get a dog so I wouldn't have to go to the trouble of sending it back. Very well satisfied for the money..pleasantly surprised with the sensitivity of the amp and guitar combination. If someone stole this guitar I would probably tell my insurance agent that some sumbitch ran off with my rare $8500 Gibson ES 335 guitar and my wife. Than I would tell him I'd let them keep the wife but I'd like to replace the guitar.