Epiphone Dot

2005 black, Korean Dot, w/Grovers. By now we can all recite the Gibson/Epi specs, so let's just move along . . .

The bridge is an ABR-style bridge, with the little retaining wire, which is what you get on every Korean guitar I've seen. I hated those bridges when Gibson used them, I don't know why they're still around, but they're authentic, at least.

One thing worth noting is that the Dot and the Gibson 335 are both made with maple laminate; you're not getting a solid maple top and back with your $2000 Gibson.

For features, I have to give it a 7, not because anything is particularly bad, but because there's nothing special here, either.

I bought my Dot after trying too many of them to count, and found one I really like. I'm more of a prog/fusion player than a jazz player, so I wanted the Dot as a spare sound, rather than a main guitar; still, it has a decent unplugged sound, and a good range of electric sounds, from mellow jazz tones, to distorted Joy Division sounds. (Yes, Bernard Sumner used a 335.) No noise problems, no snap-crackle-pop from the pots, nothing; it sounds clean.

Of course, it's not a "real" 335, but there are 335's that suck, and Dots that rule; that's why I tried so many of the damned things, until I found a good one.

I'll give the Dot an 8 for sound, because it's very good, but not great.

My Dot was ready to go from the moment I picked it up. The action was comparable with any Gibson guitar, and all the hardware worked well. With a black finish, it's hard to judge the woods, but the finish was very clean. I was glad to get Grover tuners, instead of the fake Kluson-style tuners I've seen on most Epiphone guitars.

A bit of advice . . . any guitar that's been sitting out in a place like Guitar Center has probably taken a good beating. I got my Dot the day it came out on the floor, before anyone could play it, tweak it, or screw it up. Three years later, it still looks and sounds like new.

After three years, I'd say it's held up very well. I'm not sure how it would stand up to serious road abuse, but that's not what I got it for. (I have a Faded LP Special for that.) At some point, I may swap out the bridge, but it's not an issue right now. The finish seems good, but I'm one of those players who polishes his guitar every time I change the strings, so my finish gets good protection. I put Schaller strap locks on all of my electrics as soon as I bring them home, period. The Dot isn't my main guitar, by any means, so it doesn't get out much, but any semi-hollowbody is going to be more delicate than a mahogany plank. Having said that, if I were a jazz player, the Dot would probably be my back-up guitar, for places you wouldn't want to take a 335 or a D'Angelico.

I give my Dot a 10 for reliability; it's lived through three years of use without any problems.

I've called Gibson's 800 number for help and advice, and I've always gotten a good response; I've never needed any warranty service.

I've been playing since before men walked on the Moon. (Yeah, I'm old.) I have a few nice working guitars, and some seriously tweaked sound effects. I'd been looking at Dots for a long time before I bought this one, and I'm happy with my choice; I'm also glad I waited.

If something happened to my Dot, I don't know if I'd be in a hurry to replace it, but I'd keep looking. For what I paid, I got a very good guitar, but that doesn't mean another Dot would be just as good.

I love having a $400-500 guitar that only cost me $300; the ABR bridge I can do without.

I tried a few other guitars in this range, including the Hamer Echotone, and the earliest edition of the Dot Studio; this guitar felt and sounded right.

I wish it had a Schaller bridge; actually, I wish it had a bunch of things, but then it wouldn't be a $300 guitar.

I get a lot of enjoyment from my Dot, which is part of the point of any guitar; if you don't like it, why in hell would you play it? It's not a "real" jazz guitar, but it does what I want, and that's what matters. I give it an 8 for overall rating, because there are better guitars, but for $300, I got a very good guitar.

1998 Epi Dot Natural
Classic Gibson Features 2 tone 2 volume, 3 way

I play blues, punk, rock with it, I replaced the bridge pickup with Gibson 57s. The original pickups sounds OK, but it needs to be hotter. You dont see the difference as much until you play it side by side with a better pickup.

Action and was good, and the bridge setting was acceptable. Only things were little washers were loose on the knobs and input jacks.

Soldering came loose and crackly in the 3 way (as with all epi/gibson), also the soldering came loose in the input jack. everything else was good.

No preaging or anything like that

Did not deal w them

For the price it is a GREAT guitar, I love the action and the way it plays, it has nice sustain and is a fun guitar! I would buy it all over again.

