Epiphone Les Paul Junior

Made in Indonesia, don't know how old it is, bought it at a yard sale for 60 bucks. Nice fat frets in good shape, wrap around bridge, el-chepo tuners, single pickup....so you won't need a pickup selector. One volume, one tone.

Sounds a lot better than I thought it would. I had a set of humbuckers out of an Oscar Schmidt OE30 so routed a neck pocket for the neck pickup, routed an area for a 3 way switch and put it all together. The original pickup was fine but wanted to throw in a matching set.

The guy I bought it from was a professional muscian and it was set up very well. He even threw in a CD of his band, shows him holding this same guitar. Any guitar I buy gets a good set up and fret level ect. The guy that set this up did an excellent job, it's the only guitar of of 50-60 I own that I didn't do any fret work to. It gets a 10 here just because of how well it played when I got it and the only reason I bought it. Saw it at a yard sale, started noodling around on it and gave the guy 60 bucks for it. The tuners are budget but hold tune fine, was going to replace but they do the job.

The guitar is solid. I would play out with it no problem.

dunno

If new ones are like this one then it would be a great bargin. If you are into doing guitar mods then this would make a great project, cheaper than a Saga kit. I modded mine with parts I had laying arounds, I have a stacks of used parts to play with. I been playing 40 years or so and like to tinker as much as play. I own 50-60 guitars, 4 basses, 4 banjo's, a fiddle, a stack of amps, two drum kits, PA, tons of effects, ect,ect,ect. Get one, get it set up, and you'll a nice plank to spank.

This is a recent 'Made in Indonesia' model, with one humbucker, volume and tone control. I bought it used from Guitar Center and didn't see it in person 'till it arrived in the mail yesterday. They had a number of used one's for sale on the website, and I chose this one simply because it was the only one with a sunburst finish. I'm giving it a 10 for features, because it has everything necessary to play and sound great.

I've been playing guitar for 41 years and currently play in a band that gigs about once a month and plays a variety of blues, rock and country, some covers and some original. There are two guitarists in the band and we both play PRS guitars (he has a 513, I've got an old CE24). Lately I've been looking for a simple humbucker equipped guitar to have as backup during gigs, and that's why I started looking a the LP Junior.

This guitar arrived at my door yesterday so I've only had one evening to play it, but so far I am totally blown away. I got it out of the box, tuned it up, plugged into a Tube Screamer and then into a Deluxe Reverb, and WOW! I was really expecting to replace the electronics right away, but this guitar sounds fantastic as it is. Unplugged it's loud and very musical - plugged in it's just more of the same. The pickup seems very well balanced and versatile. With the tone set bright, it's got a good Tele bite to it. Roll the treble back a little and you get a nice neck pickup type tone. Roll it back more and out comes some great Cream-era Clapton tone (or classic jazz tone if it's played clean). I'm totally amazed that I can get so many tones from one pickup. And it's great that the tone control is so well calibrated - it rolls off the highs very evenly as it's turned down.

I had a Schaller humbucker all ready to pop into this guitar, as well as some new pots, but those all are staying in their boxes for now.

EVERYTHING about this guitar has exceeded my expectations. I bought it used but it's totally stock and in mint condition. I have no idea how old it is, but it really seems like it's new - not a scratch, dent or ding on it.

I don't know if the previous owner did much to set it up, but the action is low, the intonation is dead on, the frets are well polished and there are NO sharp edges.... the only change I made was to lower the bass side of the pickup just a tad.

I know this'll sound unbelievable, but the neck and fretboard on this guitar are the most comfortable I've played, ever. I have never played a guitar that felt better in my hands. I bend notes a lot when I play, and bending notes on this guitar is simply a delight. It feels so smooth and effortless. The neck itself also seems fairly shallow (front to back) so it's really easy to grip. The action is low, but there are no dead spots, no fretting out when bending, no string rattle.

I know folks have complained that the tuners are not the best, so I had expected to change these right away, but so far these seem pretty stable. The strings on it feel new and whoever put them on only wrapped them around the tuners once, so they're less likely to slip. I'll keep the stock tuners on for now.

The only upgrade I've done to this guitar is I replaced the black tone and volume knobs with some Gibson-style gold bell knobs, like the old 50's Juniors had.

