Epiphone Dot

Standard Korean made Epi 2 tone 2 volume and a 3 way slector... pretty much identical to a gibson 335 for a fraction of the price wonderful guitar...

I play alot of blues and this guitar fits it perfact. hell it can fit into any styles includeing metal witch is weird haha. i play it through a Vox amp. I bought the guitar used and i got it for a steal of 300 bucks and the pickups and severl other of the crappy cheap products were replaced and my pickups were swaped with some Gibson pickups and it sounds sweet much better than the other ones ive played at stores makes a world of differance the tone is amazing!

The action of the guitar was flawless i love it so sweet and smooth

Ive played this guitar live before and it sounded great so if you are wondering if they hold up trust me it sounds fantastic... alot of the factory hardware was replaced on my dot before i bought it including the tuners,pickups,pickguard,and the bridge and it really makes the world of difference in the guitar with the changes its a completly reible guitar but since ive olny ever played a factory one just for a bit i cant really tell

Never had to deal with Epiphone

Ive been playing for 4 years and this is my main guitar i love the tones you can get out of it i love every bit of it...if it was lost or stolen i would cry my heart out cause id have to spend a fourtone to get a new one and get it upgraded... this guitar sounds feels and looks like a gibby 335 or even a little better in my own mind if u change some things...one word of advise to anyone looking to buy this guitar is use some thicker strings ur sustain and tone will sound great and another thing is to do the "texas stringing method" witch is where you String the string backwards and wrap it around the tail peice instead of stringing it through stright makes any guitar with a tailpeice sound a world better sustain is great and it hardly goes out of tune this way just a bit of advise

My wife got me this Dot for my birthday - source was Musician's Friend. Not sure what the price was. Black finish with rosewood fingerboard. Looks drop-dead gorgeous out of the box, but was a little surprised at the uneven coloring of the rosewood. It was pretty severe, but did not impact playability one bit, so I overlooked it pretty quickly.

Otherwise, nothing too special about the features.

As good as this guitar looked was as bad as it sounded when I plugged it in to my little Fender Champ. Pickups sounded muddy. Having read a few reviews about it, I wasn't entirely surprised. I eventually brought the Dot to my local guitar tech and had him drop in two Seymour Duncans, an Alnico in the neck position and a Pearly Gates in the bridge. I also noted that the pots and pickup selector felt cheap (I was already starting to get noise from the selector), so I had replacements thrown in there while I was at it.

Voila!

Great sounding guitar. Yes, it was a fairly large investment for an inexpensive guitar, but in my case I thought it was worth it. The thing positively sings now. The rating reflects significant upgrades. Without them, I'd give it a 6 at best.

The guitar was very playable out of the box. The action was a bit high for my taste, so I had it lowered. New strings are a must. The finish was flawless, the binding was put on perfectly and I really could not tell that I was handling a very reasonably priced guitar.

I've had the guitar almost a year and have had it out of the house only on a few occassions. Otherwise, its in my office hanging next to the amp for daily sessions. So far, so good. It hasn't developed any buzzing or electronic problems, but its pretty much been handled with care.

Never had a problem that I had to call Epi on. That always beats the alternative no matter how helpful the customer support folks are.

If you want a guitar that you can customize without alot of guilt, this is one you should definitely consider. If you think about what a "real" 335 costs, even with the costs of new pick-ups, pots and selector (and virtually anything else you please), you're still MILES ahead of the game. And once you've set it up the way you like, this truly becomes YOUR guitar.

Late Chinese made Dot (Epi??s "335") , 2008 , Natural finish , pretty thick poly (searched long time to get a natural finished one !). Bought it from England in january-february ??09. Body is maple laminate (with maple center block), neck seems to be something like mahagony?... Poor man??s gibson ES-335, nice playable (and affordable) instrument :-)

