Epiphone Dot

I'm not going to get into features they standard Gibson features 2 humbuckers 3 way toggle 4 knbs 2 vol 2 tone 22 fret neck:
Recently traded up a 1986 Ibanez as 80 for a 2003 dot. The playability of the dot is much better, however the PU's compared to the Ibanez are lacking. Overall, like the dot better. It is much lighter and plays much easier. It is hard to believe that Gibson can produce such a high quality guitar in a Korean factory for 400.00. They really did a good job bringing a classic guitar to common guitar player. The one I got is natual...I like this look alot, it reminds me of John Lennons Casino in later years. I does not have a pick guard, and I think this look s really cool this way. Anywho features are standard.

The sound is good, of course the cheaper PU that are stock in Epiphone and lacking compared to standard Gibsons. I am playing mine through a Fender 4X10 Blues deville and it sounds great. I also use alot of delay all kinds, U2 to indie sounds. I use a Rat 2 for dirt and it sounds great (this pedal would any guitar sond great) The Dot is pretty versatile. And unlike other hollow bodies it is easy to control how it feeds back. Overall I like the sound , however I am considering upgrading the pickups to Possibley P-90 or classic 57' maybe even pearly gates who knows.

The action is ths guitar is stellar, I think it plays almost...almost, as good as my rickenbacker 480, the ric has suprior playability to any guitar I have ever touched Gretsh, Hofner, Gibson, forget...so in this respect the Dot will never truley live up to being the ultiamte guitar. As I have stated earlier it is amazing for a 400.00 korean guitar..I plays like more expensive guitar...Not as stiff as a real es-335 more fluid. can't find a flaw with it other than who ever had it before me decided wrap the strings a round the stop bar...it is not wrap bar I know what those look like. Anyway I guess what it comes down to is that for the money, you can't beat it!

Havent had it for more than 2 weeks but I have gig with it twice and have sort of worked in as my main guitar...sort of alternating between it and my ric. Right now I guess I'm just trying to settle in with this...Learning all it CAN do. I could easily make this my main stay...and I have all intentions on recording with ths on our next record (maybe if I upgrade the Pu'S) i don't know yet. The guitar is great quaility even if it was an 800.00 guitar I would feel the same way...the binding looks great not cheap the tuners are groover and excellent...alothough I may put shallers white buttons on it for a vintage look. Bottom line the guitar is great...again for the cost you would be a fool not to get one.

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Although not everything about this guitar is a 10 collectivley it is...once again for the money. This is my first Epiphone and not i have intentions on picking up other. Epiphon several cool modles that gibson doesn't...I'd like to pick up a casino, or a shearton, maybe a zephyr...got to hand it to epiphone they make great guitars at a great price.

I bought this guitar new in 1999. It was manufactured the same year. I wanted a semi-hollow for looks and sound, but I walked into the music store that day with an open mind and tried a ton of guitars. I was about to leave without one until I saw an epi dot sitting in the consignment corner. I played it and was hooked. I ordered a new one on the spot. It's a standard dot, with 2 epi humbuckers, the old-style tune-o-matic (I believe epi has a new, smaller bridge on current dots), standard tuning keys. Laminated maple body and center block, with a maple neck (FYI, gibson 335s and epi elitist 335s have mahagony 1 piece necks). The neck has a scarf joing near the headstock. Don't listen to "gurus" who claim to know better. I can't tell the difference between the 1-piece and 2-piece necks...and the 2-piece wastes less wood and is stronger. I didn't buy this guitar hoping for a Gibson ES-335 (I'll buy one later), I bought it because I liked the guitar I played in the store. My dot is cherry red.

Okay, let me say this again. You'll read over and over how someone bought an epi dot and it sounds just like a Gibson, especially after some hardware swaps. It may sound like a Gibson to them, it may not to you (and vice versa). Just go out and get the guitar you want that's within your budget. Otherwise, you'll never be satisfied with it.

My epi dot has a nice, woody midrange sound to it. The midrange notes are really accentuated on this guitar. The bridge pickup is veyr dark and I prefer to play single notes rather than chords with it (the bass is too much). The bridge pickup is very aggressive when strummed hard but also has a sweet (albeit bright) sound when strummed lightly. My only gripe sound wise is that the neck pickup is much louder than the bridge (despite pickup height) but that is to be expected.

I play my guitar without amplification or with a home-built amp. It's a two channel (one fender deluxe, one hot-rodded JCM800) tube amp with a single EL84 pushing put 5 watts into a 1X12 combo. With this guitar both amp channels sound fantastic. I occasionally use a Danelectro Pastrami Overdrive or Grilled Cheese to get some cheesy effects.

This guitar is very versatile and will work in a lot of situations. It was exactly what I was looking for, so I'm going to give it a 10.

The dot I took home is the second one my dealer ordered. The first had a messed up neck, so they sent it back for a better one before I even saw it (try that at your local guitar megamart!). The neck has a good feel in my hand, I never get tired playing. The guitar plays very well and the action was set up at the store to my liking. One problem with the guitar out of the box was the action was a litte off. The store I bought it at filed down the high E saddle way too low, so now I have to replace that (I'm swapping out the whole bridge).

The neck pickup "chrome" started to peel off at one corner. A quick coat of clear nail polish stopped any further peeling (it's been 6 years now). I was annoyed at first but I rarely see it any more. I'm planning on swapping out the pickups for some PAF clones (toss up between Stew-mac's Golden Age and Gibson's '57 Classic), just to experiment. I like the stock pickups and I figure if I don't like the new ones better I can always sell them on eBay for 90% of the original price.

The finish was nice. Not perfect, but for a $600 guitar it's fine for me. I love the cherry look.

It's six years old now, and no real issues. A common complaint is the selector switch. Mine started to go out on me but I looked inside and saw a big piece of dust caught between two contacts. A puff of air later and the switch is as good as new. I replaced the tuners with Grover Rotomatics and the guitar stays in tune better. I may replace the nut but it's been 6 years so why mess with it?

The tone control on the neck pickup doesn't work. I suspect it was never wired, but I've never bothered to check it out (I rarely use the bridge tone control, and then usually to take the knob down to "9").

I don't play live and I take care of my stuff, so my guitars tend to last.

I've never dealt with Epiphone, so I can't comment. The music store from which I bought the guitar were great (even though they messed up my saddles!) and my current guitar store techs really know their stuff. Be careful: a lot of "pro" techs have no idea what they're doing. Get a book, read up on it yourself, so if you can't do it you'll be sure that they can.

I didn't buy this guitar as a poor man's Gibson ES-335. If you want the Gibson, save up for it. I love my dot and I think it's a great guitar as is. To be fair, I am planning on buying a Gibson ES-335 in the next year or two, but that's because I want a different guitar, not a better dot. One of the nice things about the epi dot (other than the sound, which is tops) is that you can swap out some hardware to experiment...something you might not do on a $2500-3500 guitar. One caveat is that you have to play them in the store, the variability on ANY guitar means you're taking a risk buying one without playing it.

hey now,, this is my first reveiw for this site. lets start by saying
dont belive everything you read .and dont forget that these reveiws are only opinions.. and also take into account whoose opinion your reading.. i have read a lot of reveiws on this and many other websites including the opinions of pro and semi pro muscians that i talked to personally about the intrument in question.. first off lets just say that i value everyones opinion...but i would put more stock in the opinion of a more seasoned musician with experiance in the game than say someone who is new to the scene.. there seem to be more quality reveiws on this site than most of the others out there. but beware there are also a lot of BS reveiws out there, by people who claim to be knowlegable and are really full of sht. i know a few of them that claim to be more than they are and even though their reveiws seem intellingent they wouldnt know the difference between a dimond and a dogshit. im saying this to try to set the record straight for the people who may spend the time to read this.. what i seem to come across a mostly are the reviewers that will claim that that their 300 dollar guitar blows away the 3000 dollar model... basically this is unbelivable, and mostly represents the opinion of disgruntled people who probobly cant really afford the 2000 dollar model and are venting their frustrations in the only place they can... its like comparing a new jaguar to a new kia.. you can save a lot of money.. and if you put a jaguar moter in the car it will go as fast, but does that make it a jaguar? most of them seem to think that the guitar produces the sound when really most of the sound comes from the amp, combined with the pickups. the amp is the key factor!!! you can put a 59 les paul through a cheap amp and it will sound close to the same as a cheap epiphone.. through the same amp... if you put the same two guitars through a quality amp (fender, boogie, marshal among others) the difference in aparent.. also build quality is another factor.. the less expensive korean, mexican, asian guitars that are built these days are much better than in the past, but does that make them the same as a hand built collectors piece? come on do people really think that something built for the cheapest price on an assembly line that produces 1000 guitars a day can be the same as something hand built for weeks or months with loving care by someone who has been at the craft for 10, 20, 30 years be the same? if that was the case than why bother with benedtto, custom shops, or even prs..we could all just buy a 300 to 500 dollar import guitar with different body shapes and that would be that. the reality is play what you can afford and sounds good to you.. but lets not mistake a 57 tele rented for the day from a high end studio to an 04 mexican at guitar center for 400 bucks. even though they may be compatable they are not comparable... im sure this reveiw will spark many heated comparisons and probobly piss some people off.., im sure if they had the "real thing" they would not be so quick to dis it... im sure there are many crappy gibsons and fenders out there that will help prove their point but then--dont buy them!! call them what they are..
a good guitar is a good guitar!!! even ibanez has a high end line and custom shop.. that builds stuff that can and does blow most of the american stuff away, but a toyota is not a cadolac! and never will be! ..anyway whatever you play, play it with your heart and soul-- and that will ALLWAYS be heard !!!rock on brothers and sisters!! now heres the reveiw......
2002 epiphone dot 335 copy.
i bought this new for 400.
i didnt want to spend another 2000 for a gibson
cherry red, gibson designed pickups, volume, tone pots,, you know the deal. grover tuners, nice guitar, decent fret job, looks like "the real thing" (gibson 335) two humbuckers..bla bla bla its the same as the rest..

the sound is ok. i wanted an archtop for blues and jazz,, but the sound really doesnt compare with the higher priced gibsons. if it did do you think gibson could get 1700-3000 for their model.
yeah if you put 57 classic gibson pickups in it it will sound the same as a real 335 but come on, is it really the same?
for the money its great and with the gibson pickups it will sound the same. if you really want a 335 but cant afford it this is great but its still not a real 335. not even close.....

as with most factory setups it was playable.. but with a little tweeking it was ok. setting up a guitar is not that hard a little common sense and a screwdriver is usually all that is needed. most people are just afraid of screwing things up. spend 15 dollars on a guitar book instead of the (LOL) "professional" (lol) "guitar tech" and you can do the same setup yourself...

the guitar is as solid as most of the others out there.
unless you really get a piece of crap most guitars made these days are about the same. a lot of them are even made in the same factorys with just different names on the headstock to make the difference.
as long as the guitar stays in tune of course it is gig worthy..
the finish is good..but what does that have to do with gig reliability??? without a compensating nut half of the open chords are not really right.. but that is true for most under 1000 dollar guitars...so it depends on what your playing and the sensitivity of your ear..

unless the guitar falls apart they arent going to do much for you..
that is really all the warrenty covers.. even then youll have to prove you didnt break it..

over all.. this is a good guitar you can compare it to anything and it will hold up, the build quality is good, sound quality is ok, with certain modifications it can even be great. i have been playing for 24 years ive had a few other epiphones some good some great. overall this is a good buy for the money it all depends on your personal choice and buget.. if you try to sell it youll be lucky to get 200 for it so its definatly not a good investment.. just buy it, play it,
and love it.....

2004 Korean-made, 24-fret, laminated top with natural finish. Very classy looking. 3-way pickup selector, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs. Two humbuckers, made by Epiphone I believe. Body is mahogany, neck is maple, I think - the Epiphone website is not terribly helpful when it comes to details like these. Tuners are Grovers, which stay in tune pretty well - requires minor retuning maybe once or twice throughout the course of a gig. Neck has nice thick feel to it but is very playable. Rosewood board.

This is really perfectly suited for my playing style - classic funk (not like the shredding going on in modern funk), soul-jazz, afrobeat, etc. I've been a strat guy for the better part of 15 years, and this is really a better fit for me. You can get strat-like tones out of the middle and bridge positions, and it's incredible for single-note lines. I use it through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp, with an EH Small Stone and Budda Bud-Wah - don't like too many effects on the sound. Nice full, warm, mellow sound - others may not like the stock Epi pickups but they're staying in for now. May eventually put in a Duncan Phat Cat in the bridge but that's further on down the road. Believe it or not, you CAN get beautiful, jangly chords out of this with character and articulation. As you can imagine, sustain is great.

Guitar was purchased brand new from Guitar Center and was set up very well. Just raised the action a tad to my liking. There were a couple other Dots there that were in terrible condition, so be sure to shop around. The neck is in great condition, very straight, frets are set very nicely. Tone/volume knobs are in good shape; one of them is a bit uneven but doesn't affect use at all. The pickup selector feels a bit loose, but works fine for now. The "E" on the pickguard will slide off easily if you peel it, but no matter, I took the pickguard off anyways before this even happened. Aesthetically, it's really a beautiful instrument. Only workmanship flaw is on the headstock - the black finish on the front smudged a bit. Besides this, in really excellent condition. The guitar feels very solid and is feeling better by the minute.

I have been and will continue to gig without a backup - don't have the scratch for that yet. Seems very sturdy, although being a semi-hollowbody, I take good care of it. Finish seems good. Chrome hardware which I like better than gold.

Haven't used them yet.

Overall, it's really a great value. I am very quickly getting over the fact that this is Korean-made. Really, who cares about that if it feels good to you and sounds good to you. I was looking at this and the Sheraton II, and honestly, I didn't care for the extra cosmetics on the Sheraton II - the gold hardware, fancy headstock inlay, neck inlays, neck binding - the Dot just looks more no frills and a bit more badass if you ask me. Also knocks down the price a couple hundo which never hurts.

2004 Epiphone Dot in the natural finish with a mildly quilted maple top for the front of it.
22 Fret neck in the Classic Gibson style but with the slightly more elongated classic Epiphone headstock to it.
2 Epiphone USA Humbuckers (probably actually made in Korea with the rest of the guitar, but at least they use Alnico Magnets).
IT COMES WITH ORIGINAL GROVER TUNERS!!!! Result!! I just wish more middle of the range guitar manufacturers would use Grovers as they are so damn good. Suprise, suprise it stays in tune.
Cheap Epiphone hardcase included. It does the job, but may I suggest ditching it in favour of a decent hardcase if you're going to do any serious work with this guitar.