Seems well built. I haven't tried standing on the neck and jumping up and down on it yet, but I'm planning to play this for some of the songs at our next gig (an outdoor music fest). Of course I'll have my PRS as a backup.

Haven't had to contact the company yet.

GREAT guitar. VERY happy with this purchase. Would by another in a heartbeat.

It gets a 4 not for the scarcity of its features, since simplicity does not make a guitar necessarily bad, it obtains 4 because its features sucks. They simply are almost useless.

Awful when distorted
Dirty when clean
It simly sounds weak and bad in any mode

Action high as hell(or heaven, well you know what I mean), and if you lower the action it gets no sound and buzzes like disabled fly.

Reability? Depends for what. For firewood it seems to have toxic materials and for a guitar certainly not eighter.

Dunno

If you think the people who gave this "guitar" ratings of one are pretentios haters, think twice, it really really is a bad guitar.

1. I'm not giving you the usual bla bla that Ive played 230 years and own everything, I've caught many users here lying about that stuff. I give guitar clases to kids and to some intermediate students, and I use a cheap 16 year old RGX112p guitar for that purpose that I bought used for $100. That old Yamaha is a dream comparing it to this piece of... playwood, that one student of mine bought in a starter pack($200) because she likes Billie Joe. I was really embarassed when I tuned her guitar and played with it a while, was really hard trying to smile.

Parents, don't teach your sons being posers, most students go nowhere playing guitar and abondone it when they realize that it's kind of hard playing like Van Halen, and they just want a guitar that looks like one of their heros. Buy them a used semi-decent guitar if you don't have the money, do the research, do the search, it's worth it. If you really have to buy something new, because you don't want the risks of buying something used and don't have nobody to advise you, maybe the Iba??ez GRX20 is a good option at about $200. Cheap junk guitars like this, make it hard to learn.

Some users say that it's a bargain and you get a good guitar if you make some changes: like new tuners(thats a really must), a new pickup(idem), new bridge and new nut. But still you got a guitar with very cheap wood with an awful neck. Well ok, to be fair if you replace them to, you will get a decent guitar. I would recomend you for that case to look for an old mahogany table or something, cut a guitar body out of it, get some paint, and voil??, finally your les paul junior is playable.

I think that all, hope I wasn't that hard on it, just want that nobody gets ripped off by this horrid piece of junk.

Features:
Epiphone Gibson SG Les Paul Junior

Made in Korea or Indonesia I forgot which took that sticker off long ago.

22 frets

Dog Ear P-90:
1.Voltage (RMS), V 241.1 mV at 6.405 kHz resonant frequency output 2.
2.Impedance, k?? 747 k?? at 6.405 kHz resonant frequency
3.Resonant frequency, Hz 6.405 kHz
4.Passive Pick up

Believe it is Mahagony; however, I can't find any real information on this vintage classic sleeper it has been discontinued.

It is a beautiful deep dark red on the whole body, the neck all the way past the tuners and on the side of the head stock.

Head Stock is lacquered Black with gold lettering: Ephiphone on top Junior in the middle in cursive writing. Plastic 2 piece black top write bottom written in white GIBSON bottom middle of the head.

Fingerboard is walnut I believe; however, I could be wrong. Please correct me if I am.

Body Style is SG Junior.

Bridge Style is simple stop piece.

Tuners work great for looking and feeling like plastic. It stays in Tune for days!!! And I play it hard, sometimes 3hrs a day!!!

Neck is comfortable, feels right to me and my taste.

Needed knobs for tone and volume potentiometers. I got some clear Red dice knobs that have locking screw holds(matches my Yamaha g100 II Head).

I'm a vegan and ashamed to say that I have a wide Black leather strap made by Jones Leather Works.

I play melodic claw finger picking, progressive (you call it a name I just feel it and play), blues, rock, hardcore, punk, metal, grunge, Hendrix, Black Sabbath, www.myspace.com/prometheusxxxx hear it play moody melodic searing leads (not even using a stompbox)on Run2. Or, crunching away making heads rock on Push Yourself. Unfortunately, I don't have any punk recordings up right now because this baby does it right!!! Basically the only thing I don't know how to do right now is multi fingered arpeggio tapping, or any of the massively mind bending shredding yet.