I also own:
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Gibson Les Paul 56 Goldtop RI
PRS Hollowbody 2
PRS McCarty 2
Gibson SG
Gibson J-45
Taylor 414CE
Larrivee D-04
Martin D35
Gretsch Brian Setzer
Fender American J Bass
Musicman Stingray
Rickenbacker 4003

1999 korean- natural finish, you know the rest

bought mine used and the previous owner had already changed the pickups to duncan '59's and added a bone nut. the guitar is amazing. i play in a band that covers a lot of ground from a little country to nickelback, ac/dc, 3 doors down, pink floyd etc. this baby handles it all well.

had to get it set up the way i like. previous owner used it mostly for slide

other than my acoustic i don't carry a backup. no reliabilty issue so far.

dunno

been playing gigs for about 25 years now. owned one of everything. this guitar is as good as anything i've owned. if stolen i would find the thief, beat him to death with the guitar, then by another just like it.

Saein Plant, Korea/China
July 2004
Production Number: 0285
22 medium frets
2 Seymour Duncan '59s replaced the standard Epiphone '57 humbuckers
two volume and two tone controls
3-way switch
Cherry finish with ivory binding
Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge replaced stock Epi bridge
Gotoh tuners replaced Epi tuners

With these replacements I rate it a 9. Got it used with the replacements already installed.

Sound is classic 335 humbucker sweetness. I was really surprised by this guitar. I got it in trade for a Weber Mass attenuator and by far got the better of the deal. It really sings. The '59s are sweet and full sounding. No harshness. Very full sounding. Endless sustain from the hollowbody at the right volume.

Beyond what I would expect and have heard about recent Epiphone guitars. I think this is a very well made guitar and easily worth the current prices. Not sure if the 2008s are as good as this 2004 though.

Again, this is a used guitar traded from a good guy and player, so the the setup was nice and the guitar was still in great shape. Had to re-install the pickguard because the previous owner didn't like it on there, but he had all the parts (old guard and mount, old pickups, old bridge, old tuners). Switched from the 9s that were on it to 10s and the action is perfect. Might go to 11s at some point, but for now the 10s sound and feel great. DR Pure Blues.

Only finish problem (and to me it is a minor one) was at the neck joint. Somewhat to be expected, the joint has a crack in the finish along the joint. Does not effect playability or sound that I can tell and is not even noticeable unless you inspect closely.

The cherry finish is dark and doesn't show much of the maple grain, but the maple looks pretty decent from what I can see (no knots or voids or weird grain swirls). You can tell its maple by the weight too. This thing is heavier than it looks and heavier than my Strats or Teles, but not too heavy. Not Les Paul heavy.

Hold tuning very well thanks to the upgraded tuners. Seems solidly built. I think I could depend on it for gigging. I would never go to a gig with only one guitar though.

never dealt with them. Hopefully I won't have to!

Been playing for 21 years. Play mostly alternative rock, though lately been getting into the blues pretty heavily. This Dot is perfect for both. I get a really nice blues tone out of it through my '65 Deluxe Reverb RI and '65 Tremolux. I can also get really nice effected tones when I want to. Works well all my pedals. Those SD '59s are great.

If it were lost or stolen I would replace it.

This is a really great guitar for the money and the best way to get a 335 without having to spend well over $1000.

I got several Teles, an '84 Strat, a '68 Jaguar, a '92 Jazzmaster, '49 Gibson archtop, '68 Yamaha acoustic, and more. This guitar, while not in the same class as the others collectibility-wise, is on par with them playability and tone-wise. Very surprising. The cheapest guitar in my collection is one of the best I've ever bought.

2007 Dot, just bought it a few weeks ago (today is 5/20/2008).
I don't know what the stock pickups are but, they're not very articulate, & relatively mild output. the Grover tuners it comes with aren't half bad.

I think it would be good for most styles. For lack of a better adjective, I'm playing indie rock with it, whatever that means. I'm using it through a Fender Super Champ XD, they're, the combo of the dot & the amp are actually quite good. The stock pickups (I've already replaced, I'll get to that below) are ok if you're not real serious about your tone. I didn't buy this guitar with the intention of keeping the stock pickups.