How many wanabee Indie/Thrash/Metal players are out there buying this guitar and slagging it off?? Have you muppets no idea what this guitar is for?? Ever heard of the Blues? Its the music that your distorted sh*te evolved from. The pickups on this guitar are not weak, they're bluesy. Sheeesh!!
There is a reason why Gibsons and ALL other top end guitars use Alnico magnets, and there's a reason why all you metal-heads put sh*tty high output ceramic pickups in your guitars. If you want to play overdone, high output, distorted, talentless cr*p why on Earth did you buy this guitar?
**************Rant Over*****************
I've played this through my live rig (PA with a Boss GT6 effects processor) alongside my Tele, and my Gibson Historic 58 and it held up well. OK so it's not going to beat their sound, but it only cost #400 rather than #2000+. Its another sound to add to my instrument collection and gives me something that my Les Paul, my Tele, or my acoustic can't give me.
Leave the pickups in and just enjoy playing the thing.

I had it tweaked by the shop that I brought it from, but only to lower the action to one more favourable to me. The intonation was spot on.
I always say that if an electric guitar can sound good unplugged it'll be a good guitar. A good acoustic sound is a good sign of high quality woods; if the electrics turn out to be dire you can always change them. This instrument is no breaker of that law.
The high quality of the wood is visible straight away in the lovely piece of quilt maple used for the front of the guitar. It looks great, is finished great, and plays great.

It's been solid as a rock so far. No complaints.

I NEVER gig with a backup, and I do gigs on my own with just my voice and my guitar. No band, no drum machine, no backing tracks. Live music with no safety net. If you break a string..............hey........at least it proves you're live! And if you can't change a string in under two minutes you shouldn't be allowed to play live!!
By the time you've picked up a 'backup' guitar, checked the tuning, and got it plugged into the rig you could have got at least halfway through changing a string.
The finish seems to be holding up well to the rigours of live performance, no blemishes to speak of yet.

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I've been playing ten years now, and am a big lover of classic rock and the Blues from which it sprung from. From Robert Johnston, to Led Zeppelin, through to Guns N Roses I love the sound of a good bluesy riff.
As I'm primarily an acoustic artist (I love my Takamines) I play directly through a Phonic Powerpod powered PA mixer. This powers a pair of Peavey Pro12 speakers which give a wonderful richness to my sound when playing live. Into this mix is added my Boss GT6 pedal for electric overdriven sounds. It's no tube amp, but at the lower volumes I play at it works beautifully.
This Epiphone is a lovely guitar, and the best thing I can say about it is that I don't think it'll end up as so many of my guitars have, and be sold to make way for something else! Unless someone offered me a Gibson ES335 for a good price!!

Bought this Dot last year for AU$900 with a Gator hardcase. I think I got one of the first Chinese Dots to land in Australia, all the others I'd seen before had been Korean. At first I was concerned, but then I figured they'd be pretty careful with the specs because it's a big company with a reputation to protect (you reading this, Exxon?). Why should I think the Chinese sweat shoppers should be more inept than the Korean sweat shoppers? I shouldn't. Epiphone, I never want to find out to run sweat shops, orright mate?
Do a speed read of the other posts for the features of the Epi Dot, though I should confess mine came with set of BB King trousers, which I now use as a sleeping bag.

I only play blues with the Dot. I'm in a working blues band and all my guitars get a thorough workout. I was happily wanging away on a '95 US Tele when I picked up a mate's Dot one day and diddled away an afternoon. I'd never really played with humbuckers before and decided I had to change tack. I haven't regretted it, and the Dot fits my bill perfectly. The other guitarist in the band now uses my old Tele on stage, so I need not weep about that poor blonde child feeling inadequate and hating me.
I run it through an old Twin that looks like it's been dragged by a goat through the bush for 20 miles; it's really a spongy old thing and the Dot sounds nice and oily through that. It sure can't cut and slice the way the Tele can (or the Strat, which I use for all my slide stuff), but I don't really want it to. I occasionally step on an old Boss OD2 for some ginger, or a wah to make the women dance better, but other than that it's usually a straight signal which suits me fine.
The sound is the main reason I bought the Dot, the second main reason being the price was within my grasp.

Mouldy coconuts here. I got the Dot a bit cheaper and with the case virtually thrown in because I was dicked around a fair bit by the retailer. The Dot had arrived from Asia, presumably, in need of a good rest and a visit to the chiropractor and this clearly had not been done. I'm not scared of doing set ups myself, but I don't expect to if I'm buying a brand new guitar. In short, the neck was twisted like an old guy's wanger and the neck pup would not communicate with the rest of the guitar. This was all fixed once I'd left the shop for the last time (with a frown but with a few extra pesos in the pocket thanks to the crappo service), and other than that I've had no real dramas. I've since spent about $100 on getting the tuners replaced with some GTs (factory ones a little sloppy for mine) because I'm a fairly physical player and where we play it's always hot and humid.
That reminds me to say that if you sweat a lot (I do), the cherry finish will really show the tracks of those salty rivers winding on down to the bridge. It's worse under stage lights, which is what makes me sweat in the first place, because you can really see where my arm's been smudging all the . Sorry, I'm not going to elaborate on this.

I've played the Dot in well and truly and it's already picked up some good dings from collisions with the mike stand, some cymbals and some blues fans with granite heads (we play on some small stages here). It's been reliable and now stays pretty much in tune most of the time. I've had no dramas with the selector, and I think some of you other people didn't make the right animal sacrifices before you bought the guitar, or you'd have no worries.
Really, I've got a choice of other guitars - '69 Strat and a the Tele - which are much tougher but I choose to use this one because I like the sound of it right now. Guitars are tools and they get a bit knocked about - especially in some of the pubs I play in - and this one was good value and still is. If it stays in good playing condition, I don't see why I can't keep playing it. I recommend always having a backup wife; don't worry about the guitars so much.

The original set up problems were handled by the retail guys, as they should have been. Australia may as well be in outer space when it comes to getting any attention from multinational monsters, unless they want to mine our uranium, so I don't expect to have Mr and Mrs Epiphone round for a beer and a game of cards any time soon. The Dot is cheap enough for me to feel comfy doing my own mods anyway and if the sander or drill goes a bit crooked and gouges a channel somewhere, well that's sad but so long as it plays well I'm happy as a pig squelching around in its own mischief.

I've been playing for about 25 years. All my gear is bought for the road, and the Dot is the first "cheap" guitar I've owned, and I continue to be impressed. I haven't got time to do AB tests or comparisons with other Gibsons or Epis or anything like that. It just sounds good to me and I certainly haven't noticed any punters taking a dive for the exit because the sound is horrible. On the contrary, I think the Epi delivers a very warm and human tone. On top of that, it's a very *physical* guitar - big and heavy in your arms so it feels like you're flinging a woman around up there. I like that sensation and it pulls tone out of me, I'm tellin' ya.

This is a Cherry finish Dot from 2003. All the usual features.

This guitar sounds VERY Good.
Let me give you some backround on myself and on my feeling on this guitar.
For a number of years I played Bass Professionally. I recorded for RCA Records in the early 70's and played thru out the country. First of all, I have to get this off my chest.....I ALWAYS laugh whenever I read you idiots on this site say.....
"never gig without a backup"......
Let me tell you, I NEVER had a "Backup" nor did either of the 2 guitarists in my band EVER have "backups". On a rare occassion one of them might break a string (which I never did on the Bass), BUT SO WHAT! Just play around it and change the string later. What, is the neck going to fall off???? But I digress.....
I own a Dot, as well as several other guitars, my good friend owns a number of guitars too. The other night we did a little comparison using some of the guitars we own and a Marshall AVT 20 amp. The guitars were:
PRS Custom 24 Brazillian, Gibson Les Paul Supreme, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Music Man Axis, Gibson Les Paul DC Standard, Fender 50th Anniversary Strat and a Godin LG SP90. A pretty good selection I would think.
Now all these guitars sound and play differently, BUT you know what, this Epiphone Dot really held it's own. I'm not saying it's better than any of these other instruments, but it really does sound good.It was NOT embarassed by any of these other guitars.
Once again, I have to laugh at those who say the pickups on the Dot ar "shit". I can only surmise that people who feel that way do not have a f'ing clue!
The Dot is a budget instrument and while it does actually look and play pretty well, it's certainly no PRS or Gibson, but then again it doesn't cost $2000 plus either.

Looks Good and the neck feels nice

I'd use most ANYTHING without an F'ING BACKUP!
And stop using the word "GIG", you sound like a complete IDIOT saying "Gig", that's another thing we never did back in the day and we ALWAYS LAUGHED at anyone who used that term.

A very nice inexpensive guitar, well worth your time and money

Classic ES-335 body shape with longer vintage Epiphone headstock. Very cool... Mine is the natural finish, which wasn't what I set out to buy, but I'm glad I did. A friend of mine has an old Casino (identical body/finish) which has aged beautifully, despite the bulletproof lacquer. Standard Grover tuners (big plus for me), 22 fret (small) neck, nice medium chunky feel to it, fairly crappy hard case thrown in.

Well, like so many of the people who buy these things, I love the vibe of the ES-335 but don't have that kind of money to spend on yet another guitar. The Dot is well constructed, sounds great acoustically and.... completely sucks when plugged in. I play a lot of different stuff, but mainly blues and jazz. There are some fairly good jazz tones to be had, but the p'ups are oh so WEAK!! I play through a Laney Class A with THD hotplate and BOSS compressor, and can get some awesome sounds out of my Strat (SCN p'ups) and old Les Paul Custom, and I guess in comparison to those, this was always going to lose out. So.... a matched pair of Bare Knuckle Crawlers have, after much cursing and swearing, replaced the laughably named Epiphone Classic '57s, and now this guitar really screams. You can get what you want out of her, I've even got some vaguely Strat-esque quack things going on with the coil splits! But with the output tubes just nudging into break-up, both humbuckers selected and a little tone rolled off, it is the sweetest sound you have ever heard. OK, so the BK p'ups if new would be almost worth as much as the Dot, but for my outlay of around #425 it's a steal! If you have a Dot get the Bare Knuckles! 11 with the new p'ups, 6 without.

The body is great, no issues at all. The action was a little high, but no problem to drop it slightly. The neck is straight and feels good, except for two things - first there is some kind of stain, presumably to make it look like a dark rosewood; this comes off onto your fingers every time you play. I guess it will wear off eventually. Second, the grain of the fingerboard is a little rough and scratchy. One of my many poor techniques is the way I sometimes play vibrato moving just my finger rather than from the wrist as you're supposed to - this means that my nail scrapes across the fingerboard, and on this guitar it snags on the rough surface. Which doesn't feel good. OK, my fault for the stupid way I play, but I haven't ever come across this problem on any other guitar I've played. Anyway, it's smoothing off already, so not a big deal. Other than that, beautiful. Makes my hugely more expensive Gibson look like crap in comparison.

I will use it live, no worries. The headstock/neck join looks a little fragile though - I wouldn't want to put that to the test. The great thing about it is that if it breaks, just whip out the p'ups and start again.

dunno, too soon to say.

Overall rating, for the money, has to be 10. Even if it came without any p'ups at all it is still good value. We'll see if the rest of the electrics are as unreliable as others claim. So far so good... I'm in love with this baby - if I could only keep one of my three electrics, this would be it. I guess the Bare Knuckles would sound great in most guitars, but the quality of construction of the Dot coupled with the sounds I can now get and the fabulous vibe means that I won't be saving up for an ES-335 any time soon. Now where's that Larry Carlton tab...

2003 ebony with chrome 2nd

This thing sounds great. Lots of midrange, which I like, usually play the neck pup, which has a nice mellow tone. The other guitarist I play with likes the middle position, and is constantly begging me to bring it to practice(he puts down his Les Paul Custom for this).

This was a second. Neck pickup was on backwards, I don't know how they could even do that because it was hitting the strings, easy enough to fix. There is a small drip in the paint on the back, virtually unnoticable. Wood showing through around f hole. With about an hour of work it was usable.

This seems well put together, although I haven't seen anyone mention the lack of kerfing inside the body, I am worried about that. Hardware is presumably second rate and I would expect to have a problem with the selector switch. My strap buttons have not come loose! I'd say this would be fine for gigs with a backup.

don't know although I will keep stock so if ......

This is a way cool guitar with the right sound, It is well worth the money. I've played for 30 yrs although a lot of bass lately. I have a 73 fender telecaster deluxe that I'm saving now as collectable. A homemade walnut tele thinline with squier neck. A couple of basses and acoustics.
If it were stolen I'd buy another just like it! I wish it had neck binding.

I've always wanted a Gibson ES-355 or -335, but since I don't have 2-3,000 bucks, I settled for an Epi. I bought this in mid-2004 brand new, so I assume it was made in 2004. It was built in Korea, and is the standard Epi Dot, 2 stock humbuckers, 4 knobs, pikcup selector, etc. Mine is in a cherry red finish with body binding that is really nice...you can really see the grain of the wood through the finish. Mine came standard with the Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop bar tailpiece, which I have since replaced with a Bigsby...this guitar looks HOT! It did NOT come with a case, which pissed me off, although I was able to buy the proper Epi hardshell case for 50 bucks.

I've been playing guitar for 15 years and have veered from playing Zeppelin/Who/Cream/Hendrix style hard rock towards more textured playing in the vein of the Beatles/Blur/Suede/Radiohead/etc, although I play both styles still constantly. I got this guitar because I'm already maxed out on solid bodys (USA Strat, USA '52 Tele, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Gibson SG) and I was craving that Bernard Butler sound and saw he plays Gibson ES-355's and 335's almost exclusively. This guitar doesn't sound just like it's Gibson cousin, but it comes damn close. I string all my guitars with Rotosound strings, and I play through a Vox AC30 or a VOX Pathfinder with a Vox Wah-Wah, MXR Stereo Chorus, Ibanzez TS-9, Dunlop TS-1, DUnlop Univibe, MXR Blue Box, and an MXR dyna-comp. I can get that rich, full, "tubey" sound I want from the Butler/Suede albums all the way to nasty late-60's tones and everything in between. I've found as long as I'm willing to fiddle with the amp, efects, and the tone and volume on the axe, I can get almost anything I want....a total bargain for the buck!

The guitar came set up with the action too low with lots of fret-buzz, but tat was easy enough to fix. The pickups seemed alright and the details that are usually lacking in lower-end axes (fret height, etc) were all done well. The binding also contained minimal showing of the cherry finish, certainly a lot less than I've seen on other Epis. The input jack is perpetually loose, and the pickup selector is kind of cruddy, but overall for the money, it ain't bad.