I use it with Crate 2x12 GTD 120, Yamaha G100 II Head, Line 6 4x12 cabinet, pedals: dunlop wah, Digitech EX7, Digitech Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Digitech RP90. Basically my imagination is the only limit when it comes to tones and sound...

The P90 is a noisy hummer at stompbox levels if you are wanting silence and not playing any notes for a break, use a volume pedal. The sound on this wow, well considering all the different pedals I have, it is limitless so far, I could spend the rest of my life finding new tones which I will do for the absolute fun of it!!! Really the pick up is Rich, Full, Bright (I turn down the tone to 4 because it can be way too bright), and absolutely classic. How much music has been recorded with P90 pickups? The Answer is Warehouses full of it. And for good reason: Totally Cool great pickup. However, don't get me wrong the buck doesn't stop here. Everything I know about the truth is subject to change! I got this guitar as a gift and let it sit around for at least a year because it looked cool but it seemed so simple and quaint. I even mistook the single coil for a humbucker LOL... Now I love this guitar. It is a life long partner. The only thing I would trade it for is an Original Gibson Les Paul Junior with a P90. I believe in adding new guitars to my arsenal instead of getting rid of any: each has its own qualities. My Jackson with Seymour Duncan Humbuckers are don't hum at all. So if your worried about stompbox humming don't get this guitar or get it and change the pickups! Because this is a beautiful strong guitar, all the other models of this Jr. Model don't meet my likes. The remake Gibson Junior SG is the best in my opinion for the epiphone junior models and isn't even made anymore!!!!

No complaints; however, mine might have been fixed up before I got it. It was already discontinued and 10 years old before I got as a present. There are no mechanical flaws to this guitar: pickups, action, frets, and pickup height are flawless.

Well considering this guitar is over a decade old and was heavily used and abused, it looks like someone broke the knobs off crashing it into cement there is a chip to the right of the tone knob, what do you think?

N/A
Will not be under warranty if you are blessed enough to find one!!!

"1990s discontinued Epiphone SG Junior. These have become hard to come by and sought after." This is a quote I was able to find on the internet when I researched this model. I think it says it all, why is it sought after? I've been playing for 20 years. I played Squire Fender Strat the whole time until went on a trip to India and sold my guitar as money for the trip. Then, I did the acoustic thing for a long time 10yrs. I now own a Charvel/Jackson dreadnought, a Hohner dreadnought, Gibson Epiphone Les Paul Junior, Jackson Dinky, MXZ: Charvel Strat copy with EMGs, and Squire Fender P-Bass.

Basic as you can get. Solid body with one bridge P90 a volume and tone control. Bolt on neck, cheapo tuners that really suck, mediocre pickup, one piece bridge/tailpiece that is impossible to intonate. Made in some foreign land I guess but don't know which one.

Sucked when I bought it. Pickup was not adjusted and pole pieces were a mile from the strings . Wouldn't stay in tune. I play mostly blues and blues rock and wanted a junior with a P90 but didn't want to shell out the dough for a Gibson, ergo the Epi purchase.

Set up was horrible, neck was badly in need of adjustment, pickup pole pieces were to low.

Probably durable since theres not much to break...

I emailed to ask what tuners would fit as quality replacments without drilling and they didn't seem to know.

OK. Now lets explain my 10 rating. This was a cheap guitar that cost like 100 bucks. I shimmed the neck and adjusted the truss rod. Added a badass style intonatable bridge. Drilled out the headstock holes and added Kluson Deluxe button tuners. Replaced the stock P90 with a Lindy Fralin. So now I have like $300 bucks and a little work in this axe. It kicks *** now. Sounds as good as a Gibson LP Jr or better. Stays in tune. Plays sweet. I basically knew what I was getting into and expected to have to spend a few bucks to get a great little player. I wanted something BUDGET that I could take to open mic and jams, etc without worrying about it. I have Fender Eric Johnson, Fender Japan Zebrawood strat, Tom Anderson Hollow T, and a couple acoustics, Using a Fender White Lightning Hot Rod amp or a Blackheart with a Boss Fender Deluxe Reverb pedal.

Purchased new at Guitar Center in 2008 for $100, made in Indonesia. Basswood body (according to Epiphone) solid black paint. One humbucker pickup in bridge position (generic, Epiphone brand). Neck is bolt-on, fretboard is rosewood. Bridge is stop tailpiece. Tuners are non-locking, generic. One volume knob, one tone knob. No case or carry bag included.