Well, here??s a small story. I kind of liked the sound of original pickups, but hated the muddiness (you know - when you roll down the volume pot which has no treble bleed). Tone pots were pointless - from " mud" to " more mud" ( sorry - I am regularly a fender guy :-), its my one and only HB instrument). So I firstly planned to change out the pickups for better ones, got a set of Seth Lovers ( SH-55 - the replica of the HB Grandpa). While tearing the wiring out of it, I discovered a very weird wiring, which was not a Gibson-like at all to my eyes. Made a proper 50-s style wiring with 4x 500k audio pots , 2x 0.022 tone caps , and added later also the treble bleeds. Well - believe it or not - the original pickups came to alive , sounded now better than the SH55 , with a proper wiring! So, I left on the originals (if i remember the neck one was around 8.9k, nice creamy sound, and bridge one about 9.1k - pretty sharp ??snapper?? if you??d like it to be - they are kind of Epi??s interpretation on Gibson 57 classics, I would say). Btw, the treble bleed caps sounded more natural/warmer when i used 0.002 instead of the common 0.001, so its got 002-s now. Would have given 10 if it??d sound as it sounds now ??out of the box??

Sustain is very long. If you??d want you??d get that nice feedback whistle as well, which is nicely controllable (I play it through Laney VC15 and modded Peavey Classic 50 410 plus some funfactor-toys like Roland??s MC, Vox??s DA5 ...)

Sounds very nice as well unplugged.

Again - 9, not 10. Pretty good but not perfect ??out of the box??- nut??s string slots needed to get a tiny bit deeper. Btw - nut is not cheap soft plastic, if it??s even cheap, it is very hard, reminds something acrylic.

Action itsself was perfect btw ??out of the box?? and the quality of frets finish smokes the guitars twice the price.


Btw - The late Chinese Dots are know for their junky neck profile, but my Dot has got it a little thinner than for example a cherry one in my local music store - my Dot??s neck is just perfect, not thick and not thin.

Absolutely flawless finish. Mine is worth at least a nine on that ! would have got 10 if the nut would have been perfect and the neednt to be attached better :-)

Nine again - that is mostly because of the legendary design weakness - the glued-on headstock with 14 degree angle - one careless drop/ fall-over and we??re done ...

no bad notes on hardware - even the tuners work perfectly (somebody has mentioned them to be crap, i cannot confirm it)

Absolutely usable on stage, without any problems, everything is intact, ??sound?? solid on my Dot - from strap buttons to tuners.

No deal with them so far , cannot assess

Solid 9 , no doubt.

I am more an hobby player but played 25 years .

If stolen I??d cry, probably buy the same again ( although there is a risk related to the Epi Dot??s variable quality - so better to not buy online, which I still did and got lucky :-))

My favorite guitar is Fender Telecaster. But I wanted an HB instrument to ??balance??. I am not in the masses of liking LesPaul. I looked more towards either the " 335" or the "SG". My Dot makes me happy when i just sit on the sofa and have it on my knee :-)

Current Chinese-made Epi Dot, all laminate, basic ES-335 feature set. Horrible tuners, horrible pickups, horrible nut, hardware.... you get the idea. Basic Epiphone.
You buy this guitar for the neck & body, and should eventually replace everything else.
Mine's black with a polyester finish. It's a big fat neck, different than the Korean-made dots. It's rounder whereas the Koreans were flatter.
I gave it a 9 for features because it has all you need- 2 pickups, a 3-way selector switch, 2 volumes, 2 tones, and an adjustable bridge with a stop tailpiece. Anything more than that deducts points. Less adds. Less is more!
These guitars are totally worth tricking out.They should just sell these guitars blank with no parts and let you fill in the rest.

Once you upgrade the electronics, pickups, and hardware these guitars sound great! The stock pickups are shrill and bright, the stock hardware is cheap pot metal that absorbs tone. Same with the plastic nut that's incorrectly spaced. Oh, and same with the cheap pots and tone cap.
I play this guitar through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a pile of pedals. Sounds killer with a Gibson '57 Classic in the neck and '57 Classic Plus in the bridge. That plus a bone nut, new Gibson keystone tuners, Tonepros bridge, new lightweight Allparts tailpiece, new CTS pots, Orange Drop caps, and braided wire.

Sounds thick, rich, but still jangly and totally alive and very responsive! Great controllable feedback if you leave your effects on!
I play atmospheric rock stuff like Radiohead, Doves...
Rated 8 with upgrades.

I bought it used so I can't comment on the factory setup. Usually the Epi's come virtually unplayable with tiny strings and super high action or a totally backbowed neck. Any decent brick n' mortar shop will probably make a few adjustments before they hang it up or set it up for you when you buy it. The nuts are just generic and don't fit the neck width or saddle spacing.

