Epiphone Dot

I've had mine many years now and have replaced all the hardware from Chrome to Gold. Mines a cherry color that has held up well.

Sound is pretty good. The bridge wore out and needed replacement. The pickups were replaced also with very hot GHS ones. It gave the guitar a darker ES335 sound. I may eventually replace these again with something like TV jones pickups to give it more of a jangally sound. The guitar came with 12s on it with a wrapped 3rd. I think it plays best with 10s or 11s. 9s are too light and you dont get a good sound. You can get a nice santanalike sustain out of this guitar with the right volume level and tone settings.

The Tuners had to be replaced because the screws inside eventually loosend up and it was a bitch to tune. The bridge rotted out too. You know how brass is. I was able to get a direct replacement in Gold metric. Looks much better in gold hardware. I replaced the nut with a Black Earvana nut. This made a real big improvement in intonation. In replacing the pickups I did see some separation of the top Cap (soundboard) from the plank that runs through the body. I reglued this and clamped it to prevent further separation. So far so good. I think refretting will be the next item for this one. I wear the hell out of them. Luckily I do my own refretting and this will be an easy job because the neck is unbound. This also has a wide neck and may not be suitable for all kinds of playing styles.

I've had no major problems with this one live or otherwise. Stays in tune and has a predictable sound. Blends well with other guitars soundwise and sounds good in the upper registers. Because the body is large getting to the volume is a reach, so is the selector. One thing I do is string it a littel different. I put the strings through the tailpiece backwards and then fold the strings over the tailpiece. This lifts the ends of the strings up, Puts ledd pressure on the bridge, And adds some length to the strings past the bridge. It adds some more harmonics for my style of playing. Overall its held up well to my playing style.

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I prefer a Casino with the frequensator and mini humbuckers. This one doesnt sound all that unique. I've actually built better guitars myself. But it is durable and decent sounding for the price which is the key. I had and original 60s Casino as my second Real Guitar as a kid a Vox hollowbody being my first. $50 back then used. It would be worth a mint now. anyway if you cad deal with the huge neck on it and plan on upgrading components in it its worth the money for the neck & body alone.

Cherry Epiphone Dot, thinline semi-hollow body with center block, made in Korea, stamped "2nd" on the back of the headstock. "2nd" is generally indicating a finish flaw, this guitar is structurally sound. I bought this used on Ebay.
Otherwise it's a standard Gibson setup, but knockoff style (the parts pretty much resemble Gibson parts, but nothing is interchangeable without some modification). Pretty much all the parts are crappy, but some you can live with longer than others. Try and get a korean made one, they seem to be made better than the Chinese ones. The Chinese ones do have a fatter, deeper neck though.
Basically, if you're planning on gigging with this guitar as a serious player, replace the nut, tuners, posts, and pickups. Give a good fret levelling/dressing too.
I've swapped the stock pickups for some Duncan '59 models. The originals were just bad sounding.
These are fine guitars, but mainly for the body, not any of the hardware.
I'm giving it a 4 for the quality of the parts, but this is a cheap guitar and it will get you by as is if you're playing at home mostly.

I own an actual Gibson ES-335 Dot, so it's fun to compare them. It sounds alot different than my Gibson, even with changed pickups. It's brighter, more jangle, more top end. The Epi Dots have a maple neck (instead of mahogany, which darkens the tone) and poly finish, so it is a little bit more brittle sounding, but fine in it's own right.
It's not overly noisy with the Duncans, but the stock pickups were a bit.
I play shoegaze (radiohead, slowdive, cure)with alot of delay and reverb, lots of effects, 2 amps in stereo, so I'm not really concerned with any kind of pure vintage tone, just a good strong well balanced tone.
You can play anything on this guitar, it's up to you.

Epi factory setups tend to suck, as do most factory setups from any major manufacturer. No major flaws other than cutting corners on cheap parts, but that's what makes these guitars fun and affordable. Get a bone nut with the proper string spacing, new pickups (GIbson, DUncan, Frlalin), new pots and wiring (stock wiring WILL crap out on you), and some new tuners (altough the Chinese Grovers are okay, I'm not a Grover fan).