The humbucker is no DiMarzio or Seymour Duncun, but it's output and character are pretty good for a budget guitar. I've heard music worse and it's a single humbucker so it's easy enough to replace.

It's a fairly quite guitar, shielded better than most budget models, but a peek inside reveals it's a mass produced guitar. The tone knob here works well, it's sounds best with tone above turned up (bright), but if you need a more muddy sound you can get that as well. My rating of 8 is accounting for the budget category this guitar is in.

Fit, Finish, fret dressing, etc... all very good in general and excellent for a budget guitar.

This is a budget guitar, aimed at beginners and those who just want a guitar to knock around with... If you wanted to use it on a stage (any stage) it would be a good idea to replace the tuning heads and perhaps the pickup and also invest in a case. For $100 it's one of the best starter guitars money can buy, leaps ahead in quality from the starter guitars you find at the mass retails (WAL*MART, TARGET, etc...) at an even more affordable price. This guitar is an excellent example of why not to buy a guitar from one of those places and to go a real music store.

NA

I needed a small bodied budget guitar I could take on a trip and not worry if it got damaged, the Epiphone Junior fit the bill perfectly and greatly exceeded my expectations. I was originally going to get rid of it after the trip, but I enjoy playing it so much I've decided to keep it. It's a great beginner guitar and a good guitar you can leave out of a case, just to grab quickly and play on when you don't want to get your expensive guitars out.

Indonesian, 1 pick up, volume tone, bolt on neck, I guess you don't have to mark it down as it has no neck pick up, it's a Les Paul Junior and that's how the are

It sounds very good, no buzzing or hum at high gain, drives both tube and solid amps very well, massive sustain from a relatively light weight guitar with a bolt on neck

I bought it off Ebay new, opened the box, checked the neck was straight, lowered the action with a big plumbing screwdriver and that was it. I don't know if the dealer set it up but it was vaguely in tune and held tune very soon after its 1st tune up....

Prickly frets, but nice and fat and low

Still new, I have no reason to suspect it won't last

It's a guitar, how hard can it be?

I'll give it 10, simply because when i was a boy I had to work the whole summer to buy something that sounds as good as this. I have 70s and 80s Yamaha and Westbury guitars that don't sound or play their money differential better (but i still love them)

not sure when it was made,but probably recent.made in china.black.otherwise just as the reviews below

havent played it thru a marshall amp yet,just my 16w ibanez tone blaster. sounds pretty good. i did replace the pots with rs guitarworks melodymaker/jr wiring kit,and it help a lot actually. gonna replace the pickup as well, not sure what pickup yet,but it will a high output humbucker

no sharp fretboard edges,good neck profile. came setup. played very well right out of the cardboard "case" . the machine heads are quite "nervous" and needs to be replaced . the plastic nut as well

with some upgrades it will hold up. always bring a second guitar to shows,as you never know if there will be some trouble with your guitar.

epiphone/gibson are great. always reply to my posts.

been playing since 1987. owns a bunch of guitars, gibsons,epiphones,ibanez,ltd ,fernandes and a ltd kh .

I bought this lil' honey a year and a half ago for 100 bucks. It came with the one single coil dog-ear pickup, two knobs (V&T), and a bolt on neck. Mine was made in Indonesia and had the deplorable cream colored. pickup cover and jackplate; I ordered a new cover for $10. It sounded fine out of the box (it was shipped from MusFriend), but it became clear that the tuners were crummy and needed to be replaced. I sold somebody an old beginners acoustic someone had GIVEN to me and used the dough to buy Grovers. The frets were smooth and fine, the sunburst finish was acceptable, and the V/T pots turned smoothly and without noise. I was expecting a fatter neck, but it is very comfortable and the bolt-on connection is solid. Overall, I was impressed with what $100.00 + the $20.00 for the P/U cover and Tuner shipping could buy. I have been playing for close to 20 years (mostly Beatle-esque pop) and own a Mex Strat (which I love) and I just couldn't pass up this cheap guitar...I wanted a backup to knock around and I figured "What the hell." I was and am pleased.