The finish is usually inconsistent with paint over the binding and weird blobs n' globs. Who cares? Play it, beat it up!

The frets are usually unlevel and need a good fret dressing. The black neck binding is lame and hidden under the paint. Why not just make it white like the rest of the guitar? It would look 100 times better.

Again, very reliable once you ditch the crappy electronics and tuners.
The finish will probably survive a nuclear attack, unfortunately. They should use half as much finish, it will improve the tone twice as much!
I always change out the strap buttons for Schaller Strap Locks.
The hardware will last, but the chrome plating will eventually flake off. If you're a heavy strummer than plan on some serious string breakage with the stock bridge since the strings will cut nasty sharp grooves in the saddles. Swap out the bridge for a Tone Pros, they make a Nashville style bridge that fits the import specs. Maybe even put some Graph Tech saddles in there too if you're prone to string breakage.
So 2 for stock components, 9 for upgraded.

Bought used. I'm sure it sucks.

Been playing for 17 years, gig once or twice a month and practice & record constantly. The Epi Dot doesn't hold a candle to my Gibson 335 but it's still a fine guitar in it's own right. It's brighter and snappier feeling due to the maple neck and poly finish.
I'd buy it again and perform the same upgrades, it's worth it- but I'm a 335 fan and I'm lucky that I can do the work myself. Getting parts at a discount helps too.
I'm not super-into the elongated headstock shape, and the body is slightly clunkier than a real 335, but overall it's a cool guitar.

Obviously if you just play casually around the house then you can leave this guitar stock and still enjoy it. The switch & volume pots will eventually crap out on you though.
If you're a gigging musician than this baby will need a little love.

You have to play a few before you'll find a keeper. Make sure the truss rod works and that the bridge isn't all the way down with high action.

Brand new Epiphone Dot, in Natural finish. Looked nice enough, but horribly Quality Control problems. The finish was a little uneven in places. It is being shipped back to the store immediately.

Never even plugged it in. It's going back to the store and they're going to have to ship me out a new one. I loved the sound of my early 2008 Dot, but that doesn't count for this review.

The Natural finish Dot arrived with the D string tuner bent at an angle, but was still solidly held into the headstock. There was no obvious damage to the exterior of the Epiphone box, so it must have left the factory this way. There was a hole drilled in the proper position, however the tuner itself appears to have been screwed in at an angle.

There was no "100% set up and inspected in the USA" sticker on the bad of the headstock, as was the case on my older (early 2008) Dot. Only thing on the back of the headstock was a "Hand Crafted in China" sticker, and an "Inspectioncard QC" sticker, with no QC inspector number.

The finish itself was a bit uneven in places, and there was a very small circle on the front of the body where the finish was matte instead of glossy. It was about the size of the head of a pin.

The truss rod cover had a light scratch across it.

All things considered, the finish and truss rod cover problems were acceptable for this price range. The tuner problem was completely unacceptable from any guitar manufacturer. I'm pretty sure even a blind person could have felt how wrong that tuner was installed.

As evidenced by the lack of the "100% setup and inspected in the USA" sticker on the back of the headstock, apparently Epiphone's QC for the Dot is no longer occurring in the USA, and it shows.

I have pictures to show just how bad the tuner was when the guitar arrived. Email me, if you'd like to see the pics. I am not nit-picking or being finicky - it was glaringly obvious something was very wrong with this guitar, and it came from the factory this way.

Arrived with a terrible tuner, so durability and reliability are irrelevant - I got a lemon.

Epiphone Customer Support will surely be hearing from me about this disappointment. No guitar manufacturer should ship guitars that look like this.

Unfortunately, this guitar gets a 1 in this category. My 2008 Dot would have gotten a 9. I loved my older one. The Natural Finish I just received is totally unacceptable.

The usual ES-335/Epi Dot features.

Grover tuners, Samsung (according to dealer) pickups.

Made in China in 2005 and bought that year.

I hope some readers here are old enough to know what I'm about to say. I play in an oldies band, and we do everything from folk to blues to melodic rock.

We wanted to get that Justin Hayward sound for songs like "Story In Your Eyes", "Rock & Roll Band", etc., and were having a tough time getting there with Strats and LPs. Rather than invest in a 335, we decided to try the Dot. Good decision. We saved a ton of money and achieved the sound we wanted. The Dot is played through a variety of amps, but most often a Peavey Classic 50 4x10.