I'm pretty sure this guitar will withstand live playing, although I'm a pretty aggressive onstage guitarist, I certainly take care of my axes.The hardware and finish seem fine. The strap buttons are fine so far, althouh I've seen on here they have a tendency to loosen up prettyy easily. I never use ANY guitar at a gig without a back-up...even a 2000 dollar Les Paul breaks strings....however, I would use this without hesitiation.

N/A, although I know I am no longer under warranty since I slapped the Bigsby on this guitar.

I've been playing for 15 years, as I said above, and mentioned all of my gear previously. This axe stands up there with everything else I own...it's quality and sounds great. I would definitely replace this if need be. My next two purchases will be Rickenbackers, a 360 and a 360/12, and I know I'll still pull this axe out for that creamy semi-hollow sound, especially for soloing.

Epiphone Dot, Made In Korea. Hollow body archtop guitar with a rosewood neck (22 frets), twin humbuckers, 3 way switch and 4 pots (2 volume and 2 tone controls). Great look...

Considering the price this guitar sounds really good. I play mainly folk-rock music (Beatles, Wilco, Elliott Smith...) and this guitar is a perfect fit. I was looking for a warm tone for rich rythm guitar and this Epiphone gave it to me. Its sounds fat (not thin as my strat) but not to muddy. I really like to way it resonate.

I use a little peavy classic 30 and it sounds great. I must say that through my performer 1000 (transistors) it sounded a bit more thin...

i wouldn't use it for funk or heavier stuff (anyway who would want to play heavy metal with a guitar that look like this!).

i bought it used. It was in mint condition. The previous owner had put grovers keys and strap lock on it. The action was good. I just changed the saddles since strings were always breaking (even though i'm using 0.13 strings). The "7" is for the saddle problem...

It has survive 1 year and about 25 concerts, and is still in good condition. I don't plan changing in for the next 5 years...

NA

I've been playing for 13 years, mostly with a strat and for the past year with this guitar. Even if I didn't think I would trade my strat for another one, I did! I really think it fits my style of playing. The dot offer a great warm sound perfect for folk tunes.

The Dot is the Epiphone version of the Gibson 335. It has a semi-hollow body with dual f-holes. 22 frets, dual humbuckers, 2 volumes, 2 tones, 3 way pickup selector, tune-o-matic bridge. I could go into more detail, but you can just look it up...you're here for the review so i'll cut to the chase.

To be honest when i first bought this guitar I was buying it because it is beautiful instrument...well you shouldn't judge a guitar by its appearance because this thing sounds WAY BETTER it looks, which is hard to believe seeing how great it looks. I was absolutely blown away by range of sounds that come out of this thing. I run it straight through a Fender Deluxe 90 and play anything from jazz to rock to punk. I know that this statement has become kind of a cliche here, but it handles all styles with ease. The tone on the neck pickup is beautifully warm (and sounds particularly good with a hint of overdrive) and the bridge pickup can really scream. Huge versatility.

Everything was pretty well setup from the factory. there were the mandatory intonation modifications but since then I havnen't touched it. The action is more typical of an archtop than a strat, but it was perfect when it arrived and I havne't had to change it at all. Like I said before, this is a beautiful instrument. Mine is in natural finish with chrome hardware. The pick-guard is in the Epiphone shape and to be honest (and I'm not being a Gibson hater here) I like it way better than the Gibson 335 pick-guard. All in all, it looks amazing, which is almost as good as it sounds.

So far so good! I have gigged this guitar about 10 times already and it has held up to everything I can dish out. The stock tuning machines keep the thing singing on key throughout the set and I have yet to notice any wear on any of the hardware. Finish looks pretty heavy so I'm not at all concerned about wear. Very reliable guitar.

No need so far.

I think that for the price this is one of the best guitars out there. It sounds great, looks amazing, and is extremely reliable. The only thing worth noting is that its pretty heavy. This doesn't affect anything about the guitar, but you'll feel it after an hour and a half of jumping around on stage! The guitar is amazing and I really commend Epiphone for creating such a stellar guitar :)

I bought mine about 5 months ago, so I'm thinking mine was made in 2003/4. Usual Epi fare - 2 Humbuckers with volume and tone controls for each, Grover non-locking tuners, tune-o-matic bridge with stop tail piece, etc. Neck feels more substanial than my previous 2 guitars (a Squier Strat and an Epiphone Les Paul).

My Dot comes in a lovely looking tobacco sunburst, which I had to ask the shop I got it from to get from their other branch, as all they had were cherry ones. Comes with a hard case too. which my Epi Les Paul (Bought from the same shop 3 years before) didn't.

This guitar sounds great. I've never played a gibson, so I don't know how much difference there is. I'm currently using a Marshall MG30DFX, and an Electro-Harmonix USA Bug Muff Pi (Soon to be replaced by a RAT). I'm currently a bedroom guitarist, but the kind of music I like to play ranges from Britpop (I can do a good version of the solo from Blur's "This is a Low", which Graham Coxon played an ES335 on), to Manic Street Preachers, to Smashing Pumpkins. It's a versatile guitar, but probably not for the more extreme metal sounds. Having said that, why would a metal guitarist even be lookng at semi-acoustic guitars like this??

Perfectly playable out of the case, nothing to fault here.

This guitar certainly feels durable and feels like it will last. But let's be honest here why wouldn't a decent guitar like this last, unless your name is Pete Townsend?

There are a couple of minor problems to mention here:

The strap buttons did work loose after a few weeks, however, I took the guitar back to the shop I got it from, and they sorted this out for me.

Also, the toogle switch is the usual epi piece of crap, It's not totally screwed yet, but I've had very occasional problems with it, and it feels loose, so I'm going to get that sorted out.

Never dealt with Epiphone in relation to this or my Les Paul. Because I bought this in the UK, I think my Warranty is with the shop, not Epiphone themselves (Correct me if I'm wrong here), but the shop I bought it from - Gamlins' music centre in Cardiff, have been very helpful to me whenever I've asked them.

I've been playing guitar for almost 7 Years, and this is the best guitar I've played. I've never played any Gibsons, and don't intend to. Besides the guy who sold me my Dot said he doesn't feel there is that much of a difference for the price.

If I want a better sounding guitar, I'm goint to consider changing the Pickups and Pots first. A few hundred isn't much when you consider that a significantly better guitar will proably cost a hell of a lot more than one of these and new pick ups.

Taken as it is though I am happy woth it, but I am going to get a new switch fitted asap. that's the only thing stopping it from getting a 10 (and nothing is perfect is it? thought this is close).

I have a 2002 Dot in Natural finish. You all know what the Dot comes with. Bought mine used, didn't come with a pickguard for some reason. I might put a Gibson-style pickguard on it, since the Epi ones are kinda ugly. Also, this is nitpicking, but I wouldn't mind having a bone nut, instead of the ugly black plastic one they got on their. Just for aesthetics' sake. Neck binding would have also been nice. The tuners also kinda suck.

This sucker sounds awesome. A lot of people complain about the stock Epi pups, but they sound decent to my ears. It's plugged into a 15W Ibanez Toneblaster, and it sound fantastic. The only style I wouldn't used this for is high-gain distored metal. With the gain turned up, the pups don't sound all that great. But for Yer Blues and hard rock, the Dot kicks ass.

Action was fine. The finish is flawless. You can see the screw holes where the pickguard is supposed to go, but that is hardly Gibson/Epiphone's fault. Chrome hardware is holding up nicely.

I would definitely gig with this guitar (with a backup, in case you pop a string or something). This sucker has the tone to impress the folks that might come to your live show. I can tell they built these things to last. I don't exactly treat my guitars as well as I should, but it still looks and works as good as they day I bought it.

I haven't had to deal with them yet. Since it was used, the warranty was void.

I love my Dot. It's the only guitar I'll need till I can afford a real 335, which is not in the forseeable future. The Dot is all about tone, tone, tone. If it were stolen, I would save up towards that 335, and just mess around on my crappy Strat copy.

2004 Made in China. Beautiful cherry finish. Dual humbuckers. This model has been well discribed in past posts.

This guitar is a huge step up from the Squire Strat that I started out with. Sounds good unplugged, even sounds good through my little 10 watt practice amp. (I rented a blues junior and it sounded amazing through it.) Suitable for almost any style.(I play rock, blues, country, ect) I changed the strings out right away and this helped it to sound even better.

The set-up was good from the factory. The action needed to be lowered a touch but no big deal. I've taken it under advisement that the nut and the switch should be changed out ASAP but I haven't had any difficulties with either. The guitar looks mighty fine, if I do say so myself.

I haven't been playing for all that long, so I don't play live (unless you count the wife, kids, and the bunny), but this guitar seems very sturdy. Being a semi-hollow body I wouldn't be chucking it around though.

This is something that I'm very happy to say that I have no opinion on whatsoever.

I've been playing for about a year and a half, and I'm very happy that I purchased this guitar. I also own a squire strat and a cheap 10 watt amp. I played alot of guitars in the shop, as well as researching on this and other websites before I made any decisions, and I can say that I found the guitar that suits me perfectly. If this guitar were to be stolen, I would rush down to the shop and purchase this model again.(Elite maybe?) If I were to lose it, I would rush down to the local bar and drown my sorrows for being such a tool. It's a great guitar, no excuses needed.

Epiphone Dot Studio, colour black with body binding in cream, made in China, 22 Frets on rosewood neck(Gibson standard), laminated top, 1 volume control and 1 tone control, togle swich pickup selector, 2 uncovered Gibson type Alnico Humbucker Pickups, black grover toners and black hardware(which are looking really great!). I just fell in love with that black in black look of the Dot.

It fits perfect for my kind of music, that moves between Pop (Beatles like), Rock (no nu metal stuff!)and a little bit of Jazz. I use this guitar for homerecording with a korg ampworks guitar modeler and a small crate glx 65. The sound is very warm, bright and full when I play it without any effect. When I use distortion it sounds very fat and powerfull. I chose the Dot Studio becuase of the more agressive tone of the bridge pickup, that sounds even hotter than that one of the normal ES 335 Dot. So you can play this axe also with harder rock stuff. Really impressing good sound!!

I tested 10 Dots (Dot Studios and ES 335 Dots as well) and this one was fitting perfect! It fullfills my needs in every single way! Playability, finishing, sound ... everything really works out fine!

First of all I dearly care about my instruments, but I think the Dot Studio is built in a very solid way and it will please me for many years. As I said before I use the Epi in my homerecording studio but if the stuff will come out on stage it will also workout fine.

I play guitar and bass since 1978. I owned an Ibanez Guitar(don't know the type), a Fender Strat, a Fender Dreadnought Acoustic, a Hofner 501 Bass, a Rickenbacker 4001 Bass, an Ibanez Musician 924 Fretless Bass ans an Alembic Stanley Clarke Signature Bass. Actually only the Fender Acoustic, the Alembic and the Epiphone Dot Studio have "survived". All other equipment moved away through ebay. But I never would give my Dot away! I always wanted an archtop and was looking for one with a good price-value level. And then the Epiphone passed my way. I just love this guitar. Look, shape, sound and feel are great. For that price you couldn't make a better deal. I definetly would buy another one if this one would get lost or stolen. But I take good care of my baby!

Keep in mind as you read this review that this is a factory refurbished (to factory specs) guitar....

Features:
-Semi-hollowbody Archtop
-Two Gibson designed humbuckers with Alnico magnets,
-Chrome hardware..Grover tuners,
-24.75" neck scale
-Nut width 1.58"
-Set maple neck
-Laminated maple body
-Stopbar tailpiece
-two volume and two tone controls,
-3 way selector switch
-Rosewood fretboard
-Pickguard

I am very pleasantly surprised by how well this guitar sounds and plays. I own three other guitars at the moment ('69 and '72 Tele Thinline reissues, Hwy1 Strat) which are all Fenders. This is my second Epiphone.

I play mostly blues, R&B, soul, funk and some disco stuff in the band I'm in now (http://emerge.home.att.net). Will this guitar suit all of those styles? Probably. I can't see doing without the Strat on all stuff. I played the '72 Tele Thinline reissue for a long time in the same band and it has two humbuckers, so I certainly could get by with the Epi if needed.

When I bought the guitar from Musicians Friend, I had in mind that the Dot would deliver a big fat sound. I wasn't dissapointed there! It sounds huge through my Bassman. I also have a Line6 Spider II 112 and it was a little more difficult to dial in a great sound there. I got the bridge pup just right, but it was a little too muddy when both pups were selected. With the Bassman both pups sounded good together. Will have to do a little more experimenting with the Line6. I've read some complaints of reviewers about the pups, but the sound you get really does depend on your amp and the settings you use..no complaints about the sound here. It sounds as good to my ears as the Ibanez Artcore archtop I once owned.

The guitar is very resonant and a joy to play even without an amplifier.

Again...heep in mind that this is a factory referbished guitar.
Factory setup is excellent and the action is as good as any guitar I've owned. Very playable. Both pickups seem to be adjusted properly. One little flaw is a little worn paint on one of the f-hole edges...no problem there. That could have happened in shipping. Paint seems to be flawless as is everything else on the guitar other than the worn paint mentioned.

It seems to be built like a tank. One concern is the selector switch...feels cheap. Other reviewers have identified this as a problem as well.

I emailed Gibson shortly after ordering the guitar. The string gauges weren't listed and I wanted to know. They were very prompt in their reply...so customer service is very good.

I'm 48 and have been playing since the age of 13. As mentioned above, I own three Fender guitars, a Line6 Spider II 112, a 59 Bassman, Tweed Deluxe, and a Peavey Delta Blues 210.

It's going to take a little time to get used to the larger physical size of the guitar vs. that of my Strat or Tele's. But I can see myself really enjoying this guitar on stage. It's not often you see anyone playing an Archtop. Ought to be a good conversation piece.

It plays like butter simply put. Very nice action and feel to the neck for my hands. Big sound, high quality for the money spent. I'm a happy camper.

No need to repeat the features other than semi-hollow, 2 humbuckers, and gibson-style controls (2 vol, 2 tone, 3 way selector switch). These can be great guitars if you're willing to put a little work into them....new nut, new pickups, new wiring, err...everything but the wood! But I don't mean that in a bad way actually, I like doing that kind of stuff so it seems worth it to me. What's the alternative? $2500+ for a gibson 335?

The sound from the stock pickups is a little thin and bright compared to gibson stock or any other replacements. It depends on the amp, really, Or what kind of sound you're going for. Not every guitar has to sound like a reproduction of 60's british blues or american acid rock. I use alot of effects (reverb,delay , chorus, etc,) to get a washy sound. I like the guitar to not always sound like a guitar..depends on what the song needs.