This is a great workhorse guitar once you upgrade the necessary parts. I've kept the bridge and tailpiece on mine, mainly because it's hard to find a bridge that will match those mounting holes. You need to pull out the mounting studs, fill the holes, and re-drill. It's worth doing though, alot of tone gets sucked up by the stock pot-metal dridge and tailpiece.
I would not gig with guitar without upgrading the vital parts, especially the pots. These get scratchy and cut out almost immediately. PIckups are a matter of personal preference.

Never dealt with customer support for Epi. I'm sure it's a hassle.

Overall it's a great guitar for the intermediate musicians if you leave it stock, and a great gigging player guitar once you upgrade some parts, mainly the wiring. I bought this guitar as a project with the intention of upgrading the nut, pickups, tuners, hardware, wiring, everything really. I use this as a back for my Gibson ES-335 Dot so I wanted it to be in the ball park of that guitar tone and feel-wise. I'd get another if it was stolen or whatever, I'd do the same things to it also. I really like 335's. The only thing I hate about this guitar is the massive headstock, inches longer than a Gibson headstock.
So if you're on the fence, buy one and have fun with it!

Dot ES335 Vintage Sunburt,Thinline Semi-acoustic,Made in China 2006 normal layout for this type of guitar,Epiphone USA designed hummbuckers and includes Grover Rotomatic Tuners not bad for a guitar at this price.(Includes Epiphone Hard Case)

The acoustic sound is quite full and rounded with decent sustain,plugged in to my Vox AD100 Valvetronix, boutique clean setting a pinch of reverb on the neck pup with treble rolled off Pure Blues, add a touch of gain WOW it will sustain for ages.This is a serious tone machine set the vox to UK Modern (Marshall) with a touch of gain the bridge pup will scream and howl, controlled feedback is a sinch. This is not a Gibson ES335 but it's a lot of guitar and PLEASURE to play and has'nt got the price tag of the Gibson.

Factory set up was a little high for my liking, It did'nt take long to sort,intonation is good,Frets are all well finished, The bridge is cut ok the nut is only plastic but it's cut correctly.The PUPS are ok for hight and the balance between them is good. There are NO floors in the finish or any problem with the selector switch or input jack, neither are there any problems with scratchy pots.(Yet early days)

I'm a bit heavy handed with my guitars but i can't see any problems using it live. The finish looks quite durable apart from the e sticker on the scratchplate

Never used them, The do give a "Limited Lifetime Warranty" but that is only if you register the instrument with proof of purchase ie receipt, and is only applicable to the purchaser. So if you bought it used it aint worth diddly.

I have been trying learn guitar since 1970 when my Uncle gave me his old Vox guitar.If it was stolen or lost I would almost certainly replace it. I now own a Gibson Les Paul Standard LE, a Fender USA Standard Strat, a Fender Player Deluxe Strat,a Tokai Les Paul,A Epiphone Les Paul 56 Gold Top, and an Ibanez Artcore AF85 VLS. Amplifiers Vox Valvetronix AD100VT 2X12,a Marshall MG50DFX,Carlsbro Kickstart 25

Epiphone Dot ES 335 type. Used 2003 issue (made in Korea at Unsung), Cherry Red, Double humbuckers. good condition. The guitar has a volume knob and tone knob for each pickup, and one switch with three positions.

The guitar illicits a nice warm earthy tone. You can manipulate the pickups and adjust this guitar for many styles of music. Used well for rock, reggae, funk. I was interested in buying a Les Paul, but now I'm satisfied with the punch this guitar has.

I bought it used, and it needed some work from a shop to make it playable. the action is low, and very user friendly. All the hardware is in good shape, but the pickup switch cuts out from time to time, which I guess these Epiphone's are known for.

Nice solid, playable guitar, that has style and class.

Cherry red. Purchased new in 1997 from Guitar Center in Chicago while on the road with my band. Typical 335-style features: Semi-hollow laminated maple body, set and unbound maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, 22 jumbo frets, 2 Samsung humbuckers with chrome covers, tune-o-matic bridge/stop tailpiece, 3-way switch, 2 volume 2 tone, black pickguard, sealed tuners of unknown origin (Ping, maybe?). Made in merry old Korea.

The 335-style guitar is remarkably versatile. It works well for so many types of music. So well, that I feel every serious electric guitar player should own one. Unfortunately, most mortals can't afford a real Gibson ES-335 (present company included), so enter the Dot.

