Epiphone Dot

Paid $460.00 USD. I bought this guitar for use as a Bar/Road guitar. I own a Heritage 535 now, but would never take it out on a gig. If something happens to this Epiphone I'm not out that much. For the price you can't beat it. Let's face it Guys who has the money to throw down on a Gibson ES-335?. Like I said before I wouldn't take it out on a gig anyway. As far as features go, it plays like a champ! The only thing I plan on doing to it is change the pickups. I knew that going into the deal. but I figure it's a small price to pay for bringing this up to the standards of the higher end stuff. My rig consists of my Epiphone, Blues Deville 4x10, Boss CE-5 Chorus, DOD Chorus, Turbo Rat, Boss Blues Driver, Crybaby, Ernie Ball volume pedal and my Lexicon MPX 200.

As I said before, the pickups are the only real concern for me right now. soon to be replaced. I give it a 6 just for that matter. Other than that this guitar sounds excellent

I bought it used. It's not a Gibson or a Heritage but I wasn't buying it for that. As far as workmanship goes I don't have any complaints for something like this coming out of Korea. Nice smooth finish. Good tight tuners. nice case. fits like a glove! They did a good on this one!

This and my Mex Strat are my new Gig Guitars. There's absolutely no reason you should think that this guitar won't cut it on the road.

Haven't had to deal with them yet

I've been playing for 36yrs. I buy guitars like these for the fact that if it's ever lost or damaged I'm not out to much. And yes I would buy another Import Epiphone. If you want a good working man's guitar this is the one! I say jump on it, you won't be disappointed.

Made in China in 2004.
The standard features are as described in other reviews, semi-hollow body, 2 Epiphone 57 pups, two tone and two volume controls. I'm giving it a 9 as these are standard features on similar guitars.

I have heavily modified my Dot. The grover tuners are the only original hardware still on it. Having said that, I'll do this review in two parts: before and after my fiddling.

Stock standard: Overall the stock Dot sounded good. I found the pups, particularly the neck position, to be muddy, but overall I was happy with the sound and feel of the guitar. It is very quiet and was able to produce a variety of sounds. I tend to play clean with slap back echo or reverb as the only effects. The Dot handled this sound well, but as noted lacked definition and tended to sound a little muddy.

Mods: The first mod I made to the dot was replacing the crappy plastic epiphone nut with a Tusq nut. The difference in tone was nothing short of amazing. The muddiness was gone, the sound was now crisp and defined. The individual strings ring out and articulate clearly on all settings. The Tusq nut also brightened the sound. I would rate this as the single most important mod to improve tone.

I next replaced the Epi pups with Gibson classic 57 and 57+ in the neck position. I had ordered the prior to installing the Tusq nut (the Oz supplier was out of stock so they arrived and were fitted months later). After hearing the differnce in tone made by the Tusq nut I quite liked the sound of the Epi pickups and hoped I would hear a discernable difference from the Gibson pups - to justify the expense. I needn't have worried, the Gibson 57s are sensational. The tone is much richer and more complex than the Epi pups. The combination of the Tusq nut and Gibson pups has brought the Dot alive and it really sings.

I play a lot of Rockabilly and the dot sounds great. it also has a throaty roar when using distortion. Suits rock, brit pop jazz and Blues. Pretty much any music.

I rate the stock Dot sound as 8 and the modified sound as 10.

The original set up was poor. The action was so low that two stings were lying on the fretboard. Also the stock strings were of poor quality. Both easy fixes.

The overall quality of the finish is very good. The only flaws are a rough patch on the binding which appears to have missed sanding/poishing (you can feel this but its not visible). And a couple of chips at the base of the fret board where it meets the neck pickup ring. For a cheap guitar I was impressed with quality of the finish. I replaced the ugly amber knobs which appear to be a standard featur on Epis.

I have replaced the electonics with switchcraft switch and jack and CTS pots. The Epi switch fell apart (literally) while being removed. The pots on the other hand were alphas which is an improvement on the componets previously used by Epiphone.

The Epi hardware appears solid and i believe it would last. I fitted a Bigsby trem and wilkinson roller bridge so, as noted, earlier all hardware has been replaced other then the tuners. With the exception of the nut there were no problems with the other hardware.

I believe the Dot is robust enough to gig with and a guitar you could depend on. I would still take a backup, but I'd do that regardless of what guitar i was using.

Tuning stability ia good.