I've owned 2 of these and they both had a decent setup when I got them. I'm a guitar repairman and always setup my guitars anyway...I remember the intonation being a little funky and the nut being a generic plastic one with improper string spacing.

The electronics on Epiphones tend to crap out, especially the selector switches, so be prepared-hopefully it will happen in practice! The bridges are made of a softer metal and tend to develop burrs and ruts pretty easily so string breakage can be a problem. Those burrs can be filed out or you could just replace the bridge. I changed out the tuners on mine to Schaller Gibson style green ones more for looks than anything.

I fix all my own guitars so I've never dealt with them. If you're electronics go bad within a month or so you should be able to take it back under warranty.

I've been playing for about 12 years, gigged, toured, recorded, repaired, built, bought, sold, and played almost every guitar out there. I think I have gear ADD. I've built guitars and basses (amps next!) and work at music store as a repairman. I've seen just about every guitar come into our store. So basically-- Epiphone= electronics bad, hardware decent, looks shiny! They can be great if you want to finish the job for them.

I purchased the guitar at the 'Guitar, Amp and Keyboard Centre' in Brighton. It was made in Korea, and has a mapel back, sides, top and neck. Mine was produced in 2002. All of the parts function. I'm not going to give the guitar 10/10 in this catagory because of the Epiphone head but apart from that minor fault, everything else is good. 22 frets. 2 tone and 2 volume. Lovely neck and body shape.

This is going to be a honest review.

I like to play blues/rock, and this guitar suits my style perfectly. It has a lovely raucus Gibson tone that's great for Rythmn and lead. I'm starting to flirt more with semi-accustics now than ever before. I use the guitar with a Marshall MG30 and I think this electronic device is only used to it's full potentional when played with Marshall equipment (Gibson + Marshall=Umm). It is easy to moderate the volume using the knobs, this also applies for tone. To apply emotion to a song, just select the rythmn pick-up and for some exciting Rock soloing, the treble pick-up is perfect. The guitar has a mellow sound and it can be quite haunting if you use reverb.
It has a unique sound, this is great but unfortunately this means that if you want a 'Les Paul' or 'Telecaster' sound you have to buy another guitar. Personally, I love the sound.

The set-up, when I purchased the guitar, was OK. I had to grind down the frets and adjust the height of the pick-ups. Fortunately I had no serious problems. The finish is spectacular, Ilove it and I think that anyone who likes to have a rich and glossy finish on their guitars will love it to. The pots are fine and the pick-up selector is also fully functional. Bridge and tail-piece are good. The machine heads are of a very high standard for such a well priced guitar, #315.

I have owned this guitar for about 7 months now and I have never had any problems. Nothing has broken and the hardware I think is going to remain working for years to come.The strap buttons are good. The finish looks very durable indeed. I can confidently perform live without worry

I have not had to use customer service so i am content with that.

I started playing 10 years ago and I that time I have owned a Gibson SG, a Fender Strat, an Epiphone Les Paul, a home-made guitar and the 335. The Epiphone 335 is definitely my favorite. I would like to know how they can manufacture this guitare and then sell it for such a good price. If it was stolen I would immediatly buy another. I would never lose it because I treasure it. I love the sound, it's wonderful and it suits all styles. I have difficulty thinking of things that I hate about it because a good guitar from every aspect. I compared this guitar with many guitars before I purchased it but at the time i felt that purchasing another guitar would leave me forever wondering if i made the right decision. It's a marvellous guitar for a beginner, an expert, or someone who just wants to sample a melodic Gibson tone. Don't spend #1000-#2000 on a Gibson when you can buy this guitar because when you buy the Gibson you're only buying the label.

2002 Natural finish Korean madeDot purchased new. Maple back, sides, top, and neck, Mahogany center block. Top is much plainer than Gibson version, but really nice for the price. All stock except for that ugly Epi pickguard, which I modified to a more attractive shape. I will probably replace with a Gibson version. Controls are standard 2 vol, 2 tone, with 3-way selector. Nice thick but not too thick late fifties Gibson type neck, 22 frets.

Real good thick Gibson type tone, cuts through a little more with the maple neck. Clean tones are nice and airy, not flat at all, really sings through a Fender Deluxe Reverb 2. Fantastic crunch for AC/DC-type rock through Spider 2 amp on the Boogie setting. Great B.B., early Clapton tones on neck pickup. Sounds good on old Sabbath tunes, too. Not very good for modern metal, but who the heck buys a big semi-hollow for that, that's what Jacksons are for!! Bridge pickup was a little flat until I bent the mounting screw tabs so the pickup was parallel to the strings, much better now. Might replace with a Duncan or a Burstbucker 2. Neck pickup is really sweet, and it isn't going anywhere,

Factory set-up was o.k., action was typically a little high so it wouldn't buzz at all in the store. Had to do a little fret polishing to get a good buzz-free low action. Stock strings were garbage. Bridge pickup was mounted with the screw polepiece side a good 1/8th" further from the strings than the "slug pole" resulting in a flat tone. After bending pickup mounting tabs, pickup now rests parallel to strings, much better tone.
The tuners work just fine, some of the best stock units I have used. The bridge and talipiece are good quality, but will probably be replaced with Tone-pros units.
One major gripe, the lead volume pot crapped out less than a month after purchase. Fortunatley I always have a bunch of spares, but still, come on!! Also, the selector switch does not always work, and you have to wiggle it some to get it to function. All the pots and switches need to be replaced, but I'm too lazy to do it. I gather this is a common problem with Epi guitars.
All the wood parts of the guitar are fine. The finish over the natural wood is as flawless as can be and seems to be holding up to hard playing just fine. While it doesn't in any way look like an old laquer finish, the clear coat is aging quite nicely and the guitar is taking on a nice pleasing warm look to it. Not the same as a '58 Gibson original, but very pleasing for an under $500 guitar.
The one thing I cannot stand is that ugly-ass stock Epi pickguard. They need to use one more like the Gibson.

Had the guitar for nearly 2 years now, and no major problems except the above stated electronic problem. The finish is as tough as can be. It stays in tune very well. I have not had to adjust the neck since I first bought it. The bridge has held it's adjustment well and seems to be resisting wear fine. Although I never gig with one guitar, it would be fine so long as I didn't have to switch pickups in the middle of a song. That would be rectified with an electronics swap-out.

Have tried to get in touch with Gibson several times on issues not related to this guitar, not too easy to deal with. They used to be really helpful in the late '80s, early '90s, now not so much.

All in all a very nice sounding easy to play attractive guitar, desptite ugly pickguard and annoying electronic issues. I may very well buy another just because ( it's a sickness).

2003 Made In Korea. Features the usual twin humbucker 3 way switch 4 pot layout. Mine's a gorgeous Cherry finish, one of it's best features. Nice easy neck to play. Came stung with .010's which are OK for me. Body and neck are laminated maple etc, etc.....Grover tuners which are OK for stability. Tune-O-Matic with a stop tailpiece. 2 Gibson humbuckers with chrome covers. Essentially a Gibson ES-335 with no neck binding and lesser grade materials. But all in all, pretty remarkable workmanship for such an "inexpensive" guitar.

Well, I really like the sound of this guitar with the Gibson HB's. I play a lot of melodic guitar pop (Beatles especially) and although I own and love an SG, I like having a semi-hollow axe for certain kinds of tasks. No noise, that's for sure! Range is cool...from nice and bright (but full) to deep and mellow. This guitar is great for pop, rock, blues and most points in-between. Well, ya can't shred on it but it's not made for that. I'll keep the pickups as is for the time being. They sound great thru a Fender Blackface tube amp. This guitar also records very well and I just plain like to listen to it!

The guitar's set up is, as usual for Epiphone, dodgy, at best. Intonation is goofy and the selector switch on mine is, for the time being, OK. But The finish is very pretty although it has Black paint runoff on the f-holes. The creme binding is nice but there is a slight "cherry" tint to it. The action is real easy and I didn't have to reset that at all. Just a few minor things, relatively easy to fix myself.

Strap buttons are real solid. I'm sure it'll serve well live. Depend on it? We'll soon find out! Never gig without a backup quoth the Raven....

Epiphone is very nice to me and I endorse their products. Still, their "limited lifetime warranty" is ridiculous since modification of their stuff is almost always necessary and that "voids" the warranty. Neat trick.

Been playing 40 years and have owned vintage Gibson and Epi semi-hollow guitars. I currently own a Epiphone G-400 SG (which I love), Fender Jimmie Vaughn Stratocaster, Rickenbacker 12-String, several Danelectros and an SG doubleneck. This one compares favorably. It's chief quality is that it gives you great bang for the buck at this price point. A great choice if you don't want to waste $2000-3000 on a Gibson which, as far as the new ones go, don't sound that much different than this baby does. I do like this guitar and I'd certainly get another DOT if I had the opportunity.

Made in Korea? 2004 gibson paf humbuckers I believe it's lamenated?

This Guitar sounds great.I play it thru vox and fender amps.Love the sound of this guitar.Sounds as nice as my gibson les paul.When i first bought it i was getting a humming noise i noticed every time i ran my fingers across the pickguard it was like a static sound.I almost took it back for a refund but decided to take the pickgaurd off.The static sound disappered and it suited my playing style better . i tend to wrap my pinky finger under the bridge pickup on all my electrics while playing lead parts and with the way the pickguard was positioned i was unable to so.after the mode it sounds fantastic.I am playing the dot more than any other guitar in my arsenal with the excepion of my hummingbird.

My dot was set up perfect. i have played many epiphones in the store that sounded like junk along with some gibsons.So play several before you buy.The wood looks wonderful i bought a natural finished one.Looks ,sounds and play's like a dream. I am playing this much more than my gibson les paul at the moment.

Epiphone makes great instruments.play several before you buy! i also own a epi viola bass that i giged with for the past 10 years and it never gave me a problem so im shure my dot will do the same

been playing since 1974. i own a gibson les paul,gibson hummingbird,
martin d15,washburn 12 string,epiphone viola bass,guild pilot bass, rickenbacker bass,sg classic p90.vox and fender amps.The epi is a great guitar and certainally holds it's own with any guitar in my arsenal.Don't be discuraged of buing one because it's not a gibson or made in the usa.It's an epiphone! and a great guitar.Just be picky and play a few before you buy and beware of lemons with any guitar.except maybe an olsen!

Epiphone Dot sunburst finish, stop tail piece, two pick-ups with individual tone controls for each. Chrome tuners and hardware. Fast smooth neck, great finish. Came with an Epiphone hard case.

I bought the guitar off a private seller on Ebay and he had changed the pick-ups out and installed Classic Gibson PAF '57 pick-ups. So the sound out of these pick-ups is outstanding. They work for blues, jazz, pop. Nice full sound, through my Fender Princeton 210. No effects used.

Got the guitar the action was a little low, after I raised the action it played great. Pick-ups were after market and are nickle covered so they dull pretty fast while the rest of the guitar stays nice and shinny. The tuners are chrome and not as smooth as Grovers but they keep the guitar in tune, Everything else about the guitar is functional and straight forward. I tightened all the parts so nothing was loose or rattling around. The Epiphone company really does a fine job making these guitars.

This guitar was made to play live, it easily covers almost everything. I have a G&L ASAT for everything else. Guitar really is a quality instrument. No flaws and very affordable. Epiphone does a great job with their guitars. I use Dunlap strap locks again an after market addition but then again my strap doesn't fall off.

I have talked to the Gibson company in Nashville about their Epiphone line and they were very helpful. So I'll give them a 10. The pick-ups were changed before I bought the Guitar so I don't think the warranty applies. Again the folks at Gibson were very helpful.

Overall this guitar is a 8 when compared to say the Gibson ES335, or the Heritage 575 or a Guild but overall the guitar is rock solid and hard to beat at this price point. The stock pick-ups sound excellent, they were changed out before I bought the guitar so the guitar sounds like it has PAFs in it. I've been playing for over thirty years and when I started there were only Gibsons, Fender and Rickenbacher's. This guitar has that "Gibson" sound. I'd buy another on of these Dots again. Overall it is a solid performer. Epiphone really does do a fantastic job on all their guitars. I use an old Fender Princeton Solid state 210 amp and the tone is outstanding.
I also have a G&L ASAT and an old Martin acoustic.

ist bekannt! meine ist 2 jahre alt, gut in schuss, quasi neuwertig. cherry. und schon....... die toogleswitches machen mir bei epiphone sorgen, meine erfahrung zeigt, die halten ne zeit ( 2-5 jahre ) dann leiern die aus und es gibt schwierigkeiten.

ich habe in den letzten 12 monaten ca. 10 335-modelle besessen. tanglewood as 35, sheraton (ne alte, gut 12 jahre alt), johnson, aria pro2 ta 70, harley benton, coxx deluxe 3-35....
gekauft und wieder verkauft (dank ebay). und es hat ausser den ersten einsatz (es war die coxx) nix gekostet, da ich immer mit gewinn verkauft habe. und mein fazit aus dieser reichhaltigen vergleichserfahrung? die epi ist es! sie ist am nachsten am orginal, klingt mit den gibsondisgned hb doch sehr gut, haindling und bespielbarkeit uberzeugt, recht solide elektrik (im vergleich zu den anderen!). aria war zu! fett und neigte zur mikrophonie, coxx kommt protzig daher, ist alles in allem aber doch ne billigklampfe, harley benton ist ne gute alternative, wenns geld knapp ist (echt!!), die sheraton war wirklich schlecht verarbeitet, wie hingerotzt, aber ist auch ne alte aus den 90ern gewesen, vielleicht ist es nu besser. de epi klingt schon, warm, satt, fett, brilliant, sustainreich, wie man es grad braucht....

bis auf mangel in der elektrik alles in butter.....

tja, elektrik, du versaust die 10, oder die 9.....der rest macht mir keine sorgen und wirkt gut und solide....

keine ahnung

im vergleich und in der preisklasse: top! naja, die tanglewood und die harley benton sind wirklich gute gitarren! und kosten weniger! aber die epi ist n tacken besser. aber hier entscheidet nicht nur geld, sondern auch gefuhl. die tanglewood klingt wirklich gut, wirkte aber irgendwie billig, fast wie spielzeug. aber sie klingt! die harley benton klingt auch sehr gut, aber ich wurde nicht warm mit ihr. wie gesagt, das gefuhl spielt eine grosse rolle. vieleicht bin ich auch nur der epi verfallen, weil sie mehr dem orginal gleicht als die anderen, aber nun mal ehrlich: sie ist solide von guter qualitat und gutem sound. wenn man etwas mehr anlegen kann, dann ist man mit der epi auf der sicheren seite. vor allem auch in sachen verarbeitung, da lag sie echt vorne.... hat eigentlich jemand erfahrung mit der epi es 335 dot studio??????