Our lead guitarist even uses it for Stevie Ray's "Mary Had A Little Lamb" even though he has a Strat on a stand right next to him. He says he likes the blues tone of the Dot better. It's also great on Skynrd, particularly "Simple Man".

This guitar can basically sound like whatever you want...just tweak the amp settings.

My dealer set everything. I'm not sure what it was like from the factory.

It's the Cherry model, and it is stunningly beautiful.

We haven't found any fret flaws or any of the other things folks have mentioned, but again I'm not sure how much our dealer's luthier had to do.

This guitar has traveled all over the U.S. in its standard Epi case, mostly in airline baggage holds. No problems.

I always use it without a backup.

Broke the phenolic nut by placing it wrongly on a Hercules stand. When it fell, the stand grabbed the low E string and snapped the nut.

Sent it to Gibson, who called me three times to let me know the status, and they replaced the nut with a bone one for an extra 10 USD.

I've been playing for 44 years.

My background was mostly acoustic until the last ten years.

I love the Dot because it can be used as a 335 at a fraction of the cost. I'd buy another if necessary.

Basically new, but with reduced price by store because it was preowned. Recent model 2008 Epiphone Dot with a natural finish. This guitar is basically a Gibson 335 at one third the price. It features a rosewood fretboard. Pickups are a '57 in the neck position and the Epiphone "Hotbucker" in the bridge position. Silver hardware. Only real "cheapo" part was the gaudy plastic "E" on the pickguard, but that can be easily peeled off without damaging anything- which I did. Epiphone is a great value for many of their models, and even beat "Gibsons" many times. I used to completely discount Epiphones like the plague but now realize that was a major financial mistake.

Sounds like a fantastic Gibson 335 at a third of the price...the 335 lies between the Les Paul sound and a full hollowbody sound. I love it because now i don't have to keep switching guitars during my gigs unless i want to. The pickups are pretty high output- I feel no need to change then at this time. I need to gig with this guitar a little but more to know for sure about the pickups.

The finish is absolutely gorgeous- it looks much better in person than what you see in the catalogs. No complaints in that dept. and many compliments from people when they see it.

I expect many years out of the guitar. The toggle switch will probably have to be upgraded at some point, and I may decide to upgrade the bridge, but overall a great value.

Haven't needed it yet except a call to Gibson to find out what kind of pickups had been installed- the tech I talked to was extremely nice and very helpful.

Overall, I would give this guitar a solid 8.5 rating and highly recommend this model to those who play Blues, Classic Rock, Jazz and Country.

Features

I think this is an '04, from the serial number. I'm assuming it's from China or Korea It doesn't really matter if the manufacturer is using the correct materials and watching QC like hawk.

As somebody already said, we all knows the specs on this guitar, how close the important bits are to a real 335. For me, this baby knocks out the mid-70s 335 I owned years ago. I never expected the vintage prices to increase as they did, but I also never dreamed I'd be recommending an Asian-made copy.

My suggestion is to look at as many as you can until you find one with a neck that you can live with, but more importantly find the one that sings. You'll know it before you even plug it in. You'll find this guitar has a wonderful "bite" to it's tone, regardless of which pickup you are using. The stock pickups put this sound across beautifully.

The woods used on this guitar appear flawless. I'm told maple top, back, and sides -- all laminate like the originals. But mine seems to have a maple neck, doesn't look anything like mahogany, and the guitar weighs more than any 335 I remember, so it may be true. The tuners are adequate and so is the nut, there's the odd creak when bending higher strings, but the guitar always returns to correct tune, provided you stretch your strings after changing them. (!)

I think this is a guitar you should definitely ckeck out if you're learning or playing electric of nearly any style. And you'll find this is no Ephiphone Les Paul with a bolt-on neck, this is a fully playable GEM at a steal of a price. Professionals will find these to be excellent work horse guitars requiring little mods that will delivery solid, dependable performance every night.

Better than my 70s 335 that never had a very distinctive tone for lead work. The Epiphone Dot has a more distinctive biting tone, especially from the bridge pickup -- it sounds almost like a Les Paul. The neck pickup gives a much fuller tone, but still cuts through for lead work. Can't go wrong for such little money. It'll feel every so slightly (watch out for unpolished frets) cheaper than a 335, but if you're a player, you'll realize this is one of the best electric guitar deals on the market.