The original strap buttons seemed solid, though I replaced them with strap locks which i have on most of my guitars.

No idea - never dealt with Epiphone.

I have been playing for over thirty years and own a number of guitars including Fenders (USA telecaster and USA deluxe strat) and a Gibson L6s. I bought the Dot because I wanted a cheap semi. I was impressed by the Dot and have spent the equivalent of its purchase price on modification.

The result is that I now have a professional quality guitar with an awesome feel and tone. I recently played a Gibson ES 335 in a music store. The feel and tone were almost identical to my Dot. In Australia, the difference in price between my Dot (with mods) and a Gibson ES335 is approximately $4000. Is the diffence in tone between the gibson and my Dot worth $4k? The answer is no.

I love my Dot. I play it more than any of my other guitars. It has killer tone, is well made and well setup. The stock Dot is a well made guitar. It just needs improved electronics and a better nut etc to bring out its true potential.

If my Dot was damaged i would buy another one and transfer the Mods to it. If it were stolen I would by buy another one.

Overall the Dot is well made but is let down by the poor quality nut and electorics.

Made in 2005 in Korea. 22 frets. 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch for 2 PAF-type covered passive Epiphone humbbuckers. Tobacco finish, ES-335 style semihollow body with f-holes, tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece. Set neck with Grover tuners.

Awesome sound for classic rock, country, jazz, and blues. Not suited for shredding. Good, solid, full sound. Since it is hollw, it can feed back if too close to the amp, so get a long chord. Very responsive pots reduce excess electronic noise.

Action is right for me, since I like low action. Pickups adjusted at the sweet spot (close enough for power, far enough away to avoid being muddy). Bridge adjusted properly to maintain correct tuning for the length of the neck.

Good sturdy construction for a hollow body. I would use it without a backup, but I would be a little less active on stage than if I was using a good solid body. Strap buttons are secure.

I have dealt with the company as I own more than one Epi. They were very helpful, and I would continue to use Epis.

I have been playing for over 30 years. I own Les Paul, a Morgan Monroe acoustic, and a bass. I use a Behringer guitar amp and a Fender bass amp. I would replace it if lost or stolen. I love the quality and the sound. I compared with other guitars such as Ibanez, Washburn, and Guild. It played and sounded better. It's not as good as a Gibson ES-335, but I paid about 1/6 of the price for about 90% of the quality.

I think everyone knows the features on this guitar. Dual Epiphone humbuckers that are supposed to be their version of the 57 classics. Volume and tone for each. I was suprised that it had Grover tuners on it like my Gibson Standard Double Cut Les Paul. As afr as features you get wwhat youexpect if you are Looking for a good sonding hollowbody guitar.

I play a lot of staright forward Christian rock and Praise and worship. I was looking for a hollowbody guitar for the fat, round clean sound that had good sustain, and a guitar that had some beef when using it with overdrive. Well I was suprised when I playedthis guitar at my local Guitar Center. It was almost exactly the sound I was looking for. It has that fat, round tone to it that I love.

I am primarily using this through my Mesa Boogie DC-3. This guitar really warmed up that amp. It sounds much less harsh now because of this great sounding Epi. I also really like the sound of it running through my Marshall TSL 100 and 1960 TV cab with Greenbacks.

Overall I have really been impressed with this guitars sound.

This guitar seems like it is well put together. I told myself I would never buy and Epi because I am kind of anal about my guitars being American made, but this little thing seems to be top notch. The imput jack seems to be a little less than perfect because it really likes to hold on to your cables like they are a life raft or something.

When I got the guitar it had a set of 9's on it. They were ok but it made the intonation pretty bad. So i put some 10's on it and that helped a lot. I will soon be taking it to a great tech and having him set it up so it will be perfect. I will also have him lower the action just a bit because it is just a little high to my taste.

Overall this thing seems to be great quality. It feels substantial when you hold it and play it. I am very pleased with it.

As far as I can tell this thing seems like it will hold up with the best of them. I haven't gigged with it but once so I am not for sure how durable it is. Anything will last a long time if you take care of it and don't abuse it.

I haven't needed any customer support yet.

If this guitar were lost or stolen I would definitely buy another. I have been very pleased with my purchase.

Features are as listed below. Mine was made maybe in 2003, in Korea. It's cherry red, an oh boy, does it look beautiful or what! I really love the feel of it. After playing it Les Pauls and Strats feel like toys. It doesn't slide away from you while playing. The really fat neck may feel wierd after strats thin neck, but after playing Dots neck for few years it almost hurts to crab a strat.
The pickups aren't that great, but you can make it with them. Nothing ruins such an amazing guitar!