My Epi Dot was made in 2003 in Korea. I paid $378.00 out the door with an extra cable and a strap. It's all stock, so what everyone else said applies to mine. One thing i will say is that i love the finish... its a semi transparent red, you can see the grain of the wood through it... its beautiful. All my friends commented on that when i first got it. I call them elitist... those people who rag on Epiphone electronics. I dont plan on changing anything except the selector switch and perhaps at a later date, the nut. I got this guitar from Marshall Music in Lansing, MI, drove it home, plugged in and played with zero adjustments necessary. (Sorry Elderly, you guys dont want to know people like me with limited money to spend.)

I have been playing religiously for about 6 years. Most of that time was playing acoustic. I looked at a variety of electrics for close to a year before purchasing my Dot. My style is something along the blues, classic rock vein. I'm trying to learn some jazz. I love the tone of this guitar. If nothing else it is very versatile. Play clean and it can get just a bit jangly, adjust the knobs a bit and you can get a slight twang. It can go from light distortion to the boomiest dirtiest distortion. you've ever heard. If i have one complaint about this guitar its that, to me, and maybe this is the way i play... it can get overly bassy. But i have a feeling thats me more than anything. I play it through a Marshall AVT 50 (some like them, some dont. Personally i love this amp.) I'm not much for effects really, but i bought a Crybaby 95q a few months ago, and although my playing sucks when i use it... my friend Chris can make that set up sing.

The only thing that i will comment on in terms of fit and finish is that the Epi "E" logo on the pick guard fell off within a week of ownership. And like i said above, i got this guitar home, plugged it in and played. Apparently the selector switch in these is not well made... mine also cuts out very seldomly when switching between pickups, but to me its not a big deal, but it will get replaced.

This is a durable semi hollow body. Would it stand live playing? Absolutely.
Will the hardware last? i think so, but hell... this is my first real electric.
the finish? love it, durable, high quality, no noticable flaws.
Would i gig with it without a backup? I have and will continue to... mostly because i dont have a backup. But i dont worry about it at all.

No experience here.

Like i said above... I've been playing almost 6 years. I'm very much in the intermediate level. The only other gear i own is a Seagull acoustic with a cheezy little crate practice amp. I was very well informed about what was out there in my price range. I asked everything ad nausium before buying this guitar. NO REGRETS. Would i buy another if lost or stolen? yes.
Im no connaisseur of fine electric guitars, but this one rocks. I dont understand those out there who think you have to go into debt to have a decent set up. The Epi Dot is a versatile, good quality, good sounding guitar

2003 Korean, you know the deal, get the case!

I like the sound. But then again, I had to have the guitar set up when I got it, and I'm not talking the bullsh*t setup like Guitar Center

I bought this from a friend who also owns a small shop. I ran into one of these in a bar in Amarillo and when I got back I told him I had to have one. He ordered it in and it was NOT set up I don't care what the f*ck they say at Samsung. I was about to get pissed but with a little coaxing the damn thing performs like a champ and I should know. Trust me, I abuse guitars on stage.

As I said, I abuse guitars and this thing is tough. Even for a semi-hollow. I used to have nightmares of people smashing one of the hollow sides but I've had drunks throw bottles at me on stage and it didn't crack and my ex-wife threw the case out of her car when she left me. Picked it up, took the guitar out and started to play a sad song. But like everyone here is saying, replace the nut, the selector switch and adjust EVERYTHING and you'll be happy. Yes, you can play it live. No, I don't care if you have the finest guitar made, NEVER play without a backup. But if I had to I guess I could

I've never had to use them but I'm sure I've voided the warranty. ha ha ha

Been playing about 5 years now. I own a 1970 Martin D-18 that I'd never dare to treat this badly. Trust me, this guitar earns her keep. I play through an old Kustom 100 4x10 built in 69 and I'm telling you it sounds freaky. It's just like my ex. Play her soft and she sings so sweet. Spank her and she hollers like a backwoods preacher. Wish it really did come set up from the factory. Wish epi would listen to the customer and fix the selector switch problem. Wish the warranty wasn't so cheezy but what are you going to do. I had a couple people laugh at me when I told them I bought it but when I showed her to 'em and after they tried it out they just looked over at me and said "Damn" There you go.

This is Epiphones copy of the Gibson ES-335. Dual humbucker pickups with volume and tone for both. Laminate Maple top and a stop tail piece. This one has a natural finish on it but the figure of the top isn't that great so getting a colored one isn't a bad idea. I'm giving this a 7 rating because the wood used for the top isn't very nice looking and there was a problem with the pickup selector switch that appears to be pretty common on that years production.

I've used this for everything over the years, from Metal to Jazz, and I worked ok for all of them. The pickups don't have that great a sound, but it's passible. The acoustic sound is pretty muffled, but ok for bedroom practicing.

The guitar was setup fine from the factory and I run 12's on it right now (it has 10's from the factory). There is a slight intonation problem on the fourth string at the fifth fret, but that is probably because of the heavier guage strings. The neck is thin and fast just like the 335 it's copying. The strings are set so low, that I always seem to hit the neck pickup when I play. The finish on the guitar seems to be built very tough. I have banged this guitar around quite a bit over the years and the guitar show's no signs of wear (chips, scratches, etc).

One major anoyance with the guitar the is location of the strap button on the back of the neck. It's located so the guitar wants to tip forward when hanging from the strap. If I was going to actually use a strap for this guitar while playing at shows, I would have the button moved up on the body to prevent this.

Had this guitar for about 6 years and it has held up very well. I wouldn't have any qualms about taking it gigging. The guitar itself is pretty solid. When I bought the guitar, the selector switch for the pickups was already going bad (it would cut out when switching to the bridge pickup). Just needed a good cleaning and it works fine now. Shouldn't need to do that from the factory though.

Never had to deal with customer support.

This is a good practice guitar and a pretty good deal for a 335 copy. With a little money invested (in better pickups) it would be an inexpensive gigging guitar with good sound.

Made in Korea, 22 frets, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, 3 way selector, two USA-made humbuckers. I think it has a tune-o-matic bridge, but im not sure. Grover tuners. Creme binding. The one I bought was ebony.

I play jazz and contemporary christian stuff. It suits my style well enough. It's mellow and rich sounding, but like everyone else says, it'll never be as good as a real Gibson. I play through a 120 watt crate amp, and it sounds pretty good in my opinion.

Well I can't say that the factory set-up was perfect. The action was a little too high, the tuners were loose, and the little "E" on the pickguard eventually fell off on its own. There was also a questionable amount of fret buzz. The finish is very good though.

The pick-up selector seemed fine the first few days, but eventually the signal started breaking up, so I replaced it. The rest of the hardware is durable. Got orange knobs switched to gibson black knobs so it matches the rest of the guitar. This guitar was well-built, and it can withstand live playing. Just don't do anything crazy.

I've been playing for about 4 years now and I've had this guitar for about 8 months and its still sounding good. I use tremolo and distortion boss effects with this guitar. I also own an ibanez RG deluxe, but for obvious reasons, the epiphone suits my style a lot more. If it were stolen or lost, I would probably save up for a real es-335.

Made in Korea, 2003 a gibson es 335 knock off. usual features apply, grover tuners (is that normal?). The finish is natural letting the maple shine through.

I mainly play punky stuff in the veign of goldfinger and lagwagon, i just wanted a different guitar that isn't really used in this genre and it fits in perfectly, this guitar can sing. i know that this guitar can handle most styles of music but not through my own personal experience. im using the epi through a laney vc30 112 and a line 6 distortion modeller and it seems like a very good combination. My only gripe is (and it is a small one) is the pickups are poorly set up, but with a few minor adjustments you simply can't go wrong for the money.

This is only my personal opinion but the setup was shite, mainly because i like to play with guage 13 strings and this epi came setup for 9s but i soon rectified that. the finish is almost flawless its a little rough around the f-holes but again at the price you'd have to be pretty p*$&*d off at the world to grumble(i.e. in radiohead). If i liked playing with 9s the setup was more than reasonable.

This guitar has withstood numerous hot, sticky and sweaty gigs and looks like it could go another 10 rounds. i could depend on it in any situation but the golden rule still appies never gig with out a backup or you will learn the hard way (trust me i know), thats not nessercarily the guitar at fault but its alot easiar to swap guitars over than change a broken string.

never need it so i dont know even though i have owned numerous epis, but i guess thats a good thing

I have been playing for roughly 8 years and through making my own guitars i know a little bit about the instrument and this is a particulary good specimen but dont kid yourself it aint a gibson and no matter what you do to it it wont sound like one simply because gibsons are made with a great deal of love these babies aren't. currently i own 6 guitars 3 home mades and a 50's tele a epi g400 and of course this epi dot. i dont use the tele that much these days as its getting on a bit so i save it for studio work but my epi dot is the real workhorse she'll take anything i throw at her and for the money i am really impressed go get one, i hope its serves you as well as mine has.

This is a 9/2003 model. Made is Korea, which personally I'm ok with. I think it has 24 frets but I haven't actually looked to tell the truth. Been playing thirty years and have ten guitars, so I just try to get the best sound and technique I can, and try not to worry alot about the details. Maple top, back and sides are laminated, same as the real Gibsons.3 way pick up switch, two volume and tone, same as the real Gibson. Oddly, switching and wiring is backwards from the American counterparts. Two humbuckers that are "Gibson designed" which means that they are basically the same as the Gibson models, but made in Korea I'm sure. I think theseare PAF copies. One big difference is that the neck is maple, as opposed to mahogany, as with the real deal. You might get a little darker sound, should be close. 335 style body. finish on my particular model is really nice. Polyester finish instead of nitro-cellulose as with the American cousin. Bear in mind I have several Gibsons and don't expect a $350 dollar guitar to be the same as a $3000 Gibson or Heritage. Really nice Grover tuners, a real surprise considering when I build a guitar I pay fourty bucks for a set, eleven percent of the cost of the overall product.

OK. The sound is not a Gibson, stock pickups are not the best, I have a spare set of 57 classic plus's I'll probably end up putting in. Iplay through a '64 super reverb, '64 deluxe reverb, '99 tremo verb 412 cab, '03 rectoverb and a shitload of pedals, wahs, etc. Again, for what it is, it ain't bad. I can see wher the pup switch will fail soon, as it feels pretty weak. Switchcraft! I play Blues, Jazz, Rock, Metal if I can get to; great for Blues, Jazz and some styles of rock. Won't work for Metal. Bright sound , not to round though. Thin mids. Might just be 'cause it's new. Poly takes forever to break in because it's just plastic. Not alot of resonance, but it'll be fresh for a long time.

Great factory set-up. Pickups were off, but I fixed that easily. Top's ok, I didn'tbuy this with the intention of getting a showpiece. This guitar's only flaw is that one of the tuners was mounted slightly off,(rotated about a millimeter)but I got it really cheap because it's marked as a factory second. That's OK, 'cause it plays and sounds fine.

hard to predict how long anything will last until you use it alot. should be fine. I NEVER gig without a back-up, usually three or four.

No problems as yet. No experience with Epi. Stay tuned...

I won't go into all my gear, but it's alot. I have spent twenty five of my fourty one years collecting the best I could find. Until this guitar, none cost me less that a thou., many pieces were three to four times that. I bought this guy on a whim. However, if it were stolen or lost I would replace it. The Elitist series might be a consideration, but I have discovered over the years that if you're not in the studio, the drunk in the front row, or the chick eying you in the back really don't care what you're playing. They care about how much of you is put into it. Remember it's about sadness, anger,soul or whatever YOU feel. This piece is good enough for about everything the local level guitarist will run into.

Ebony, Chrome Hardware, Two Humbuckers, Three Way Switch, Grovers

I don't hear a problem with the stock Humbuckers, although I'm playing through a Gallien Krueger 1001RB II full stack (4X10 and 115), so I full control over low end and top end and a Lexicon MPX 100. It has the variations I like for jazz, blues and rock.

Action is great I set it myself. Fit is fine for me. Finish looks very good no flaws.

I've only had it two days. I did a gig 30 minutes after I bought it. No problems.

Very informative. Lifetime warranty......Great.

I love the Dot well worth the money, but if the Dot is this good I'm taking it back and raising the bar to the Sheraton II. Either are great deals.

Cherry finish. 2vol 2tone. stop tail piece. dot inlay. 2 gibson made (not samsung made) pickups. no binding on the neck. ivory binding on body. maple neck. plastic (not bone) nut. chrome (not silver) hardware.

FLIMSY!FLIMSY!FLIMSY!FLIMSY!FLIMSY!FLIMSY!FLIMSY!FLIMSY!FLIMSY!FLIMSY!i play through a line 6 ax2. this guitar dosent really sound that great. even after i changed the stock nut. i also changed the pickups to gibson 57 classics. the WOOD MATERIAL is not good quality. it sounds cheap and toy-like. i only like using the bridge pup, but even that is not that great sounding. the neck dosent feel good when you play it. it feels FLIMSY!

WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!WEAK!
intonation was completley off. action was too high. buzzing at a lot of positions. even after a pro setup, there was still some buzzing. inconsistant (cherry) finish. nasty pick up selector. it started going bad in a week. i replaced it along all the pots.

bad pots, bad nut, bad pickups. you gotta change all that.

come on man! customer support? whatever......

if you're gonna go through all the trouble of changing all those stock parts on an epi dot, why not look for something that comes with better stock part? like maybe a gibson? now i have to sell this one and save up for a guitar that i KNOW will increase its resale value even a hunderd years from now. after i sell this epi dot, i'm gonna save up for a guitar that i KNOW will sound better as it ages

Made in 2002. Korean made. 2 hb pups. volume volume tone tone. 3 way pup selectzor. cherry red.

I bought mine 3 months ago. It actually sounded nice straight out of the box. It had a nice meaty sound. The stock pups are not that bad contrary to what most folks say. Don't waste $110 for gibson 57 classics. The tone will mainly stay the same, the only thing you'll notice is that it make the guitar louder. A buddy of mine put 57s on his dot. I couldnt really tell. This guitar is good for all styles. Use heavier gauge strings. replace the 3 way pup selector (you'll have to anyway).

This is where the dot needs help. No matter what.....you'll have to get it setup. Either by yourself or professionally. The intonation was a mile off. the action was too high. there was a lot of buzzing with the strings. the truss rod needed some tweeking. The finish was very inconsistant. If you see one like this, don't panic, all standard epi dots will have a flaw in their finish. you can go to 10 different shops to search for a dot, but you'll notice the same thing

Quite reliable. But make sure you change the pots!!!!!!!

customer what?