With treble full bore, this axe is BRIGHT...almost too bright. Meanwhile, with the tone rolled off it is way too muddy for my liking. There is a middle ground though that is very "musical" and well-rounded for rhythm (which is what I mostly play). So, I'm happy with the sound. I use it with my Line-6 Pod and it suits my pop style fairly well. It reacts well to different amp settings, etc. It is not a "one-trick pony." That being said, I am not blown away by it as a guitar as much as I am blown away by it as a $100.00 guitar. There is a lot of guitar possibilities here for dirt cheap. The noise of the single coil is irritating though; I suspect this guitar would be more usable in a punk/blues setting than in one where clean sounds are part of the band's main repertoire. A wide range of sounds IS possible, but not advisable! It does sound EXCELLENT unplugged though and that is a sure sign of a well-designed guitar. This is a great "couch" guitar...

This guitar was well-built by the Indonesians. I did change the tuners and the strings (I don't know what the gauge was, but they were like spaghetti). I don't know what I have on her now, I haven't changed them since I got the new tuners!! Action is very comfortable and it is well intonated for a guitar that can't be tweaked like a strat can. The "craftmanship" is one of the strengths of this guitar. Solid, eminently playable, and good looking.

I don't play this guitar a ton but I would use it to gig for sure. Without a backup? Proly not...a bit risky with a lot of guitars though! Replacing the strap buttons would be a good idea if you are gonna jump around. The finish is fine and sturdy. It would take a LOT of sweat and road abuse to age this baby. I bet this guitar will last for a LONG time, I will give it to a grandkid or something. It is dependable for what it is. However, if someone says that they can get theirs to stay in tune with stock tuners they are either lying or are tone deaf. New tuners is a must (go drop 40-50 bucks...a worthwhile investment). I give it this rating based on new tuners. W/O it is probably a 5.

I have no clue about this category. I assume Epiphone is a reputable company...as reputable as any of the other big names out there. You don't get big and stay big by being jerks to customers...so I am betting there should be no worries here.

I like this guitar; it is a solid, affordable, and dependable backup to my strat. I think it serves rhythm players well as it has a comfy neck and is light and shorter scale. My twin brother is a phenomenal player who plays in a Brit blues style and he thinks it is just average for lead playing. I don't think he was that impressed. If I lost this I would be upset and probably replace it (I might check out a Danelectro instead though...) A lot of other people give this guitar ridiculously high praise. She is lovely, but don't let their hyperbole fool you. THE GREATEST THING ABOUT THIS GUITAR IS THAT BANG FOR BUCK IT IS WAAAAAY BETTER GUITAR THAN WHAT ANYONE SHOULD EXPECT FOR $100.00 It is not a great guitar, it is a phenomenal budget guitar that deserves mention with guitars that are 2-3 hundred dollars more expensive.