Out of the box, the Dot is a decent sounding guitar. It has a nice acoustic shimmer and complexity unplugged, which is always a good sign. Late night practicing is quite enjoyable with the Dot. The biggest departure from the ES-335 is the maple neck, which gives the Dot a brighter voice than its mahogany-necked cousin.

The magic ends when you plug it in. The weakest part of the guitar is the electronics. First off, the pickups are dull and lifeless. Replace them. I gigged with the stock pickups for a week before I installed Duncan '59s. What a difference! Like taking cotton out of your ears (tired cliche, but very accurate). High quality pickups are a good investment for the Dot because they will better translate the guitar's excellent unplugged voice. I chose the Duncan '59s because they were affordable, but there are many excellent choices out there. Also, the switch is a joke. It crapped out on me on its maiden voyage. The same can be said about the output jack. Junk. The pots have held up pretty well over the years. I've heard that quality CTS pots are a slight improvement, but I've never felt compelled to try them.

In general, the 335-style guitar combines the jangle of a Tele with the fullness of a Les Paul into a sound all its own. The lower notes give a little more than a Tele or Les Paul, but that's the point. Big warm jangle, snarly lead tones, and smokey jazz textures with the tone pot rolled off. It's tone is not as centered as a solid body. Rather, it is a big more spread out and 3D.

My Dot sounds big and smooth. The neck pickup is warm and responsive, with a nice woman-like voice. The middle position has a nice sparkle and jangle. The bridge pickup has a really cool snotty bark that is accentuated nicely by the semi-hollow body.

Rating is for the stock Dot. With new pickups and electronics: 9.5

I bought the Dot as a road beater, so my expectations were already low. Fit and finish were on par with a $350 Guitar Center guitar--lousy. For starters, it died on stage the first day I bought it (bad switch). Gui-Target promptly replaced it with another one, which died on stage the following night (also bad swich)! Defeated, I took it to my tech when I got home from the tour and told him to "make it right".

Man, did he ever!
My tech at the time was the late, great Tom Everitt of Indianapolis, IN. (We miss you Tom!) He replaced the nut with a Graph Tech unit, installed Duncan '59s, replaced the switch and output jack with Switchcraft units, adjusted the neck and intonation, and dressed the frets. Yes, I spent a pretty penny: but what I got in return was a really excellent 335-style guitar for a fraction of what the comparible Gibson, Heritage, or Ibanez instruments were going for at the time. These mods were done in 1997 and as of this writing (2006) I still love playing it. Money well spent in my book.

Rating is for the stock Dot. With mods: 8.5

The Dot is a reliable gig guitar only if you address its shortcomings. In its stock form, it is a totally unreliable piece of junk. Sorry folks, but it's the truth. It is a price-point instrument made with cheap electronics and a finish that will eventually flake off in some areas (around the f-holes and the back of the headstock, for example). Don't even think about taking it on stage before sending it to your local tech for a once-over. You'll be sorry if you don't.

However, if you are willing to spend the extra cash to make it right, you will be rewarded with an excellent playing, great sounding, cool looking, solid gig guitar that you won't worry about getting dinged up and smokey.

I've owned this guitar for 9 years now and have played hundreds of shows with it. It has been banged around in a trailer from coast to coast in all kinds of weather. It's seen every thing from beer-soaked punk clubs and sandy outdoor frat beach parties, to posh theaters and huge outdoor venues. Since the mods, it has been incredibly solid, only needing regular adjustments to the neck. It did receive another fret dressing in 2002, but that was due to regular (ab)use.

It started to sound thin and ugly around 2004, so I stuck it in the case (in a fit of laziness) and left it there until last month (11/06), when I considered letting it go on Ebay. I took it to my fabulous new tech (Donnie Basham!) for a quick set up before the auction; as it was virtually unplayable at this point. I picked it up from Donnie's workshop and took it straight to the club for one last show with the old girl. When I opened the case, the damn thing looked brand new, just like the day I bought it. Hmmm? I plugged it in, the drummer counted off, and HOLY FRIJOLES it sounded huge and played great! I couldn't believe it. I'm so glad I didn't sell it. Thanks, Donnie!

As it turned out, all it needed was a good cleaning and an overdue neck adjustment. Beer and second-hand nicotine had caked the electronics, causing the thin, buzzy sound.