So far I've replaced the neck pick-up with a Gibson 57' classic. Holy hell, that changed everything. I know there will be some purist who will want to argue this, but I swear it sounds surprisingly close to the Gibson 335 I played it next to. The new pick up gives it the output, articulation, and tone it was missing before. I'm debating weather or not to change the bridge pickup, I kind of like having a lo-fi sound down below, but I don't know how practical it is to switch between pickups in the middle of a song, so I'll probably put a 57' Classic Plus down there & get that effect w/ an eq pedal or something.

I had to have it set up, this is almost always the case with epiphones, it's one of a long list of reasons it's so much less expensive than a Gibson. Some of the nuts that hold the knobs on and the jack nut needed to be tightened, which is a little disheartening, how hard is it to have a guy with a wrench at the end of the assembly line tightening those? Otherwise it was pretty solid.

It seems pretty durable, I don't have any real concerns that it's going to fall apart. I don't really care if the finish wears off, I like a guitar with a bit of wear on it. The strap buttons seem solid, but again, it's only a few weeks and two shows old.

no idea what customer service is like with epiphone

I've been playing for most of my life, I tour about 6 months out of the year and have to depend on my gear coming through for me at 100-150 shows. I researched this guitar for several months and played probably 20 of them at different music stores. If it were lost or stolen I would buy it again. I love, love, love, that I got this solid of a guitar, and after a few upgrades have the sound that I want for less than $1000. There really is nothing to hate about this guitar, it plays well and is easy on the eyes.

I can't emphasize enough how great this guitar sounds after some simple upgrades. Swap out the pickups and the nut and you have a professional grade guitar anyone would feel good playing.

I bought my Epidot in 1998. I'm pretty sure it was made in Korea.
22 frets. Laminated Maple top. Cherry red with white binding. Volume and tone for each pickup. 3-way toggle switch. Mine came with two Samsung Humbuckers. Maple body and neck with rosewood fretboard. Nice Cherry finish. Semi hollow ES-335 style electric guitar. Tun-O-matic style bridge with stop tailpiece. Grover style tuners. I don't they are real Grovers. I played many Epidots until I found one with a slim 60's neck. Most of the necks I played were big and uncomfortable for me. I bought the matching Epiphone HS case with this guitar.

After a few minor changes this guitar does it all. Classic rock, jazz, couontry, blues, R&B, you name it. I gig often with this guitar. I play through one of the following. Peavey Classic 50/410, Fender Deluxe Reverb or a Fender Blues JR N.O.S. The guitar is perfect with any of these amps. I've never used a solid state amp so I wouldn't know about that. My effects are few. Boss TU-2 tuner then a Boss SD-1 overdrive and then a Boss DD-3 delay. I get anything I want. I like everything about this guitar.

I don't remember the factory setup. My guitars go straight to my tech before I even get them home. I immediately took this guitar to my tech and he installed Duncan '59 pickups, a Gibson selector switch and a bone nut. We left the tuners alone. They were fine. I threw away the pickgard and took it work. I had been playing solid bodiy guitars so it took a little while to get used to the Epidot.

I've played over a thousand shows with this guitar. It's awsome.

Never called them.

I've been playing professionally for 40 years. I own many guitars including Gibson Les Paul Standard, Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, 1960 Gibson Les paul JR. With the above mentioned mods, none of my other guitars even come close to the feel, sound and playablility. This is hands down the most dependable guitar I own.

2007
22
laminated top
2 volume,2 tone controls
2 humbucking pickups
stock alnico humbuckers
laminated maple
cherry coloered
semi hollow body style
tune-o-matic bridge
grover tuners
came with a low quality guitar cable

I think it will sound good once I upgrade the electronics,or at least this is my hope

various amps,marhsall model1987 half stack,roland micro cube mainly right now

not really noisey at all

muddy sounding right now,again I believe it is due to the poor pickups it comes stock with

I am hopeful it will be fairly versitile in sounds when I am done upgrading electronics

dislike the cheap electronics
like the appearance.looks great,action seems good out of box

set up was actually ok right out of the box

pickups were down all the way

top looks great,bridge looks ok

no visible flaws whatsoever,really this thing looks sweet

I think this guitar should hold up well under care and common sense

hardware is less quality than I am used to but I right now think it will be ok

finish is outstanding

strap buttons seem solid

I think I will be able to depend on it after electronics are changed.The pickup selector switch is also junk,but thats a minor fix