Epiphone Junior- a laminated birch/alder flattop Les Paul-styled guitar with 1 bridge pickup and 1 volume 1 tone and a 1 peice adjustable "wrap-around" chrome bridge. It has a bolt-on mahagony neck with rosewood fretboard, 22 medium-jumbo frets. Die-cast chrome tumers complete the axe. Since this is a replica of a venerated instrument it does help to have some appreciation of the origional instument's virtues and limitations. The Junior started as a cheaper Les Paul that used the mahogony body blanks of Les Pauls without attaching a carved maple top. The single bridge position pickup was both a cost-cutting measure and a reflection of the fact that lacking a maple cap (maple tends to bring out brighter tones and overtones) a neck position humbucker is generally very muddy in a mahogony axe. The first Juniors came out in '54 and had a P-90 single-coil pickup. Single coils tend to sound brighter than humbuckers (using 2 nearby coils to cancel noise loses some top-end. It's a physics thing)and bearing these points in mind it seems to work out that the modern laminated (plywood) body loaded with a modern humbucker creates a pretty similar sound to that of a dark sounding mahognoy slab armed with a brighter-sounding P-90. Juniors came in several varieties over the years. Most notably Leslie West played a Junior with Mountain for most of their albums and definitively nailed the trademark Junior through a Marshall sound on the legendary "Missippi Queen." Materials aside this is a classic "Gibson-style" axe- 24 1/2" scale length (Fender instuments are 25", PRS spilts the difference at 24 3/4"--scale length affects the amount of tension on the string-for a given pitch a string of equal size will need to be tighter to reach the same pitch as a shorter string) 3-to-a-side tuners, tilt-back headstock and a sensitive mahogony neck that, in the right hands, can be as expressive as most "vintage" styled whammy bar bridges. I think the neck's range affects some people's perception of the tuning stability--if you are used to modern, rock-solid necks it might be baffling as to where the pitch changes are coming from--watch your technique closely, if you lean into the guitar at the lower positions you might be flatting the pitch up to 1/4 step without realizing it-and if you haven't lubed your nut slots the strings can bind sharp. There are a lot of gripes about the tuners in other reviews-I can't agree. I have never had the guitar go out of tune on the stand and rarely have to make adjustments even when getting a little maniacal with bends whether those bends are on the fretboard or through manipulating the neck--the secret is keep windings few, consistent (never let the string cross over itself on the tuning post!)and add some graphite (pencil lead shavings work) to the nut slots. The wrap-around bridge may take some getting used to and does not offer the range of intonation adjustment that individual saddles would offer but that is rarely needed-string it up, check harmonic against fretted at the 12th fret and use the allen screws to tweak bass and treble sides fore or aft. Once set if you use the same manufacturer and gauge of string sets you shouldn't need to keep adjusting it. Current retail on an Epi jr is about $100-the same as it was in 1954! adjusted for inflation this instument would have sold for less than $20 back then (gas was less than 10 cents per gallon in those days...) The Junior is a proven workhorse instument for beginners and professionals alike. My modern Chinese Jr will never have the monetary or historical value of a Mid-fifties Gibson but it also costs less than a tank of gas (in a truck/SUV) let alone the price of an SUV. I bought a B-stock version for $79 that had some pointy fret-ends that took a whole 10 minutes to file down to palm-friendly. Think of it as a kit-you can do pretty much anything you want to it without worrying that your are destroying history.

Classic Gibson sounds abound from this axe--a single pick-up instrument tends to remind players to actually use their volume and tone knobs. You're not going to get smoky jazz tones and it isn't going to scream like a Strat for but for meat-and-potato usable sounds from Rock to Punk to Metal to Pop it's got 'em. I mainly play this in my car through a VOX DA-5. It does seem to prefer the higher-gain settings (or is that I seem to prefer it through higher-gain settings?) but with the tone rolled off a bit it can do decent clean rythmn sounds. Then I put a DiMarzio Fred pickup in it. AWESOME! I had bought that P/U for another guitar and didn't really like it so I popped it into the junior and couldn't get the grin off for about a week. The stock P/U (remember,it's not a high-powered shredder or active, its a mellow slightly P-90-esque general purpose P/U) is fine for most but despite the low price is well-worth upgrading if you have a particular sound in mind. Keep in mind that the "voicing" of the guitar is more like that of basswood/alder and almost nothing like mahogony so pickups that bring out mid and low-mids will get you closer to Gibson sounds than would a brighter voiced P/U. After a month I felt that the volume pot was a little "needy"--all pots need occaisional cleaning and lubing but the volume knob seemed to need cleaning a little too often so I swapped out the stock pots for DiMArzios (both tone and volume) and switched the tone pot capacitor--not too strong a difference-a little clearer on the top-end and I still enjoy less maintenence but honestly not a mod you must make--however if you have scratchy pots that keep you from using your knobs you aren't getting full-range out of the instument and will probably have more problems develop--work those knobs and use a little electronics tuner and you will have an amazing axe! I string with a nickel-plated 10-46 set--GHS Boomers and get all the sounds you can expect from a 1 PU slab or plywood. Final sound note-I play mostly delay-drenched ambient kinds of things but enjoy occaisional Metal riffing and AC/DC ROKKIN' and one of the reasons I actually handed over the $80 they wanted for a black B-stock Junior was simply the fact that I have not been able to play Angus licks as accurately on any other guitar-I think most of my guitars have a thinner neck that somehow makes those particular moves more awkward-with a chunky peice of mahognoy in my palm the classic rock/metal just flows more easily and authentically. For the price it is beyond outstanding