The feel of the guitar was terrible at first, but only because the original owner had never really played it much; hence, the frets were unpolished. Half an hour of playing and the frets were transformed. Pickups need adjustment, mechanism was smooth, gave me no problems, I was done in minutes. The action is beautiful, with no buzzing when bending the higher strings. The fingerboard is very good quality rosewood, surprising. The tuners are fine with no slipping noticed so far. The peghead is nicely inlaid, and the truss rod cover said "Gibson" -- which seems unusual, every other one I've seen has "Dot" on it. The finish remains to be seen, I suspect it is not as tough as the old Gibson finishes, but I have no intention of bashing it around.

I've no doubt this guitar can stand up to years of hard club playing, although maybe not as much as a Les Paul or Strat. I'd gig with this one, no problem. But then ALWAYS carry a spare. Hardware looks decent, but can all be placed if need be. So far so Good.

bought used -- so no warranty, but this didn't affect my purchase one iota, the way the thing played in my hands before plugging it into an amp was enough to convince me..

Been playing for 99 and one half years. I would definitely replace this guitar if it was lost -- I can't afford anything better and it does me fine for what I need it for. I wish it had a bound fingerboard, properly done, they can give you a little extra fret to work with.

I am not going to list all the features again. Made in China 2007 Epiphone Dot stock standard.
The Grover tuner are excelent on this guitar and is probably the best hardware on the whole guitar.

I play mainly blues, rock, jazz and alternative music. I am playing through a Laney VC15-119 valve amp and a little Vox Pathfinder 10 for quite home practice. The trebble was the most pronounced sound comming from the pickups, the bass and high E were the least pronounced sound. The pickups sounded uneven in voloume. In general with distorsion the pickups didn't sound to bad but on the amps clean setting jazz chords diddn't sound full like the should be.

When I first got the guitar it needed a proffessional set up because the action was to high, the fretts had a buss in many spots on the fretboard. The paint finish could have been a little bit better because clear laquer is uneven in spots. All the volume, tone controls and input jack were loose and neede to be tightened as well as the pickups needed to be ajusted wich were to far away from the strings. The toggle switch fehlt very flimsy. Some frets needed reglueing because they came loose after a few hours of playing. The saddles on the bridge are very loose when changing strings and I guess would put the intonation out after a string changes. The parts are very cheap on this guitar. I've got a Epihone Les Paul Junior which was spot on from the factory in china, the only difference it stated on the bach of the headstock Epiphone Custom Shop.
But I ended up buying this particular Dot because it was the only one in the shop with a slimm fast neck and it sounded the best unplugged out of all the other Dots in the shop.

I ended up throwing out the pickups and replaced them for a Gibson black open coil 57 classic in the neck position and a Gibson black open coil 57 classic plus in the bridge position. I used also Schaller strap locks. Then I purchased a compleate rewiring kit with cts 500k pots for volume and tone, braided wire and a switchcraft toggle switch and input jack as well as a Tonepros bridge and stop tail. I gave the lot to my guitar tech who installed the lot for me. After having spent $450 Australian dollars just for the parts and another $100 for the tech I can honestly say that that money was well spent because now I can depend on it without a backup. After this complete refit of just about all the parts the Epiphone Dot is now worthy of a 9 out of 10 in sound compared to a Gibson ES335.

I never tried Epiphone customer support however the people at the Gibson service department were great and answered my questions in regard to pickup changes and some of the issues with the loose frets and pots.

I've been playing on and off for 12 years and these days I've got my Laney VC15-110 with a Laney 210 extension speaker which has a great sound and my little Vox Pathfinder 10 which is a great little amp with a better tone than the Pathfinder 15. I have no Effects anymore and just use the overdrive or clean channels on the amps. Now that the Epiphone Dot has been transformed with all its changes I love it even more, it now sounds fantastic and I wouln't change anything else on it. I love the slimm neck and did I mention that the Tonepros bridge and stop tail made the guitar sound even louder when not plugged in, it also increased the sustain when plugged in the whole guitar feels alive now. I also love the fact than you can almost hug this guitar when playing it unlike any other other guitar I ever owned and I used to own Fender Strats, Telecasters etc. but this guitar I love best out of all for feel, sound and playability after the changes. I would buy another one any day. Therefore my rating after the changes is a 10 and without the changes a 6-1/2

I bought my Dot about 5 years ago for less than ??300 new. Only grump was that I also had to buy a custom-made hard case for it, as none of my other cases would take it. The quality of construction is first-class, my only slight criticism is the graining of the wood, which in places is rather coarse. I've played it a lot since I had it, and there are no cracks, warps or anything. It keeps very good tune. Someone once told me that the Epiphone buckers are no good, but they're good enough for me. Once in a while I have to go around it to tighten things up, but this is no big deal.