I play just about anything, from flamenco to Randy Rhoads' stuff. I don't play flamenco too much with this guitar because I don't want to ruin my nails doing rasguedo. [rrrrrramm]

If you love the fat sound of Les Pauls, go for Dot! Dot has even more kick n' punch, it's a Big guitar with a Big sound. It's great, you can beat the bass player and the other guitar player on stage.

About the stock pickups, they aren't that great. For the prize they're really good, but if you really want to hear THE sound, chance 'em. I went for Seymour Duncans Alnico II Pro PU's, and I can't recommend them enough! What a sweet full rich sound, now I know what the Dot is made of! Slash has a pair of them in about all of his dozens of Les Pauls, and I think those fit ES-335s even better. I also had DiMarzios Super Distortion in the neck position for a while and it sucked. Randy Rhoads had a great tone with 'em, but he also had tons of crap between his guitar and amp. I don't like to use even distortion pedals, and these Alnico II Pro's cover a huge variety of sounds. I think I get better sounds from my guitar that Randy got from his on his records.

Of course it suits for blues, jazz, pop, and harder rock than you wound think. Talking about the wall of sound, this guitar if some guitar has the punchy bass sound. I just love the "woman tone" on neck pickup with the tone rolled down. It's so beautiful you'll forget it's a guitar sound and you just drown in emotions. Some delay, and you can play the most touching solo EVER. On bridge position you'll find really tight kick ass sound, great for hard rock riffing and super fast soloing. The sustain is just amazing.

I've been using only Crate 15w solid state amp and a Roland Microcube, but I'm planning to buy a Vox Valvetronix to get the most out of my hot guitar. The Dot has sounded great on every amp I've ever tried it on. A really cheap amp doesn't show the whole character.

No flaws, but a few little paintless spots in the inner side finish of the f-holes. It was set-up great, no need to chance anything. This guitar is real deluxe to play. I chanced the ugly colored knobs for Gibson style black speed knobs, which look genuine. I also removed the pickguard, it didn't look cool for my taste. As I said the fat neck is really comfortable. The nut is black plastic, but it works well, no need to chance. The Dot is just a piece of art to look at.

I haven't really played it live too much, but it's a real hard piece, though it's semiacoustic. I depend 335% on this guitar! I would absolutely gig with it without a backup. (well maybe with a backup of six strings) Electronics have worked really well. No need to chanche any pots or anything.

I haven't dealt with them, I'm not even sure how to make a contact, cause I ordered the guitar from Austria. I don't know about any warranties.

I just love it. I wouldn't chance anything in it (but the pickups and knobs, which I did). I recommend this guitar with all my heart, you will not be disappointed! If it were stolen I'd send the mafia after the guy. Just kidding, I would absolutely buy it again!

Mine is a 2003 model, made in Korea at the Saein Factory. Features are as listed below. Mine comes in a purple flame top. A case was provided in the cost.

Seems like people have all sorts of opinions on this guitar vs. a Gibson ES-335. It is Gibson's B line but that doesn't mean a good one can't be found. I tried many before settling on this one, and it is a gem. Pickups are "designed by Gibson" and undoubtedly made in Korea. Doesn't matter tho. They sound great. Very quiet and full sounding. In time I might consider swapping but don't feel I have to just yet. I did my first gig with it the other night and it was very sweet sounding.

They are no flaws that I could tell. Finish is exeptional. I can't stand the nitro finish on Gibsons so I'm glad this has the poly.

n/a

n/a

I'm semi retired from professional playing now. This is my only electric and all I need. I play it thru a little Behringer amp as I don't do big gigs anymore. I play everything from jazz to blues, country to pop. This guitar can cover it all. I've been around so I know my sound. I can get it from any guitar that can tune well and plays easy. I don't get into the comparison crap anymore. Very negative. I bought this to be an all round instrument, and it handles that. No other comment needed.

Well, everybody knows the deal with these. It's the poor man's Gibson 335. The basic dilemma is whether to try to save cash and get the real McCoy, or get one of these to sort of cure your fix for a 335 (at least temporarily). Read below whether it will cure the fix permanently!!