The only thing that i changed on the dot were the pots. This guitar is great. if it were stolen, i would get a casino instead. you're paying 400 bucks, dont expect the quality of a gibson or and american fender. out of all the hollow body/semihollow bosy archtop guitars epi makes.

I don't really know when it was made - bought it used in 1999. I did have to tweak this guitar a bit. The original pickups (which were actually OK) were replaced by a SD 59 in the bridge and a SD Jazz in the neck. The pots are a little scratchy (doesn't bother me) and the 3-way switch is starting to bite it (I'll need to fix that!). You basically know the features.

I wanted this guitar for a back-up/complement/change to the Carvin "strat" I usually use - mostly I use it at home for my own enjoyment. I've only played this guitar live on one occasion for a solo jazz set at a coffee shop - was very tasteful for this setting. There's been several times others have played this live and man does it sound nice! Blew away my friend's Les Paul Studio (sounded brighter and more alive) and a guy played it at a gig I played bass for the other night and it sounded real sweet. I need to put down my strat and give this a shot in front of a crowd this week. I think the beauty of these guitars is that they're not all that common - the jangly yet warm sound is always a nice treat. Great for anything but extreme rock. Used with a wide variety of amps - most amps can handle these types of guitars pretty well since they are not extreme in any way.

Action is nice - I had a tech adjust it for me and I thought it sounded bad - so I raised the action back up and have really gotten used to it. Feels very silky after playing my strat. The finish is OK - some blems on mine but I actually like scratches and dings here and there... My complaint is the pots & switches. Nothing a little patience and a soldering iron can't fix.

The only thing I don't like is that I would think this guitar would be more fragile than a solid piece of wood (duh!) so I get a little nervous. The stupid 3 way can be a problem at times... I probably wouldn't go without a back up.

NA

I really like this guitar and hope others will check it out. It needs some tweaks (pickups, pots & switches) but it is a fun guitar to own. I HATE seeing average players paying for overpriced guitars when relatively inexpensive ones + a little common sense can get the job done just as well. This will do the trick - forget the expensive Gibson version. Unless of course they send you one for free!

Just purchased the Epi Dot this week. It was new so it must be a 2003 and it was made in Korea. I went to Guitar Center to try out some guitars, I was looking for the Epi Sheraton II but they did not have any, and this was sitting right at the front of the store. I instantly fell in love with this guitar. It is cherry red...if you have seen pictures on the internet it does not do this thing justice. Go to the store and look at it. It is amazing looking. Controls seem nice but I think I might change them out for black with chrome tops eventually. Grover tuners so the thing going out of tune has not been much of a problem. PUs are the stock Gibsons. Contrary to popular belief they sound really nice. Nice warm mellow tones, can get muddy but there are so many different tone settings you can avoid this (unless you want a muddy tone).

I had been playing a Fender Telecaster and I noticed my style moving more towards a mellow sound. Picked the Dot up in the store and it was a perfect fit. In the jazz and blues arena, this guitar delivers. I play mostly blues and original jazz/blues pieces and this guitar amazes me every time I pick it up. In the store I played it on some tube amps...and it kicked ass. I brought it home to my small Marshall and it still kicked ass. It did sound a bit warmer with the tube amps, but that was expected. My favorite pickup to use is the neck pickup on around a 5 tone setting. It is very warm and mellow. I haven't played it through much distortion but when I did it seemed to be alright. I did get quite a lot of feedback though. Some of you out there might really desire that. Overall, for the price you can't beat it. Those Gibson freaks out there who say it can't compare don't know what they're talking about. The sound is quite comparable to an ES-335. It's not about how EXPENSIVE your guitar is it's WHAT YOU DO WITH IT that matters. Some of these Gibson fanatics might have $3,000.00 guitars but can't play worth shit. Buy an Epiphone, save money and have those types of people kicking themselves when they hear you play.

The action on my guitar was quite good when I bought it. It doesn't really matter to me though. It seems like the PUs were adjusted correctly. There is one microscopic flaw in the finish but that's it! Other than that it is perfect. No string buzzing, no loose tuning pegs...perfect.

I don't play live, but hope to some day in the future. The Dot seems very reliable. The hardware SEEMS like it will last, but according to many Epi users the switches go bad after a while. Knock on Wood this will not happen to me (I know, wishful thinking)! I would probably bring a backup just in case though. It also seems very durable but I do not wish to find out! I take care of my guitars as if they were my own flesh and blood.

Haven't had to deal with them....hopefully I won't.

I've been playing for about 3 years now. I own a Fender Telecaster and that's it for my "gear". If stolen or lost I couldn't buy another one as I am a student and am therefore very poor. I could only buy this one as my parents gave me $150.00 for an early X-mas present and I had the extra 200 already saved up. I would probably save up for another one though. This guitar is great for jazz and blues and I can attest to that. There is nothing I can find to hate about the Dot.

2003 model, chrome hardware, 2 (stock) Gibson HB pickups, (stock) Grover tuners, 2 volume and tone knobs, 3 way pickup selector switch, (lam.) Maple body with a Natural gloss finish.

The guitar was made in Korea but setup and final inspection done in the USA by Gibson.

I played this guitar through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube amp.

The guitar had .10 gauge strings on it when I got it and I replaced them with D'Addario ECG24 "Chromes" (Ribbon Wound) .11 gauge strings. The guitar sounded good with the original strings but I don't like thin gauge strings because I can't keep them in tune (I use .11 and .12 gauge strings).

This guitar sounds great, very close to an actual Gibson ES335. The rhythm picup has a very mellow sound that is full, rich and responsive (essp. after I put the new strings on it). The treble pickup is bright (but not too bright ... what a 335 should sound like).

The finish was very good, very glossy plus the wood has some really nice grain. There were a few small spots were the finish got onto the top of the fretboard (but was easily fixable by picking it off). The "dots" were a moto / mother of pearl material and was set pretty good as well as the epiphone logo on the headstock.

The guitar was setup at the Gibson USA factory and is fantastic. I don't trust alot of the music stores "setups", essp. from someone that can sell a guitar but doesn't even know how to play a guitar much less set one up.

The action was great, it's close to a medium low action ... there is no string buzz, etc. the strings are really easy to play and bend.

I got my guitar straight out of the factory box. This is the only way to get a guitar that will be setup properly, when you have a guitar that everyone has played (in the store) there tends to be problems with switches, nicks, etc. from kids that go in the store and bang on everything and don't care about taking care of an instrument, so I ask for most of my guitars in the box (like this one).

The guitar will probably last as long as it's taken care of. Which I've taken care of all of my gear and use cases when going to gigs.

But with the guitar being semi-hollow you need to be a little extra careful with it.

I haven't delt with them but they have a good website.

I've been playing the guitar for over 10 years and own lots of gear (10+ guitars, 4+ amps, 20+ effect pedals, etc.) and play Gospel, blues, country and classic rock.

This guitar is great for someone that wants a ES335 but can't afford the actual Gibson model and that doesn't want to go with the upper Epiphone models (Sheraton II / Elite models).

The Gibson pickups sound fine and the tuners hold the guitar in tune (you really don't have to use any "locking" tuners if you use a heavier gauge string).

Overall a great guitar for the price.

2003 model, chrome hardware, 2 (stock) Gibson HB pickups, (stock) Grover tuners, 2 volume and tone knobs, 3 way pickup selector switch, (lam.) Maple body with a Natural gloss finish.

The guitar was made in Korea but setup and final inspection done in the USA by Gibson.

I played this guitar through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube amp.

The guitar had .10 gauge strings on it when I got it and I replaced them with D'Addario ECG24 "Chromes" (Ribbon Wound) .11 gauge strings. The guitar sounded good with the original strings but I don't like thin gauge strings because I can't keep them in tune (I use .11 and .12 gauge strings).

This guitar sounds great, very close to an actual Gibson ES335. The rhythm picup has a very mellow sound that is full, rich and responsive (essp. after I put the new strings on it). The treble pickup is bright (but not too bright ... what a 335 should sound like).

The finish was very good, very glossy plus the wood has some really nice grain. There were a few small spots were the finish got onto the top of the fretboard (but was easily fixable by picking it off). The "dots" were a moto / mother of pearl material and was set pretty good as well as the epiphone logo on the headstock.

The guitar was setup at the Gibson USA factory and is fantastic. I don't trust alot of the music stores "setups", essp. from someone that can sell a guitar but doesn't even know how to play a guitar much less set one up.

The action was great, it's close to a medium low action ... there is no string buzz, etc. the strings are really easy to play and bend.

I got my guitar straight out of the factory box. This is the only way to get a guitar that will be setup properly, when you have a guitar that everyone has played (in the store) there tends to be problems with switches, nicks, etc. from kids that go in the store and bang on everything and don't care about taking care of an instrument, so I ask for most of my guitars in the box (like this one).

The guitar will probably last as long as it's taken care of. Which I've taken care of all of my gear.

I haven't delt with them but they have a good website.

I've been playing the guitar for over 10 years and own lots of gear (10+ guitars, 4+ amps, 20+ effect pedals, etc.) and play Gospel, blues, country and classic rock.

This guitar is great for someone that wants a ES335 but can't afford the actual Gibson model and that doesn't want to go with the upper Epiphone models (Sheraton II / Elite models).

The Gibson pickups sound fine and the tuners hold the guitar in tune (you really don't have to use any "locking" tuners if you use a heavier gauge string).

Overall a great guitar for the price.

You should know by now.

Can do most sounds you want: rock, folk, pop, jazz, etc.
Pickups Ok. But could be better (mine are the Gibson endorsed ones).
Sounds best through a tube-amp rather than distortion pedals.
It will cope with lots of various tunings (always staying in tune), I usually opt for varitions of Open G or Open C.
The 2nd Strings intonation is pretty poor.

Action was good, especially with 11's strings.
Finish was poor around the f-holes and the headstck.
The first thing to go, within 1 week was the pickup switch.. spend #20 and put a Gibson one in yourself (it's very easy to solder it) now it's totaly reliable.
The volume % tone pots are starting to go after about 2 years.

Will it last? ... I've sold mine.
Why? because I could start spending a few hundred quid on changing pickups, pots, bridge, nut, etc.. But I sold mine for about #300 after 2 years and the few hudred qiud I could have spent means I now have about #500-#600 to spend on a new guitar.

Never used.
Just took it to the shop where I had it from when I neededit set up

Have been playing many years and own many instruments.
If your not bothered about the name on the headstock its fine.
Lets face it, it might be endorsed by Gibson, but it's not a 335 is it. You might only be buying it because you want to think you have a 335.
If like me it was bought on the pretext of: use it; look after it; sell it after a couple of years it's fine.
An instrument is meant to be played. What do you do with your car.. keep it polished & locked in a garage or actually drive it, then in a few years replace it??

OK, Just got mine! It is a 2003 model, and korean Made.
22 frets, your standard Gibson Epi scale. The bonys I guess are Laminated Maple. And your standard volume volume tone tone threeway selector electronics. I have the stock PU configeration no mod's yet!
Mine is in the standard Cherry transparent finish.
I have always liked the 335 Gibson looks. Tuners are stock but plan to change them. The nut is a joke. It has a nice feel from neck to body and everyware else.
Here is my list of things to change:
Tuners, to Sperzel Locking's.
Nut, to a graphite.
Pickups, Duncans.
Sadles, there to sharp or have a burr.
Posibly a Bigsby.

I go for a big yet fuzzy sound, like the Smashing Pumpkins.
So the sound has got to reflect that.
I use a Tech21 Trademark 120 2x12 combo and a stack of pedals.
The guitar stays very clear even under heavy fuzz. I has great feedBack!
I like the cleaner sounds to.
I just want more from it though.

Factory setup was a Joke!
String oh man you have to change those like I read elseware 11's are good. I used GHS TNT Boomers 10-52.
The wood on this one is kind of nice.
And the F holes had Black paint runover on the top of the geetar.

The guitar seems tough! its somewhat heavy.
Hardware looks good. finish is good except for the paint runover.
I changed to Dunlop strap loks rightaway I wont drop a guitar.
Yeah I can depend on it!
I would use it on a gig with a backup. But I never would cause thats just plain dumb!

WHy I dont speak Gibson-eez!?

I would give this guitar a good rating.
I did not buy it with a case cause the idiot at GC didnt have one and sait it would fit in a Dred case! NO!
I have owned a couple of Epi's and liked em(LP Custom Black and a LP Special II Burst).
GET ONE GET ONE GET ONE, THEN MOD IT!

2003 Standard Epi Dot. Double HB. laminted body. 3way pup selector......

The Dot is a guitar that has great potential, but not right away. You have to work on it a little. The stock pups are unclear, unresponsive, fake sounding (toy like), muddy, and actually annoying. But i didn?t give up, and neither should you. I went out and got some gibson 57 classics. replaced both stock pups. and DANG, what a freakin difference. I had to drop some extra dough, but very well worth it. Better tonal sound, variety, feel. i like using the bridge pup the most. You might want to change the nut too, because some nuts on some Dots are nasty and they will cause you to go out of tune like a mofo. Oh and you're gonna have to change the pots soon, because will start giving you some static. Before the upgrade i'd give the dot a 6 or 7.

Again, straight from the factory this guitar sucks. My dot needed intonation, lower action, truss rod adjustment. There was way too much buzzing going on. i dont like how the fingerboard is so dull and buffed looking. finish was fine. f-hole were painted kinda sloppy. you might as well just toss out the stupid epiphone E logo. its gonna fall off anyway. I had to get the whole axe professionally setup. Afterwards it was actually very nice. so after the setup i'd give it an 8. oh BTW use 11's on this guitar.

The only thing i have to say on this section is the static on the controls. and maybe the nut, which causes the guitar to go out of tune. (but not if you upgrade)

Never bothered.

I play shoegazing and space rock. This guitar (w/57 classics) are great for controlled amp feedback. Remember upgrade, upgrade, upgrade. these guitars suck straight out of the factory. But honestly, after all the modifications, the Dot can sound excellent. My DOT is living proof. I'm very happy with it.

Epiphone "DOT" model, 2001 model made in Korea for Gibson USA. 22 fret neck (standard Gibson scale length). Body and neck are made of maple finished in the classic "Cherry Red" finish. Standard 2 humbucking pickup configuration with volume and tone controls for each pickup. Standard 3 way pickup selector switch. Stock Epiphone pickups, tuners, ABR-1 bridge and stopbar tailpiece. White bound body with no neck or F-hole binding.