The rating is for the stock Dot. With the mods: 8

As stated above, my first Dot was replaced by Gui-Target under warranty the day after I bought it. The following night, the switch crapped out on me again. I was on the road and didn't know where to go, so I called Epiphone. They directed me to the nearest repair center--somewhere outside of Cincinnati, OH--and I was taken care of for the week. I promptly had my tech make right when I got home.

Overall, I love my little cheese-log Dot! In it's modified form, it is truely an excellent instrument. It doesn't have the presence of the higher priced 335-style guitars--but what it does have is the Devil-may-care attitude that makes you want to play it. A lot. My favorite thing about the Dot is that I don't worry about it. I don't think twice about taking it into smokey club and bashing it around; or loaning it to a buddy for a while. Who cares, it's just the Dot?

Anyone considering buying a Dot must figure in an extra $200-300 in parts and labor to make it right. I kind of feel like a goon saying this, but it is the truth. I get tons of compliments on the sound, especially from guitar snobs who would otherwise turn their noses up at Epiphones. A few players have bought Dots and modded them after playing mine.

I've been playing for around 20 years--professionally until 2003, when I decided to buy a house and get a day job. Now I'm just a weekend warrior with time to practice. I also double on bass guitar, so I must have two rigs ready to go at all times. I had many instruments stolen from my house in 2005 (they passed over the Dot!), so now I own the following instruments along with the Dot:
Les Paul Standard (cherry sunburst, WOW!) Les Paul Faded DC (TV yellow w/Bigsby), American Standard Telecaster (natural/maple neck/Duncan '59 in neck/Rio Grand Muy Grande Bridge), Music Man Stingray (sunburst/rosewood), Fender American Jazz (sunburst/maple), '74 Fender Precision (natural/maple).

For small gigs or rehearsals, I use a Fender Blues Jr. For larger shows, I use a fantastic 1967 Fender Bassman head with matching 2x12 cab that I've had as long as the Dot. The Bassman/Dot combination is really, really nice.

My current pedal board is a Pedaltrain: EB Volume Pedal-->Boss tuner-->Dunlop 535Q wah-->Fulltone OCD-->Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe-->Fulltone Supa Trem-->Boss DD-5 Delay.

Hope this helps you out.

Typical Gibson control lay out. The only unusual item is that there is no binding on the neck.

Since I have purchased Epiphones in the past, I thought it would be a crap-shoot in terms of sound and playability. To my surprise just about all the Dots I played sounded pretty similar. The differences in output seemed to be related to pickup height. Like Gibsons, Epi's need to have the bridge PU pretty close to the strings for good balance.

In the store the action was horrendous, the intonation was way off and the neck was bowed. The finish is beautiful Natural Blonde with some very minor imperfections. The f-holes are huge, much bigger than a standard 335. It was the only blond in the store and even though some of the others played better, I took a chance. When I got it home I did a complete set-up on this thing and then let it settle out for a few hours and then did some minor tweaks. When I came back to check it out I was astonished at how well it played. It has a fat neck which I personally love and with the nice tight action and it set up for 10's it plays like a dream. Other than the usual set up issues everything was perfect. Nice hardware, everything tight no issues.

One of the worries I had was this guitar staying in tune. In the store it was all over the place contsantly slipping out of tune, especially on the g string. All it took was a number 2 pencil in the grooves of the nut and now it stays in tune. I am a Strat player so normally I play pretty hard. This guitar can take hard playing and stay in tune. It even stays in tune overnite.

Who knows?

Here is the bet part of this story. I bought a Gibson ES-335 in '96 because I always wanted one. I had that guitar for 9 years and could not get along with it. The tone was weak, lacked resonance and was uncomfortable to play. I finally sold it in a fit of anger last year and was happy to see it go. I replaced it with a Gretsch so I didn't have any money for another 335.

I started looking around at Epi Dots about 2 months ago and the conclusions I have drawn may get some Gibson folks angry. I have 9 Gibson guitars all of varying quality. The new ones are fairly low quality instruments. They are nowhere near the quality of Fender, Gretsch, Ricks or some of my older Gibsons. Out of the box Gibson does not know how to set up a guitar. I honestly believe that this cheapo $399 guitar is as good as any regular production 335. I'm not sure if this says Epis are great or Gibsons suck but I think it is the latter.