As you can see from these reviews, typically everybody gets one of these, swaps out the pickups, maybe changes some hardware, and calls it a damn good 335 clone. It just so happens that I had a spare set of Gibson 57 classics lying around, that I took out of a 61 SG reissue so I could load that one with Iommi's (my Sabbath axe). So, in they went, and at the same time I had that pesky selector switch replaced with a Switchcraft. to be honest with you, I didn't really think the stock PU's sounded that bad...I read Samsung makes them, hey they make good TV's right? But I digress. After the PU swap,
I'll tell you, it sounds damn good. Maybe my ears are fried from decades of decibel abuse, but i'd be hard pressed to hear the difference between this one and a real 335. Especially thru a Marshall, which is how i'm running it.

It's a gorgeous cherry finish. I wish it had nitro instead of poly, maybe that's another sonic factor. The guy that re-finished some of my axes won't touch these things, says they're too difficult. Of course, i'm judging this as a $400 axe, not a $3000 one. For the money it's an incredible guitar.

As everyone else stated, the hardware is really not up to snuff and should be replaced. The Grovers seem OK though. Don't step on it, and it should be fine.

None.

For the bang for the buck factor, you just can't argue with it. I completely satisfied with it now that I put in the 57 classics and replaced the switch. Hell, after I did that, I played nothing but Ten Years After for a week and made believe I was Alvin Lee. Then I had to check out those Cream gigs when Clapton was playing one. Every collection needs a 335 type axe, and your choices are this, maybe a Heritage (maybe I should of gotten one of those...), or the real deal. Of course you must understand these have no resale value, so buy one, play the hell out of it, then use it for firewood when you get the Gibson.

Features the same as any Epi Dot. Cherry Red, Made in Korea in June 2005.
2 alnico humbuckers "designed in Epiphone USA," whatever that means.
Stop-tail tailpiece, tune-o-matic bridge
Stock Grover tuners (that actually aren't all that great)
No case included.

My style is classic and alternative rock. Anything from Beatles to Green Day. I'm using it primarily with a Vox Valvetronix. The humbuckers make the guitar dead silent, which is a welcome change from my noisy Fenders. I tried this out with several models on the Valvetronix, and it works well with all of them. The pickups are fairly powerful and will push amps to overdrive sooner than a single coil. I thought I would have to change the pickups, but they are pretty good for a mid-priced guitar.

This guitar was fairly well set-up out of the box. The salesperson at the store tweaked the intonation a bit. What I'm noticing is that the volume from neck to the bridge pickup drops off noticeably. I'm experimenting with raising and lowering the pickups.

The big flaw that I noticed is that the 20th fret has worn down. I noticed it buzzing yesterday (about 3 weeks into owning and playing the guitar) and today I noticed that the fret is entirely worn down so that the high E string will not fret at that note. Big thumbs down for this.

The black plastic nut is also noticeably cheap. Fender uses a reasonable plastic facsimile that at least looks like bone.

Well, I will take the guitar into the shop to see if I can get the fret redressed. However, as I do not do much wheedly-wheedly-wee on the high frets, this is not an immediate problem for me. Epiphone has a reputation for bad electronics, but so far, the hardware seems very solid. The strap buttons hold on my Planet Waves strap VERY tightly, much more so than my Fenders. The polyurethane finish is great. Even though it's a semihollow, this guitar is good for live playing. It is durable, and doesn't feedback (unless you really want it to).

I have free setups for life from the store I bought it from. No contact with Epiphone itself.

I've been playing for 10 years. I own a Fender Highway 1 Tele and a Mexican Classic '50s Strat. The biggest complaint I have about this guitar is that it is so freaking heavy and bulky. This is easily the heaviest guitar I've ever owned, and possibly even played (except for that weird Lucite BC Rich in Guitar Center). It looks like a big awkward retarded cousin sitting next to my Fenders.

What I love about it is the tone. I had thought about changing the pickups, but they are actually very good. You also get the best of both hollow- and solidbody with the Dot. It sounds very lively, but you don't get uncontrollable feedback.

I compared this to an Ibanez Artcore. The Epi felt more solid. Possibly because it was much heavier. The Ibanez didn't hold tuning as well, and the pickups sounded thin and weak. The Bigbsy felt like it was going to snap the guitar in half. Plus, the Epi was bought from a store that had better customer service.

In spite of this, I think I will not keep this guitar past next spring. It is just too awkward for me to play. I will be replacing it with either an SG or a Casino.