First off, the pickups: Not bad at all. I know a lot of people complain about Epi's pickups but they sound sweet to me. My Dot sounds very much like the more over-priced ES-335 cousin. The humbuckers do the classic Allman Brothers, Cream and "blues thing" all day long with a little overdrive to gas 'em up. In the clean setting the Dot is capable of a clear toned Gretsch sound (think Chet Atkins) when both pickups are engaged. The Dot doesn't feedback, even at higher "on stage" levels which really surprised the hell out of me. I've been playing Strats and Teles for over decade so when I returned to a humbucker equiped guitar I was blown away by the increased volume it has over the single coils. Of course, humbuckers don't have the upper end shimmer of single coils,but with some intelligent EQ(ing) you'll be pleasantly suprised. (I sure was!)
The body, neck and rosewood fingerboard work together to produce a full-toned sound that really is great for rock, blues, jazz or even country (in the clean setting, especially).The humbuckers are a whole lot quieter than my old single-coil guitars were!
The shop setup wasn't too swift, so I had to restring and set the guitar up for my comfort. First off, the ABR-1 bridge was put on backwards which made the g-string sit up unusually high! I went to the Epiphone site and noticed that the Dot's bridge had the adjustment screws to the rear of the guitar (closer to the stopbar). So I turned it around and what a difference that made! I was then able to set up the action properly.
The next issue was the tuning slippage.This no problem to fix with the "life-saving" graphite I always use on my guitars. I simply put some graphite in the black-plastic nut slots and in the slots of the saddles. (I do this everytime I change strings). Graphite is cheap and a container lasts for years... No more tuning problems! Soon I was pulling strings like B.B. King! (Not sounding like Mr. King, but hey,you get my point!)
I play in a "classic rock" band that does a mix of late 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s rock. The Dot is perfect for everything that I like to play in the band.
The Dot is also capable of some sweet jazz tones as well. We do an occasional gig where we have to play "cocktail-hour music". The Dot sounds great on clean "jazz-styled music" with the neck pickup doing it's share of the load. Yes, it is versatile sounding, playing and good looking guitar!
Dislikes: Epiphone's choice og gold-toned knobs on a guitar with chrome hardware...strange decision. The golden knobs have numbers that are hard to see- so on a dark stage you have to go by "radar" to dial in the right sounds and levels. I'll probably change the knobs to black speed knobs or silver "top hat" knobs inthe future. No big deal,really!

After some at home adjusting I was able to get the DOT set up for my tastes. I think a good guitar should be able to do that for you, because every player can be totally different. I love guitars with close action that some players may not need or enjoy at all. Close action lets me get those country-style bends down just right.
The pickups had to be adjusted once I squared-away the backwards
ABR-1 bridge. I use an old time-tested method to adjust the neck pickup. Simply place a dime on the pickup and fret the highest note on the low E and high E strings (the dime should not block the string when you fret the note). Simple right? It works, try it.
The neck pickup is very strong, so it remains set a lot lower than the bridge pickup! You don't want the neck pickup too close or all you'll get is a muddy and cruddy sound!
The overall quality of the guitar is very good,but not perfect.There are no major construction problems that I see. The medium-jumbo frets are are comforatble and dressed very well with no major buzzing problems. All in all, it's an affordable version of the ES-335 that is a whole lotta fun to play!

The Dot is reliable enough to gig with without a backup instrument. The hardware (tuners and bridge) probably are not the best in the business but seem like they'll hold up. I figure I can always replace the ABR-1 bridge and tuners IF they don't hold up. So far, so good!
The strap buttons are secure and really hold on well to my strap, Lord knows, you don't need to drop your guitar!
I like the chrome hardware beacuse it will hold up for a long time. Gold toned hardware tends to mellow and fade as time goes on. I use a little chrome cleaner (once in awhlie) on the tuning heads to keep them shinny.
No major concerns on this subject.

Epiphone/Gibson QUICKLY responded to an email I sent to them with some questions about my guitar. I was VERY impressed with their honest and fast response!
I bought an "extended warranty" from my dealer when I got my guitar. I figured, just in case something does wrong I won't be left in the dark! The guitar was purchased from Daddy's Junky Music ( a company that I had GOOD experience dealing with). Kudos to Daddy's!

I've been playing for 32 years. I have a Fender Princeton 65 amp that has been that has been faithful to me for a couple of years, now. I have a "collection" of Danelectro effects that are really cool (Reel Echo, Danowah, chorus, tremolo, flanger, EQ, compressor & chorus).
I've had to get used to the shorter scale of the Dot after playing Strats and Telecasters but that's not really a problem.
I would be nice if the Dot had a vibrato but I can live without that.
Epiphone guitars are some of the best instruments made today. When every dollar I spend MUST be accounted for the Epiphone makes SENSE! I can't afford a $2000 guitar and I have to be honest about that. I wish I could afford an expensive guitar but with kids in college, etc. I cannot justify spending that much cash!
Epiphone seems to apprieciate that everyone isn't a millionaire or "collector" that doesn't actually play an instrument! They build good guiatrs for us "regular people" to play with at gigs and to have fun with! You gotta love their affordability factor alone.
I'm proud to say I'm a Epiphone player!

2003 Natural finish Dot copy with the "Inspected in America" sticker. I wanted a real Gibson Dot reissue but did not like the feel of the neck as much as the Epiphone.

I wanted a 335 style guitar for blues and I liked the original sound but it lacked clarity due to the original pickups. I could have left it alone and had a nice sound but no - as usual, I went on a crusade to find a better sound. More on that later.

This guitar should carry the Gibson "Project Shop" label because it takes some work to get it into shape. The set-up was pretty awful. The action was OK but the intonation was out by a mile. There were a few bad buzzes; one that rendered the guitar virtually useless in the key of A, until I dressed a couple of frets. Fortunately, the pitchfork "E" logo fell off the pickguard with just slight pressure from my fingernail. The finish looks great and everything fits perfectly otherwise. I find that this guitar has an unusually comfortable neck that makes it easy to play and, if you are considering an ES335, it is worth trying this guitar before forking over $2000. Just keep in mind that there may be some "debugging" involved to get it just right. I got the well-designed Epiphone hard case too.

I would take it anywhere. I think it is as durable as any semi-hollowbody.

Thankfully, I have not needed any service.

It is okay out of the box but it can be made into an awesome guitar by removing the stock pickups and replacing them with burstbuckers. Use a 2 in the neck and 3 in the bridge. It's a $200 investment that will yield a guitar that absolutely smokes. I could rant on-and-on but I won't. It is awesome switched to the neck or middle position and edgy but useable in the bridge position. If you roll back the tone control to 7, it will make that 57 classic pickup sound too. You will have spent $600 and have a guitar that sounds like it cost $2000. Granted, it will have some buzzes when unplugged that you might not get with a real 335, but it is just an excellent value. You can spend the difference on a Rectoverb or braces for your kid or whatever.

My Dot was made in 1996, Korean made, in a beautiful chestnut burst. It has all the features listed in the other reviews. I purchased this guitar used, with the notion of upgrading it,and
the guitar was in remarkable almost unplayed mint condition. One of the first things I noticed was that the neck seemed thinner than all the other more current models I played, and I prefer the thin neck.
When I first bought this guitar, the tuners were holding tune fine, but were leaking some kind of grease, so I replaced them with a set of Grover Rotomatics. When I took the strings off to replace the tuners, a big chunk of the nut broke off (I suspect it was cracked to begin with). So I replaced the nut with a pre-slotted nut from TUSQ.
Finally, I changed the pups with a set of Gibson Classic '57s. That really made a difference in the sound.

Before I upgraded the pickups, the guitar sounded very good, but it had a rather dark sound. I had to ease off all the base on my amp, and increase the treble all the way; but, the base strings still sounded rather muddy.
With the Classic '57s in there, this axe will give any Gibby 335 a run for it's money. Sweet mids, with that clear, bright sound. With the upgraded pups, I would give this guitar a definite "10" for sound, but since we are reviewing a stock guitar, I'm giving it an "8".

Again, I bought this guitar used so I don't know how it came from the factory. I set it up with a set of .011 - .050 strings, tweeked the neck a bit, and lowered the action a little too. Now the action is low and smooth. Frets are well dressed.
The finish on the guitar is a beautiful chestnut sunburst, whic I don't see on the more current models. However, the wood is rather plain with no figuring. Otherwise the finish is flawless.

As I mentioned, I changed the nut and tuners, because I had to. The pickups I changed because I wanted to. I could have played the standard pickups and they would have done the job. But, I'm glad I did swap the pups, because the sound difference is significant.

So far, I've only dealt with Gibson once. I asked for help dating the guitar, and they were very helpful in telling me when the guitar was made.

I've been playing for 10 years, and this guitar is one of the best in my stable. I love the way it plays, I love the way it sounds, and I love the way it looks. I am a big fan of semi-hollows and I have 2 others: a Guild Starfire III-90, and a DeArmond T-400, and this guitar ranks right in there with them. I would definitely buy one again if a trolley were to run this over.
Whether you upgrade this guitar, or leave it stock, It is a real good buy, and well worth the money.

2003 Epi Dot, 335 style semi-hollow, black (Ebony) body. Laminated maple body, maple neck, chrome Grover tuners, 2 humbuckers, gold vol/tone knobs, 3-way switch. The other reviewers summed up the features pretty well. It is what it is - a no frills semi-hollow guitar - so it gets a 9 for function and simplicity.

Keep in mind I've been playing for 13 years now, and I've owned guitars from Fender, Gibson, Steinberger, PRS, Hamer USA, Jackson, and Yamaha. I knew going in that this guitar was the low end of Epi's 335 line, so I'll try to be as fair as I can.

I hate the fact that a lot of import companies these days try to lure buyers with "Duncan Designed" pickups. Apparently Epiphone is trying this with their guitars now, as this one came with "Gibson Designed" humbuckers. However, they are alnico pickups (much nicer to my ears than ceramic), and I'm pleased with the overall sound. They do seem to have a lot of string pull, which causes warbled notes in the higher frets, so I had to lower the pickups quite a bit. I like to use a variety of Tube Screamers and a Boss Blues Driver, and this guitar sounds good through all of them. It really shines through a clean amp with some chorus and reverb - I got just the sound I was after.

One thing to note, when played acoustically (unplugged), it sounds like a plastic toy guitar. I've played some semi-hollow guitars that had a very pleasant, balanced tone when played acoustically. Unfortunately, the Dot sounds like a Tyco guitar, most likely as a result of lower grade wood and the plastic nut. No biggie if you play with a lot of effects, but keep in mind you won't get that wood-sy tone of a great semi-hollow guitar.

This area was my biggest disappointment for the Dot. The paint is very uneven, especially on the headstock. Mine is black, so I see every little imperfection. I probably should've got it in Natural finish ;) No chips/nicks or uneven binding. There are some pretty nasty gouge marks where the fretboard meets the binding on the side of the neck between the 17th and 22nd frets. The only way to fix it would be to file down the fretboard surface, which I'm not going to do. Another complaint I have is with the overall appearance - let's see, a black guitar, chrome hardware, and GOLD KNOBS? What were they thinking? The gold knobs look so out of place. I replaced them with OEM Gibson black speed knobs, and it looks a lot better.

The action was set pretty low from the factory, but the truss rod needed some adjusting. The low action plus the 24 3/4" scale make this guitar a dream to play. The frets were in really good shape as well. I'm knocking a few points for the paint and the gouges in the fretboard.

These guitars are inherently delicate, so as long as you remember that, it'll hold up pretty well when gigging. Like everyone else mentioned, the 3-way switch will be replaced soon. I may also replace the vol/tone pots while I'm at it, but the stock pots are smooth and may last a while. I also plan to replace the stopbar and tailpiece with a Gotoh set. Nothing wrong with the stock pieces, but I'm picky about getting as much clean tone as I can.

Never had to deal with Epiphone, but it looks like they have a lot of information on their website, and tons of information is available through the HC Forums.

About six years ago I bought an Epi Sheraton II (this was before the Dot was being made). I was real pleased with the looks and build of it, but the overall sound just didn't cut it for me. Most likely just poor pickups. The Dot seems to be the opposite - the looks and build quality are pretty poor, but it sounds real nice. But what do you really want from a $400 guitar? Anyone who comes and reads these reviews should understand one thing - you get what you pay for. I have guitars that range from a $300 MIM Strat to a $2600 USA Hamer Artist Custom. The more you spend, the better quality of construction and components, and no matter how many upgrades you do, at the end of the day you still have a cheap guitar. The Dot is a very good guitar considering it's price. It serves it's purpose very well for me, and that's all I can ask.

2003 Epiphone Dot (Gibson 335 replica). Made in Korea. 2 volume, 2 tone, 3 way switch (very loose and cheap feeling). Twin '57 Alinco humbuckers. Maple body, rosewood fretboard. Beautiful cherry red finish. Grover tuners.

I love the sound of this guitar. Played 6 or 7 Dots before I bought this one and they all sounded great. Played some similar guitars from Samick, Ibanez, Fender, Guild, etc. and I kept going back to the Epi. Looks better than the Gibson 333 (much better) and has a very similar tone to that of the 335 for $2000 less!!! I'm a blues fanatic and I can get incredible John Lee Hooker tones out of this thing. I have several effects but none are needed to get great blues tone straight of a slightly overdriven Peavey Classic 30 or my Fender Hot Rod Deville. It also sounds incredible run through my Presonus tube preamp directly into Boss 352 board. The '57s are incredibly sensitive in this thing. I see no need to replace them at all. Sweet jazzy tone from neck p/u but my favorite is the middle position. Great blues leads there.

Set up was superb right out of the box as were the 7 others Dots I tried. Absolutely no fret buzz and intonation dead on. Action just a tad high but two turns of a screwdriver fixed that right up. I'm afraid to adjust the pickups at all as I absolutely love the tone I'm getting right now. I chose this guitar for the tone but also for the impeccable finish. The grain of the wood shows through beautifully under the cherry finish. Love the chrome hardware and the slightly raised pickguard. The nut isn't abalone but I have had no problems at all with it. Very solid feeling guitar. Heavy after an hour or so on the shoulder.

Play live with this guitar all you want, very solid. Hardware holding up great so far (3 months or so). Not cheap feeling at all, expect it to last awhile. Strap buttons much better than my Gibson SG, which falls off all the darn time (strap locks are collecting dust in the package). Stick another guitar in the corner at a gig if you want but I've played with just my Dot and a couple packs of strings no problem.

Lifetime warranty as long as u don't "modify" it at all. Now that is poor in my opinion because the 3 way selector feels like it may go at any time. Is that modifying if I put in a good quality selector?? Feels like a trap to get out of the "lifetime" warranty. That's customer support in my book and it really ticks me off that Epi won't put in a better switch. We've been bitching about this for years now to no avail. Can't give them a decent rating here until they listen to the customer.