I have been playing for over 40 years and have about 30 guitars. The Epi is one of my favorites but I have always had a thing about making cheap guitars play.

90's Korean-made, natural finish. Maple-ply body, rosewood fretboard. Pickups upgraded to Duncan Alnico Pro II. All pots, switches, etc. changed to USA parts. I don't know what happened to my pickguard, but it looks better without it anyway.

When I got this guitar, it sounded good without an amp - if you don't know, that's how you figure out if you've got a decent plank of wood on your electric. Plugged in, it was muddy in the neck and thin in the bridge. Just bad pickups - I also have an Epiphone Les Paul, so I know the importance of changing the pickups on Epiphones. I would rate the sound at a 5 with the stock pickups. But...

...once I put some decent pickups in there, the guitar really started to sing! Fat, smooth tone with the ability to give some good crunch. Sounds really great through my Fender Blues Jr. This is a semi-hollow, so it will produce feedback, but it's pretty controlable. You can play with overdrive, but certainly no metal distortion. Honestly, you're looking at the wrong guitar if you're a shredder. Go buy something pointy with a Floyd.

I don't know about the factory setup (I bought this from a friend), but I don't think it was set up before I got it. It was fine. One screw that adjusted the neck pickup height was stripped - probably not from the factory, but it was like that when I got it. Anyway, I never adjusted the action on this and it play just wonderfully! So far as I know, it's only been intonated. I use .012's on this guitar, and it still plays fast.

There are two reasons that Epiphones are so affordable. One, they're imports. Two, they use the crappiest electronics they can find. Nothing went completely bad on mine, but when I changed the pickups, I also changed all the other electronic components. Three of the pots were scratchy, so I figured that I'd just do everything. If you didn't already guess, it's a total pain to work on these guitars due to the limited amount of space in the wood - it'll cost a few bucks to have a tech fix up the guitar's electronics.

The tuners keep you in tune just fine. I thought about upgrading to Grovers, but there's really no need.

The strap buttons are very good - I did not install straplocks on this guitar because the buttons are big enough to hold the strap. Unless you're throwing the guitar around, of course.

Never gig without a backup - but that's just in case you break a string. This guitar isn't going to let you down.

Never dealt with them.

I've played for over 10 years, and I use this guitar a lot. It fits a wide variety of styles very well - rock, blues, jazz, and everything in between. If someone stole this guitar, I would definitely try to find another.

1997 Cherryburst, with open faced pickups. Rest has been covered.

I dumped this guitar after I couldn't handle the pickups any longer. They were just so lifeless and dull. I loved the look of the guitar, but once you plugged it in, it just screamed cheap guitar. The pups were very dark and fairly muffled. I thought about changing the pickups, but A) I suck a soldering and B) because it's a semi-hollow, access is extremely difficult, and thus quite expensive. It was more worth it to me to get rid of the guitar than to replace all of the electronics, which would have been necessary.

I sold it and picked up a Michael Kelly Patriot Phoenix, which is a Les Paul-type guitar that has an incredible sound. I'm thinking of picking up one of their hollowbodies.

The quality control for Epiphone is quite infamous for being sketchy. I picked up this guitar used, and it was beautiful, except for some finish issues around the f-holes.

Took it to the best shop in town for setup and they couldn't get the buzzing out of the top frets without having the action pretty high. Maybe a new nut? But, that's just more for the money pit.

The electronics are junk. The pots kill all of the high end below 9, and the switch only worked intermittently.

Never tried to call them.

Let's just say I would never buy one again. They are really nice to look at, but not very nice to play.

This is a 2006 Qingdao model in Natural; 22 frets, laminated glossy maple top, back and sides; glossy maple neck, unfinished rosewood dot markered fingerboard. We all know the electronic controls setup.

The chrome covered, fully wax saturated pickups in the 2006 models are now made in the Qingdao factory or by EMG (EMG overseas, I would presume). The pickups in this Dot are supposedly designed after Gibson 57 Classic but have Alnico V magnets.

The body shape is your standard ES-335 type.

Bridge is a tunomatic derivation; tailpiece is a stop. Comes OEM now with Grovers.

No accessories other than the truss rod wrench came with the guitar.

I play late 60s and early 70s Rock and Blues.