I play mostly finger-pickin blues, and it's perfect for this style. I use a Marshall AS50 amp at home, and whatever amp is available when I'm playing away. Never had a problem. It always comes across very, very full. I don't mess around with the settings too much, as I have them where I want them for my style.

The set-up was fine as delivered, and I only had to make a couple of slight adjustments to the Tune-O-Matic stuff. As I noted above, the quality of wood used in the top could be improved, but for the price who cares? No-one comes up to me with a magnifying-glass to check.

It'll last me out, that's for sure.

Never needed to find out

I've played a genuine Gibson 335 Dot, and if anyone can convince me of any massive difference between these two instruments, then I'm listening. If it caught fire, I'd call the brigade immediately.

I love it because it sounds like I want it to.

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.

In the very first band I was ever in, back in the mid '70s, the guitarist had an Aria copy of an ES-335 in red and I was just fasinated by the great crunch and controlled feedback he could get out of that hollow body. That same year I saw Ted Nugent live and decided I had to have a semi-hollow body!

Well, other things got in the way and it just never happened... until the Dot.

Mines the gloss cherry finish. Bought it stock brand new. Came with the guitar, a chord and a use & care guide in a cardboard box. Bought it over the net. No issues with the condition it arrived in - factory sealed. No a whole lot of features - semi-acoustic with asian made pickups and a 3 postion selector switch. It is what it is - a ES-335 like electric guitar. I didn't expect any more or any less.

This guitar does have good tone and sound when the tone knobs are set to at least 1/2 way or more in the treble range. Any less and the sound gets muddy, and all the way into the bass range gives an almost muffled sound. Could be that higher value caps on the tone pots would help. If there is a weakness with this guitar, its the pickups. Mine are marked "HOTCH(G) LP Bridge OR Neck BHC" on the back and I point this out because I've found different designations marked on other Dot pups while searching the web. Maybe Epiphone uses different suppliers, I don't know. As I said, these are capable of producing the sound that I was looking for, it's just that I would like a wider range of sounds to go along with it. I have heard other ES-335s and they don't suffer from this issue.

The toggle switch also does not work all that well as you have to "jiggle" it sometimes to get both pckups to work in the middle position. I thought maybe this was gunk in the switch and would go away with time but it hasn't

All the controls were loose when I got it but that's what you get when you buy mailorder on a product from China. No big deal as a couple minutes with a wrench had them tightened up. I thought at first that the frets were rough and a couple almost seemed marred and I chalked it up to a cheap guitar but at the first string change I cleaned the fretboard with 0000 steel wool and then some lemon oil and no more rough anything. Again, no big deal.

The fit and finish is very good for this price range - I have no really complaints there. I could not find any flaws. One small nag is that the side edges of the fretboard could have used a little more dressing on the one or two fret ends. A few seconds with a fine file fixed that. Very minor though. I have to remind myself how low cost this guitar is when I pick at such things.

The bridge was too high out of the box and a couple minutes with a steel ruler and a screwdrive easily fix that. Probably knocked out while on the water in shipping. Intonation was about spot on. The neck as it should be. Very nice actually.

A little better QC on the cleanup by Epiphone would solve all these.

This seems solidly build. Nothing loose or badly put together. If not for the suspect toggle switch, I don't think there would be any trouble ahead.

I like this guitar and I would buy another if it were stolen. I bought it to play and can't justify the price tag on a real ES-335. I think the Dot is a really good value and - remember the price point here - is well put together and finished.