Been playing 27 years. I own a Gibson SG (think this Epi sounds better for blues stuff) with P-90's, Fender Tele, Fender Strat, Seagull accoustic (now that is a great sounding guitar) Epiphone accoustic/electric (horrible accoustic sound, decent electric sound) Fender accoustic (anyone wanna buy it.... cheap??) 1979 Peavey bass (favorite guitar for looks and tone) Classic 30 tube amp, Fender Deville, little Crate 20 tube practice amp (neat tone on that thing) couple solid state amps collecting dust. Original Dunlop Crybaby Wah, Yamaha DG stomp for recording, other stomp boxes I don't use anymore. I'd definitely get another one if I lost this one (how do u loose a guitar???) Way underpriced guitar for the tone, looks, solid feel. Everytime I touch that damn 3 way switch I get ticked, feels soooooo flimsy unlike the rest of this guitar. How could Epi let it go with that hunk of crap on it???? Compared it too many, many guitars. Was going to buy the Gibson but I could buy 8 of these for 1 Gibson and this thing sounds and plays just as good. I think it actually plays better than the Gibson's I tried.

This is a 2002 model, made in Korea with the 'Factory set-up by Gibson USA' sticker on the back of the headstock. Authentic Gibson humbuckers and decent electronics, unlike the earlier Korean models which used Samsung electronics. Though these come from the factory with .11s mine was an Ebay purchase where the guitar had been refitted with flatwounds. Laminated maple body with a brilliant cherry finish. It's big as a coffee table, but not too heavy on your shoulder.

I play wall-of-sound, Phil Spector-esque, Jesus & Mary Chain rock and roll, which well suits the pentatonically inclined output of the Gibson humbuckers. I'm currently running through a Boss GT-5 effects rig into a Vox AC-50 head and a 2 x 12 cab. The pickups are extremely sensitive to pick-placement and offer a great variety of sound. The neck pickup is fat and distorts with little coaxing. The bridge pickup jangles all over the place, and can move into Gretsch territory if you strike the strings just above the bridge. This guitar practically begs to be beaten upon & jumped around with.

Right out of the box after a cross-country ride in a UPS van the tuners showed what they were capable of, as the guitar played perfectly in tune. Action was perfectly workable as well, and I have not made any modifications to enhance or detract its performance. In all manners this guitar behaves like a very expensive instrument.

It's taken a good beating from me thus far, though I've heard rumors here about the strength of the electronics. I may replace the pots eventually but have had no trouble within the last year. The strap buttons are screwed into the body of the guitar and seem very secure. These guitars are inexpensive enough to keep a handful around for gigs, which is exactly what I am prepared to do.

N/A

After playing numerous 60s-era Danelectros, Teiscos, and EKO's I thought it may be worth my while to get a newer instrument, and an archtop at that. I was originally attracted by the price but have been thoroughly surprised at how versatile this guitar could be. Seriously it's difficult to imagine how much nicer the $1500 Gibson model could sound.

Made in Korea, doesn't mean much nowdays as it's pretty good. The pots and switches are of good quality, and the pickups work well. Mine is a 2003 model and has Grover tuners. It's a vintage sunburst color, and it's so well made I bought a nice hardshell case for it, and I'm usually not so careful with a cheap (under second mortgage price) guitar. Two humbuckers, three way switch, pots that work very well in incrementing tone. Plenty of maple, comfortable to strap on, no apologies for the name on the headstock. Probably a good 335 copy, but I'm happy for what it is on it's own.

I like overdriven fast pentatonic rock. I also like clean blues, not shy of rythm or lead. I wanted a guitar with a wide palatte, and I feel I got it with this guitar. I'm happy with what I've heard.

I wrote an earlier review based on a borrowed Dot which was ok, good enough for me to purchase one for myself. It was a year older than mine. Mine at first seemed a bit fat on the neck, but after a couple of months of playing has shown itself to be remarkably fast all over the neck, anywhere I want to play. The string height is ideal after a bit of adjustment to the bridge, the fretwork beautiful, and the neck is true. It invites aggressive travel all over the neck. I lowered the bridge a bit, raised the pickups a tad, played with the pole pieces a hair, and I've got it how I want it. The intonation is fine with very little tweaking. I have yet to see a single flaw, visually as satisfying as a Rickenbacker I used to own that was a LOT more expensive and took three months to build. Very little adjustment necessary. My dealer has a good eye and a good selection.

This is a good guitar. Never gig without a backup if you want to do a good show and care about the details.

Don't know.

This isn't about me. I've played many years, have gone through a lot of guitars. I don't remember a guitar with so much versatility as this. Maybe you know of some. I don't. I compared it to Gibsons when I first got it, but after some time with it I like it for what it is as an Epiphone Dot. Earlier Dots didn't impress me quite so much, but mine was made in January, 2003 and I think mine benefitted from a lot of feedback from reviews like this. I love the thing. I'd buy another just like it if I had to. I like my Dot with my Marshall doing what I do. I have three other guitars that have been gathering dust since I got it. Incredible value for money spent. I've been delighted every time I've picked it up.

2002 (or 3?) model. Humbuckers, standard Gibson 335 stuff. I looked at several and picked out the one with the best setup and workmanship, sunburst color. Solid block of wood in the center; this isn't a hollow body nor does it act like one, and semi-solid means solid and not half-assed acoustic and it will NOT play acoustic anymore than a Strat will. Haven't had a chance to put it through it's paces, but there's a story behind this. A friend loaned me his (a 1-year old DOT) because he got it mail order and it was setup poorly and he asked me to check it out. I set it up, then played it for several hours last night. Woke up this morning and got one for myself.

I go for sound first. My main axe has been an old American-made Peavey Reactor, tele copy. Extremely dense, heavy wood, great neck, love the sound, much better than the Fenders to my ear. It's a great Fender sound. But that sound is fine on the bass and glassy on the highs, thin in between. I plugged the borrowed DOT into my Valvestate 2000 Marshall and was immediately hearing that fine BB King tone. I started to play some blues, played with the knobs a bit, and I realized that these are some fine '57 Gibson pickups, nothing missing in that tone, definately NOT the old crap pickups the Korean Epiphone bolt-on 335s had. My first guitar was a '61 model ES350TD with '57s. But the center block made the DOT sound a lot more solid-body, and through my Marshall it gave me something between a 335 and a LP, a very pleasant and useful range of tone. These are NOT cheap sounding pickups! Clean or dirty. Now I can get the best of both worlds between my two guitars. I started on electrics and although I have a couple of acoustics, I still gotta have that electric tone. I was really surprised at the quality of this DOT's tone.

The one I just got is setup pretty decently. I think that has more to do with the store I bought it from as they do a great job of checking them out before they display them. The one I borrowed was mail ordered, and the setup was horrible. The bridge was jacked up over half an inch, pickups not adjusted, intonation off, 3-way more like a 360 degree. At first I thought it was a Korean piece of crap, like an acoustic I also got mail order. But once it was adjusted and after about an hour's playing, I realized that this was not only a fast neck but that the frets were really well done and level. This is where the big bucks for Gibsons seem to go, into excellent attention to detail. Mine, setup by the store (which is also our local Gibson dealer,) is fine. The mail ordered DOT was horrible when I got it.

The 3-way switch is pure crap. This is unfortunately an Epiphone thing, and there's no excuse for it. The borrowed DOT is as bad as my son's first Epiphone entry-level LP. The nut on the one I got looks to be better than the nut on the borrowed guitar which is a year older, the borrowed one being shiny plastic and brittle looking, the same as the crap they put on my son's first Epiphone entry-level LP. The pots are the borrowed one are iffy, but until the 3-way is changed out for a better one, (so bad that it can actually affect the pickup signal), it's hard to tell whether he got the good pots. That said, the quality of the woodwork and fretwork, the finish, and the really surprising pickups is far beyond the price range this guitar falls into. I can attest to genuine Gibsons I've owned that were no better if not worse in a few areas. It can be a gig guitar, but playing without a backup on any guitar is a bad idea anytime. You haven't played long if you haven't learned this the hard way.

I've always had good luck with the dealers I've dealt with, and I suppose that means the manufacturers are good to the dealers. What I won't do anymore is to purchase sight unseen from a mail order catalog. I've had too many problems with setup or condition on the instruments I've purchased that way, and shipping for repair or exchange should be free but isn't most of the time. I not only buy for myself, but I have three musician sons, and we go through a lot of gear. I always have better service through a dealer, and most of the time they'll beat the catalog prices.

I've been playing since 1964. I own two small amps, a Vox and a Marshall. I have an old Peavey Reactor that I love, a Dean acoustic-electric that I love/hate, and now this DOT. Between the Peavey and the DOT, I have the single/humbucker sounds covered well, in my opinion. My sons have everything from BC Rich to a vintage Fender Mustang and several amps. I play rock, blues, or lounge-lizard, whatever gigs work around my day job. My dad was a pro guitarist, we lived on the road, I learned to have a day job or he would have kicked my ass. I say this because to me there is a certain price range for a guitar, and some really famous models got famous when they were in that price range. I've had $300 Les Pauls, Strats, and Rickenbackers. We all know what they go for now. Not one of them was flawless. This Epiphone DOT rivals the sound of a 335 I played in the '70s and surpasses it's workmanship. I remember many Gibson pearl inlays popping out of '60s-'70s Gibson necks, including a 175 which was obscenely priced. I'm an old guy now and I like to play really fast but on a classically shaped guitar and I don't like to clutter myself with a lot of gear anymore, and this DOT ought to be a keeper and will be as long as it gets that gorgeous sound. I'm really impressed. Just wish and would gladly pay for a decent 3-way switch and I hope the new one's nut truly is better after some playing time than the one I borrowed. This is a screaming bargain.

This is a really solid guitar. I play mostly acoustic, and I can never find electrics I love, but this thing is damn good! The switch on it went the 2nd week I had it, but I accepted that. I really love the seperate volume & tone controls for each pickup. It's a wicked guitar

This guitar suits every style I play. It give me really nice full clean sounds, aswell as wicked distorted sounds. The two biggest reasons I bought it were because it's got the acoustic fell w/ full sound, and because it will deliver feedback whenever you need, it, but it's also easy to control. Once i tweaked my amp, it sounded beautiful. I got a little buzz, then then I switched the strings, and it was fine. Only thing I notice is that sometimes when I adjust the tone knobs, it makes noise

I had to fix the action, because it was too high at the bridge, and I kept breaking strings right on the bridge. It's been fine since then. A small finish blemish right where the neck meets the body, but that doesn't bother me at all. Only other small thing is that the nut needed to be fixed up a bit to accomidate heavier strings (again, I play lots of acoustics, so the strings I use on my DOt are 12-54)

Only tiny concearn was with the 3-way switch. You'd think Epiphone would realize that they sucks, and use better ones. It's kinda unacceptable that the unwritten law with Epi's is that they kick ass, but expect to replace the switch FAST. You'd think Epiphone would want to lose that rep

Never delt with them, but the store was really nice about replacing my switch

I've been playing for 7 years now. I use a Peavey transtube Studio 112 amp, and I have a late 90's Washburn D10 (amazing guitar! They've gone downhill a bit since then, but the ones from the 90's sound much better than they cost), aswell as an Epiphone SG style bass, and an old Squier Strat (modelerd after a 50's strat) that is down to one working pickup, but I just can't seem to part with it. I'm very impressed with the quality of the Dot, aswell as the price. I could have gotten a new one for only $100 more, but the one I got used was in amazing condition, and had wonderful grain that showed through the vintage sunburst finish. If it were stolen, i wouldn't buy another one right away. I'd pay for school, invest into my home studio, make some money first, but i would DEFINATELY get another one down the line when money's not tight

Check out Epi's website for the features. I'll just make note on a few of them however.
The top is laminate maple (even the Gibson 335's are laminate)
The pickups are Alnico Magnet humbuckers and sound decent. (more on the pickups later).
Pickup switch will eventually need replacing (inexpensive job)

The sound is decent because the pickups are decent. Since they are real Alnico magnet pickups and not ceramic (as is the case with most guitars this price range) the highs are pleasant - not at all harsh-sounding. Before you think of changing pickups as many have opted to do, try adjusting the pole pieces. Admittedly, these pickups sound a bit flat and lifeless, not much vibe to them but... if you adjust the pole pieces the pickups come alive. Don't just raise the height of the entire pickup, raise the pole pieces individually. I don't know why this improves the tone so much, maybe its the increased surface area of the magnet but there is definitely more sparkle and depth when you do this. I have no plans of swapping the pickups. I play blues, cream, oasis, third-day type of stuff and some jazz when no one is looking.
Out of the box, the guitar's sound is a 6, after some tweaking with the pickup height, its an 8.

Always get your guitar setup properly, its not cost-effective for most manufacters to spend an hour setting up each guitar. If you don't know how to do it your dealer owes you a setup with a purchase imho.
I cannot comment on the quality of wood used on my guitar, I have a feeling that its not the greatest (there's much more to sound than nice wood) In any case, the build quality on this thing is unbelievable. Frets are slick and perfectly laid. The finish looks better than any US guitar i've seen (US manufacters are under certain environmental laws therefore the finishes on US guitars while environmentally-friendly, often do not look as good or last as long as guitars finished in Asia).
The playability on this thing is superb. The neck is on the chunkier side but not at all cumbersome - I hate skinny necks. The guitar plays really fast. i don't know if its the oil from the rosewood fingerboard but something about this neck adds speed to my playing.

I play this guitar live at least once a week with no backup and with no problems.
The older Epi Dots had bad tuners but you can depend on the newer ones.
The Tune-O-matic bridge makes some buzzing noise but it doesn't get amplified.
I've replaced the existing plastic nut with a custom synthetic one for 11's. Epiphone if you're listending, stop using the cheap plastic nuts.

Been playing 15 years. I wanted a guitar with humbuckers to complement my strat. Once I get a DRRI or Vibrolux to add to my BJ, my gear list is complete. If lost or stolen, I may opt for a Tele Thinline with humbuckers but I still value this guitar.
It you're looking for a semi-hollow body guitar, you can't miss with the new Epi Dots, they have really tightened things up at the Samick plant in Korea and they are turning out some fine instruments. If you do get one do the following and you'll have one smokin' guitar:

Adjust the pickup height and pole pieces (free).
Replace the plastic nut (30 bucks).
Use heavier strings. At least 10's.
Make sure you pick the best of the bunch, I went through 5 or 6 before settling on mine.
If you pick the right one, I defy you to find a better semi-hollow for the money.