This is a review of stock Dot, nothing added unfortunately. It was used but as new condition and very nice natural finish. The stock elec switches and pots are/were pure junk. I can only assume Epiphone loves selling guitars that will soon become defective due to crap switches/pots....guys, why not spend a few more bucks on better switches/pots is beyond good sense. Anyway, it is not a bad lower end guitar, neck is decent, pickups are loud, but slightly muddy(more later).

First their stock pu's are not great, but fair. They seem to be very loud like humbuckers should. However, the differnece between a dot and a real gibson 335 is like night and day. The sound is so much richer with the real 335 classic pu's.

The neck and setup are reasonable like most modern mass produced stuff is now days. The bridge/saddles and tuners are again cheap of the cheapest, but they work. Some buzzing still present after 2 professional setups, but could have been my playing style though.

As previously expressed you can expect problems with some of the cheaper components, all else was pretty nice and works. I replaced the pu switch that was kapult, and a cheap plastic nut that decided to break off at the low E slot.

??

In closing if you need a semi-hollow 335 type for non-professional bed room stuff a Dot will play, but it will not stand in comparison to a 335. I recently heard a nice 335 played through a vibro King for a couple hours recently, sweetest tone ever! Next band used a Dot on one song(fortunately) through the same amp and it was like night and day. Both guys were equal players but I told the 335 guy he made my day tone wise!

Same features as above. I have the natural finish one with the cream binding. Two volume/Two Tone/Two Epiphone Humbuckers, Tunamatic Bridge, Grover tuners. I am giving it a 9 because it gets the job done for what this guitar was meant to do. How many features could you ask for on a guitar? We aren't talking friggin cars here. I never understood rating a guitar in this category. It is an electric guitar, and has everything a semi-hollow body should.

I play slide. Raunchy blues/rock slide. Everything from Elmore James and Muddy Waters to George Thorogood, The Rolling Stones, etc. I have a very simple rig. I run it straight into a 50 Watt Laney Solid State Combo With a 2x12 Celestion louded cab. I use a Digitech Bad Monkey or Danolectro Daddy'O to give the Laney a little more tube punch. The first thing I will tell you about this guitar is that it has great pickups. This is the only guitar that I will never modify. I bought it stock, and it will stay stock. The bridge pickup is very punchy and bright with ALOT of output. The neck pickup is clear and thick with good midrange attack. They sound incredible together in the mid position. On clean this guitar can give you a crisp trebly sound, or a nice full acoustic like sound. With overdrive this thing has a ton of bite. Very thick, very full tone. I keep it in Open G, and it sings with a slide. I couldn't ask for better, and I am really surprised it came out of a stock Epiphone.

I am surprised to say that I bought this guitar from Guitar Center on Labor Day and it was setup perfectly. The action was incredible, and it has one of the nicest necks I have ever played. It is a pretty beefy neck, but feels incredible solid. The natural finish on the guitar is great. I have a small knot in the wood grain right under the bridge and it gives it a lot of character. The chrome/nickel hardware is well built, and everything was attached. The tuners are great. I instantly raised the action and put 11s and the guitar responded perfectly. I only had to tweak the rod a little bit for a precaution. Everything was solid on this guitar and it sounded great right out of the store.

This thing is a tank. I have never owned a hollowbody before, but I played 9 different brands in GC before purchasing this one. It killed everything else. It is big, light, and extremely sturdy. It feels like you are actually holding onto something solid with a degree of quality when you play it. I put some straplocks on it, but I would play it without backup, and I would definitely gig with it. The hardware looks like it will last, but hardware is cheap anyway.The only thing I noticed was that the truss rod cover screws could be stripped easilly. They had to cut corners somewhere.

I have dealt with Epiphone before and they have been very informative. They market their guitars with a lifetime warranty now which covers damn near everything with the exception of an act of God. I would say that that is worthy of a 9 at least.

I have been playing about 6 years on and off, but I recently discovered my love of blues slide guitar a couple of years ago. I recently rekindled my love of playing after taking a break in college and I have been at it every night since. I own a Fender Deluxe Players strat, and an Oscar Schmidt Les Paul replica, and I love them both dearly. This guitar instantly became my number 1 the moment I picked it up in the soundbooth at GC. It is big, light, dependable, backed by great support, and sounds absolutely amazing for what I play. The Dot Studio isn't bad, but I prefer two volume and two tone controls. It is worth the extra money to me. You cannot beat this guitar for the price. Only it's Gibson cousin could be better, and with this kind of quality for $349, I prefer the Epi Dot.