I would not gig without a backup no matter what guitar was my main guitar

I emailed Gibson customwer service numerous times in the past with questions.They most of the time have always replied to me,often with a very generic answer

no warranty servicing needed so far

Been playing since 1979

I researched pretty good before buying this guitar.consensus is basically poor pickups and electronics,but other than that after these are replaced it is very good deal

I would get one again if it were stolen.I am not stupid enough to lose it

The finish is awsome,thing looks sweet.the electronics suck,muddy pickups with no character,pickup selector switch often shorts out,and I can tell the volume and tone controls are poor as well

I tried comparing this guitar to a Gibson ES-335,but reALIZED YOU REALLY CAN'T.The Gibson is just that much better,but I am going to try and make this thing work to get as close as I can

wish it had better electronics

I am hopeful this guitar will be a good deal in the end after all the electronics have been changed.Other than that ,it seems solid and no flaws or major complaints

I imported my Dot from Germany in March 2007. The rose wood neck sports 22 frets, has a maple-ply body. The translucent cherry-red paint is augmented with white binding on the guitar body.
There are tone and volume pots for each humbucker PU and a three-way selector switch. The PUs are passive '57 repro manufactured by Epiphone.
The Dot has a stop-bar bridge and Grover tuners and standard frets.
Purchase did not include a hard case as it was left-handed.

I like to play funk, rock and blues generally. I use a Cornford Harlequin(a low-wattage valve amplifier)with a Maxon OD-9 and JD Wah pedal.
I found the stock pick-ups to be dull and unresponsive with limited tonal range. I replaced them with Gibson 500T and 498 humbuckers. I little hot for some, but certainly improved the range and feel.

The action required slight tightening to the truss-rod and leveling at the 14th fret to achieve clean string bending. The intonation was fine, as were the electronics. The bridge and tuners also immaculately assembled.

Only a year old, the jack socket has required tightening from time to time, but so does the one on my LP standard. The selector switch feels a bit feeble, but no problems have arisen yet.
The instrument feels well built and should stand the test of time.

I have been playing for thirty years. I played a 70s Strat for many of those. I current have a Gibson LP Standard and Taylor acoustic.
For the money, I feel the Dot is great value in terms of playability and build. It only falls over on poor quality PUs.
I was puzzled as to the lack of hard case as these are supplied with right-paw models. There is no difference in body shape.

2 Humbuckers, tone and vlume for each, 3 way selector toggle switch. Nothing fancy, but everything practical. Just wish everything was tightened and maybe higher quality.

This guitar sounds amazing. This is my go to guitar. I hvae heard, not played, the gibson 335 and like the epi just about as much. I will eventualy upgrade the pickups to gibson '57 classic, but for now it is just a great sounding instrument, especially for its price. I tried some of the other hollow body guitars before purchasing and found the epi dot to have the deepest and most plaesant tone than the rest.

The action was good for me. My biggest issue was the loose pots and especially the input jack being loose. The finish was very good, but could be smoothed around the edges of the binding strip a littel in some spots. Otherwise it looks amazng.
Oh yeah, I didn't like the little pitchfork E on the pick gaurd so I removed it. Luckily it came off pretty easy, in fact it just about fell off. Its a good thing i didn't want it on or I may have been diasapointed.

Again the electronics issue. I feel that i should not have had to work on a brand new guitar, as far as the pots and jackgo.

I eventualy called Gibson for the warranty on the issue I was having with the electronics and they set me up with someone near by so it worked out well.

If your looking to play any kind of hollow body this is very affordable, pleasant to play, great to listen to, and nice to look at. If you are a collector with lots of extra cash, than go with a Gibson for resale value. I never plan on selling mine, so for me the name brand is no big deal when I get such wonderful tone.

Came with standard neck and bridge pickups, 3-way selector, 2 tone and 2 volume switches, etc.

for the kind of music that I like, which is pretty much classic rock, from the Beatles to Oasis, this guitar seems perfect. lots of people seem to be complaining about the stock pickups, but to me they sound just fine- can achieve pretty much any sound you want, and an infinity of combinations with the pots. i would happily put this guitar up against it's gibson counterpart. fantastic, really.

had to get the action adjusted when i bought it, but after that, perfect.

seems solid enough

absolutely love it- amazing guitar from epi.