NOTE: After owning the Dot for 5-6 months, I recently broke down and replaced the pickups with a pair of Seymour Duncan '59s and replaced the toggle switch and pots. Now it does give me a wide range of tones and sounds. Really makes me glad I bought this - but remember it did cost me another $200 to get it to where I wanted/needed it (now it sound reminds me of a '60s era ES-335... just about perfect). -- I didn't include these mods as part of my ratings.

The Finish is a beautiful blonde natural color. i got it at First Quality Music Supply today. the body is a gibson 335 pretty much. the bridge is great and it doesnt knock it oout of tune. the tuners are awesome looking/working Grovers. the neck is flawless. it comes with a chord and manual you will need a case. you can pull out Rich Robinson/ Keith Richards tones to Clapton to BB King tones. its amazing. the body is laminated maple i beleive. 2 volume, 2 tone. 2 awesome humbuckers. it has an awesome mahogany neck too.

PERFECT. i can get an eric clapton Cream sound perfectly. i can get a good Keith Richards sound too. and Rich Robinson stuff too. has a thick bluesy rock n roll tone. on clean, its a Chuck Berry/Beatles guitar sound. its deep and soulful sounding. and sometimes bright. doesnt get too much feedback. i use a Peavey Valveking 112 and an Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, and the go together like a dream. has a good acoustic sound too.

Flawless clear finish, the adjustment is great. its glossy and pretty. no flaws at all! absolutley perfect.

this thing should last forever.

buy it. you will love it for blues/rock.

regular korean 2001 bouoght in 2001 - cherry' two humbuckers.

the sound of the guitar is good, the unfortunate downside is the intonation. perhaps i got a defective guitar, but even with the octaves set up properly, the guitar doesnt seem to be in tune across the neck, which makes it upractiacl and unplayable. Also, even with a new nut and grover tuners inslald, it doesnt stay in tune.

i give it a 3 coz i can hear that it actualy can be a nice sounding guitar, but with the intonation so awfull, its unplayable.

I had the guitar brought over from canada (im not from over there), bought new at long and mcquade toronto. unfortunatly, the person who got it for me isnt a guitar player, so we relied on the salesperson. unfortunatly i got a guitar poorly set up and buzzing, badly intonated - maybe because of the flight, or again, maybe coz i got a defective guitar, or maybe coz its just a bad guitar.

solid guitar, but unplayable because of the poor intonation i mentioned. i give it a generous 4 coz its actualt built well.

n/a

if you are thinking about buying one, make sure its playable - tune it, play bar chords across the neck and listen if it sounds and FEELS in tune. pull strings, be very suspicious about this guitar. mine is a complete dissapointment, i never enjoyed it and its just in its bag waiting to be sold to another poor felow.

2006 Chinese Dot...Sunburst finish with the usual controls. Grover tuners. Purchased new from ebay. Not used or factory second.

Delivered the hollow body tone I was looking for... playing it through a Vox AD50VT or Fender M80.

I read many reviews before opting to purchase and it arrived in the condition anticipated. All pots, the switch, and input jack were flopping loose and the control knobs had not been fully set on the pot stems. Perhaps they purposely do this to account for changes in the wood during shipping(or the guy in China who assembles them goes for coffee and forgets to tighten them...who knows...a quick bit of work with a socket and they are good to go. The three way feels quite cheesy and I'm betting it will be the first component to fail. Pickups were screwed down tight and required adjustment...action was set to specs and trussrod adjusted appropriately. Uneven 13th fret required leveling. The fretboard was rough in the high registers and needed a wet sand to allow string bends. Tuners are actually pretty good. Plastic nut must be replaced.

With the exception of the three way switch it all seems solid. Rumor has it the electronics are dodgy so...we shall see...

Playing for 30 years now and no longer doing it for $. Own 2 strats, a tele, and a Dano 12 string. Can't justify the extra bux for a Gibson and not willing to risk off-brands to get the hollow body experience. I have refinished and rewired several guitars but I will not attempt to replace any of the components on this unless they blow up. If you have big enough hands to play the fat neck on this bitch you surely can't get your fingers in the f hole to work on it. In spite of the tweaking needed, it is still good value for the price and even if you don't win the fight they do have an office you can phone and scream at if something goes wrong.

This Dot was natural finish, grover tuners, probably 2006-2007.