Hmmm. Action fit and finish. Stock it wasn't that good--prickly fret ends were the worst of it but I have to point out I bought B-stock. Most other Jrs I've looked at seemed better tuned than mine did. The action was OK but I'm a tweaker and had to mess with it and think it's better now. I swapped out the stock pickup for a DiMArzio Fred. The finish is fine. The strap buttons seem the same as what comes on most guitars--I use DiMarzio Cliplock straps on guitars I stand or jump around with-since this is my commuter special I haven't put on a strap but would If I wanted to gig with it. I'm going with a 6 because I can't lie and pretend it was awesome out of the box but for $80 for a B-stock it was better than I expected. The nut, while plastic and mass-produced, does an adequete job

You could easily gig with just this guitar. You shouldn't, but you could. Murphy's Law dictates that anything that can go wrong during a gig will go wrong if you don't have a plan B. Most players spend most of their time on the Bridge pickup anyway and with two Juniors strung up and ready to go you really should be able to hold down almost any gig but a serious Jazz date. If you're an active performer who jumps, runs or lifts your axe in the air you should get some kind of straplocks--Dunlop, planet Waves, Duncan...there are several systems out there. Personally, I like the DiMarzio ClipLock straps which include strap and special buttons but everyone has their own taste but if you play out and you actually like your guitar you should NEVER rely on stock buttons (even with duct tape, you monkeys!) more instuments crash and lose headstocks due to strap issues than any other cause I'm aware of. For reliability it's almost bullet-proof. Laminated woods, snubbed by tone-snobs, are much more robust than solid panks. Buy a hard case and this guitar should last long enough for your grandkids to fight over it at your funeral. The thick, machine-applied synthetic finish is the same-scoffed by the snobs but appreciatated by the masses for durability. Neck joint is good--be sure to check those screws every few weeks/months or days if you're touring. Guitar output jacks always seem to creep around--try some threadlock or a little wood putty (or even the tip of a toothpick)in the screwholes to gve a little more grip and you won't have to worry about it. If you do notice a loose output jack DO NOT just ignore it--it will get worse and you'll eventually break the connection from the jack to the P/U and have NO SOUND (it's not hard to fix but prevention is better than repair!!!)

I have no knowledge of Epiphone customer service-the guitar was sweet enough and cheap enough to buy on impulse and has exceeded my expectations the more I have played it. Also, being a B-stock if I had any expereinces with support those might not be typical-if you buy from a trusted store or web retailer you should do fine

Overall this is simply the best deal in guitars today. If you are a beginner you get everything you need to start learning those grips and shifts that make the guitar so delightful to hear. If you're a grizzled vet you might be shocked at what $100 can buy these days. I own 16 electric guitars, 5 accoustic steel strings, 2 nylon string accoustics, a 5-string banjo, accoustic and electric sitar, 12 string accostic and 12 string electric, 3 basses and a violin. I keep planning on a mandolin but haven't found the right one at the right time. I have been playing (gasp) over 26 years now and I have to say this is not just the cheapest guitar in my collection but one of the best-it almost makes me mad as I have spent more on instuments that weren't as fun or as worry-free. I sometimes wish it did have a neck P/U to get some rounder tones but if I need that I go to a different axe. For plug and play no worries have fun take it anywhere 6-string goodness this is maximum bang for the buck. For newbies-find a seasoned fool like me or bite the bullet and take it to a shop for tweaks-the people that snub this beast really aren't teaching you anything except their own ignorance. There was a time when spending less than $500 for a guitar was like spending $50 for a used car but those days are long gone. It's a commodity product that lacks hand-crafting and personal love--if you add the love and personal touch yourself you too might be surprised at how often you reach for your Asian Junior. In terms of would I replace if stolen? Absolutely-I sometimes think about a second one (maybe White, this time) just 'cause I like this one so much. And yes, I probably would put a DiMArzio in it again. I can't think of anything to change-it's simple, effective and oh-so affordable--if you're considering a Junior give it a try-remember it isn't what it's not so if you are heavily into country then a Squire Tele would suit you better. If you only have the scratch for 1 guitar you might spend an extra $50 to get the two-pickup Epiphone Les Paul Special II which has a neck P/U and 3-way switching for more varied sounds and obviously you could get a Squire Strat (or a clone--I'm thinking if you're in the market for a USA strat you wouldn't be reading Epiphone Jr reviews...)but you'll never have the ease of tuning an axe with a wang-bar bridge that this Epi offers.