I generally use very small tube amps as I can't blast where I live.

The guitar isn't noisy at all.

The neck pickup would be really great for a Jazz player as with both the volume and tone pots on 10, it sounds like a stifled Clapton's "Woman Tone". In other words, bassy, very bassy.

The bridge pickup sounds, how you say, "Eh"? It'll get you into the vintage sounding ball park but only in the nose-bleed section of the bleachers.

Both pickups on together are like a decent, quiet Tele with a bit more power.

If you haven't figured it out yet, these pickups gotta go!

The finish and construction of the guitar itself are primo. CNC machines are a beautiful thing!

I didn't even pay attention to the factory setup. The strings were off it even before it got played 5 minutes. My tech knows how I like it and guaranteed, NO guitar maker's factory setup will please me.

The frets still had the file marks in them from when they were factory levelled. In other words, they ground them but they didn't polish them. My tech squared this away for me. He also noted that the 3rd and 16th frets were outright high and levelled them too. Also, the board appeared a bit dry. My tech also took care of that after the fret work was done.

As you all probably know by now, Chinese hardware ain't the greatest. Until it craps out (which shouldn't be many years down the road), it's functional and does its job. The chrome has already started blistering on the bridge saddles.

The Grover heads suck. I don't feel they are any better or worse than the rest of the hardware. I wish Epiphone still used the Pings.

The nut and saddle cuts are fine.

Mechanically, believe it or not, the toggle switch when placed in the middle position rattles when I hit an open A string. The pots and the output jack all had to be tightened. I'd be amazed if they didn't start crapping out real soon.

The guitar is solid and roadworthy but I'd say the total OEM electronic package would have to be replaced before even entertaining the idea of extensive gigging with this guitar.

As stated above, the hardware isn't quite garbage but I'd keep an eye on it.

The finish is really tough and durable.

Everyone knows gigging = straplocks.

Once all the above is upgraded, I'd say it was very dependable. FWIW, it does stay in tune and the intonation is right on the money.

I've dealt with Gibson many a time and it depends on who you get. Some are great, some are politely waiting for you to get off the phone.

Gibson is pretty good with warranty stuff again, provided you get the right person.

I've been playing 39 years. I own the Dot and a little Kustom 12W tube hybrid amp with an 8" Celestion and believe it or not, that's all folks! I'm going through some tough times financially and was forced to sell everything else which was the high end stuff.

I'm satisfied with the Dot because I knew exactly what I was getting for the $400. I asked all the relevant questions and there were no surprises.

If it were stolen or lost, I'd be foked because I could not afford another anything. Yes, I'd like another one if we parted company.

What I love about it is that it plays and sounds better than some of the real 330s and 335s I've owned over the years. I hate the inferior hardware/electronics. My favorite features are the beautiful wood grain and the (now) ease of playing - Nice, low action!

I chose this one because of the looks, price and the fact that Gibson runs the Qingdao factory from within with brand new, state of the art CNC machines. It's like you're guitar's been constructed by a "Super Luthier".

Everything I wish it had, I already mentioned.

This truly is a nice guitar to have and little by little, I'll get it up to exactly where I'd like it to be. In terms of the "big picture", I truly recommend it.

What can I say, it is a $399 semi hollow body that plays like a $2000 semi hollow body.

This is a very versital guitar, more so than my USA Strat! I can't get over the different sounds that come out of this thing. Play it clean, it is sooo sweet, add some overdriven tube to it and it gets nice and dirty the way a ood guitar should, throw some distortion and relive your Punk rock days! Hey, this is one versital guitar, I an digging it.

I bought this off the rack at a big 'ol guitar superstore, it has it's scars. I played many Dots, and an Aleycat or two to see waht I wanted, both ewere great, but for the $$$, the Dot was a clear winner. Plays real nice, easy to adjust the setup to your liking. It looks like a $2000 guitar!

So far so good, but time will tell. I think it will hold up just fine, with proper care and maintenance. Seems like a well built instrument.

Haven't had the need, and I hope I never will.

For $325? Can't find a better guitar, period. I had to sell my American Strat due to hard times, and now I am kinda glad I did! It gave me the chance to get this Epi Dot! There will always be another Strat out there, but I am thinking "why", this Epi does it all for a LOT less!