I think this guitar really needs to be played through a nice tube amp. With a low gain rhythm setup, you get a VERY unbalanced sound. Very absent on the lower-mid and low end, the upper mids and highs are OK. When you kick in the boost for a lead line (here's where your amp comes into play), this guitar shows it's stuff. Specially on the neck pickup. It sings with lots of sustain and a fairly good tone. I preferred the mix setting next, then the bridge alone last.

Clean - very different sounds based on pickup selection. Pretty distinct and good sound in the middle "both" position. Got a little twang and nice treble bite. This is my preferred position for clean, then neck, then bridge.

Overall these pickups are not very good at all. With the right tube amp, you can get a nice lead out of them, but they leave a lot to be desired.

This particular guitar was supposed to be new from our mail order musical friend, but it arrived with the fretboard covered with grime, big cosmetic scratches over two frets, and two pots that were so loose that you couldn't actually turn them. (the WHOLE POT rotated in the body instead.) I cleaned it up and tightened down enough to give this a solid test over a week.

Action was fairly high, but that was easy to dial down at the bridge. Intonation was a tad off (yes before the action change).

The fretboard was a mess. Poorly filed fret wire gave it a very rough grinding feel. Just felt cheap. I'll ignore the scrapes which probably happened post-production.

The natural finish looked pretty decent, no real complaints about the body. Sloppy work around the F-holes, but not enough to send it back for.

The pots and 3-way switch will need replaced fairly quickly. They are complete crap. Scratchy and loose.

Grover Tuners are probably OK, but know this. THIS IS IMPORTANT... Many complain about the inability to tune this guitar. This is correct that's it's very hard to keep it in tune or even get it in tune. But, this is the fault of the cheapest nut I have ever seen in my life. I think it's made by Fisher Price. The NUT is the reason for the tuning instability, not the tuners themselves. The grovers feel very solid and do not have any play, so I imagine with a simple nut replacement, tuning issues would be fixed.

You could try some graphite (pencil lead) in the nut slots, but I think replacement is in order.

na

Player of 23 years and have some pretty good musical skills. I own an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Cherry Flame as my main guitar, pickups replaced with SD JB and Jazz. Amp is a Traynor YCV-80 (all tube). I play rock (classic/modern) as well as blues. Influences are Hendrix, Page, Clapton, David Gilmore, Buddy Guy, BB King, and SRV. (yes I've got a strat too :-)

I bought this guitar because I could get it for $300, which is a great price. I played it and tested it for a week solid, many times directly comparing to the Epi Les Paul. Not that I want it to BE a LP, but with the same setup it was a good way to reference what I was hearing.

What this guitar did best for me was a neck pickup lead tone. It actually sounded very similar to my Paul bridge lead (and the Paul has Seymour Duncans in it). But the rest was cheap, plain, and unbalanced.

After a week, I debated long and hard if a Sheraton was a better route than a Dot with upgrades. Lets face it, this Dot needed some work if I was going to hang onto it. I went out to the store to test a Sheraton and wow, NIGHT AND DAY...

I knew the Sheraton II would be better, but I was surprised how much better. The Sheraton was much more in line with my LP Custom in terms of quality, what I had expected from Epiphone in the first place. Yes it has things like binding and inlays that were completely absent from the Dot, but it also has much better hardware, looks gorgeous, and has pickups that sound so much better than the Dot. They are much more balanced and offer good tone all around. There is not a rough grind from poor fret wire like the Dot. The Sheraton is smooth and easy to play. Sings with a lead tone and sustain. Clean is very nice and balanced, it actually HAS low end unlike the Dot.

I think that it's the Dot that is far below what it should be rather than the Sheraton is far above what it should be. From comparison to my Epiphone LP, the Sheraton is on par there and what I expect.

Here's what it all comes down to. I would rather have a STOCK Sheraton II than a Dot which has had it's pots, switches, nut, and even pickups replaced. How's that for putting it in perspective.

If you are learning to play, I think this would be a good guitar for you. If you like the semi-hollow style, you can't beat the price. I forgot to say that the wide neck makes it very easy to play, almost like an acoustic. You can pound out full cords and have some fun.

If you are a musician, don't waste your time. It's only a good deal if it's a good guitar. For the extra money, a Sheraton II is a no brainer after my research and testing.

I like Epiphone a lot and am disappointed in them for the Dot. I am very very happy with my Les Paul as described above.

The Dot has been returned and a Sheraton II is in my future.