Epiphone Mo Baby

1999 made in Korea.. a small sized copy of old Gibson Moderne, with built in speaker. Only one stock humbucker, tunematic stop tailpice, generic non locking tuners, maple neck alder body, rosewood fretboard.
Built in 5 watt amp and speaker..

UUUUUURGH this guitar sounds like complete garbage. Where do we start...
hmm the pickup. This is the nosiest worst tone of a pickup I've ever heard. Plugging it in through a real amp, distortion, multi FX whatever, it sounds like crap even next to my other guitar Ibanez GRX which also sucks.
The built in speaker is just in a horrible location.. right under the strings where it does nothing but feed back with the tone up.. and it's what we like to call PERPETUAL feedback.

well it was set up pretty well.. but the action is way high, feels like crap, and if you lower it any it will buzz like hell and have the loosest string tension you have ever seen
the finish was pretty thick and smooth I'll give 'em that.
Ugly green color as mentioned in a previous review. Didn't get what I expected as far as color

I feel sorry for anyone who would use this guitar at a gig. I guess the finish lasts but I played it for all of 4 months before never touching it again. It doesn't seem like it's solid or fall apart really.. I don't even know
oh yeah and the built in amp doesn't work any more (GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD TRASH) and I never even abused it or did anything that would merit it not working, so that gave it point knock downs. The problem with that is since it doesn't work I can't really sell it

never dealt with them
Sam Ash is cool though

I've been playing less than a year, I don't have much but I've done my homework on what makes a halfway decent guitar and this isn't it.
Right now I use Ibanez GRX, Digitech RP100, and Fender Frontman 15G. I took the Mo'Baby to a friend's house OUT OF MY SIGHT for most of the time, but if I'm bored when I go over there and he's on the pot for an hour, I play around with it some and laugh at how easily it goes out of tune, even though its a TUNEMATIC.
Why did I choose this one? Temporary to learn the basics without having to buy an amp and it was really cheap. I wish Epiphone would make this body design in nicer colors, thinner body profile, better pickups, and lower action with less buzz, and don't even try with the built in amp. Headphones all the way.

ugh and the amp runs on 9v and has no power supply, and you can't plug it into a real amp without a battery and having it turned on so you gotta do rechargeable.. and the rechargeable was slightly bigger and doesn't really fit into the slot. It needs a power supply.

If it were lost or stolen.. YAAAAAY!!! I'm almost ready to pay somebody to take this thing off my hands (well not quite since I DID stupidly pay for it). I think some time when I have a good gig I'm gonna set it up as a decoration in front of my amp or the drums or something, then pick it up and bash it on stage. Same with the Ibanez GRX.

I mean at musicians friend they sold these things for like $250 last I checked, and for not much more you can get a MUCH better guitar that you'll be pleased with for a long time, not just a couple months. Really I plan on getting a Raven RSM1000Q next, after some good research that looks like a nice quality guitar for a reasonable price. Don't waste your time and money on the Mo'Baby.

Same features as described in previous reviews. My Mo'Baby is black. When plugged into an amp, the clean or dirty internal amp fuctions as a preamp. It can't be removed from the signal path, which would be nice to produce passive sounds.

The Mo' Baby has some very useable sounds in both active modes, however, for my mostly blues-based reportoire. The Epiphone humbucker is kind of crappy, yet in a good way. In clean mode, it sounds more like a single coil along the lines of a vintage Fender Mustang or Duo-Sonic. It seems to be a bit noisy in clean mode, when cranked. The dirty / overdrive mode sounds rather fat, sacrificing high end in doing so. I like the clean sound best. The tone control is pretty useless, with no audible roll-off in the highs. Running through an Epiphone Electar 10 (great amp), the Mo'sounds quite Marshallesque via the dirty mode. Via the clean mode, it's reminisent of a low-budget Spaghetti Western soundtrack. All in a good way, of course. I've removed the plastic cover to let the speaker "breath". Let me tell you, it makes a HUGE difference in sound. Try it.

The first Mo' I got mail-order from Sam Ash arrived with a broken neck / body joint. Amanda in Customer Service did a spectacular job of getting everything taken care of, so I'd get a replacement sent out, even without having to send the broken one back until the new one arrived. That's service! This is a well-built instrument, however, I don't believe I'd take it on the road. It really looks and sounds great for only $109.95!

It arrived broken the first time. This I attribute to the lack of enough plastic "peanuts" in the shipping container. I'm rough on gear, and this little guitar stands up well. I'd definately use it on a gig without a back-up, but wouldn't take it on the road. It's so sexy, someone would steal it!

Epiphone / Gibson customer support is fine, if you can determine who to talk to.

I've been playing professionally since 1969. I own vintage Teiscos, which I take on the road. On stage, I mic small tube amps, such as the Electar 10. I played a friend's Fernandes Nomad Deluxe, and planned on buying one, until I ordered the Mo' Baby. The Mo' plays better, and although it has no effects, acutally sound better both via the internal amp and through an external amp.

the usual...got it in black...love the gig bag....very sexy

it's built in speaker is wimpy but what do u expect? plug it into an efx box and it screams

hot and sexy

looks rock hard

n/a

been playing on and off for 20 years and all i have to say is i love it love it love it...for the price it can't be beat!!!

Ultra cool V-shaped guitar, 3/4 size body of the 1958 Epiphone Moderne, with a full-size neck. This "Axe" is excellent. Although I must say that the strings that came with it really suck.
One open coil Humbucker, no complaints here, but I'm sure there's better.
The built in speaker is fun just to play around on, especially since I'm just a beginner, but it would be better to get any external amp at all.
Made out of alder wood, pretty nice, and the fingerboard is a rosewood dot.
Runs on a 9V battery and as far as I know can't be plugged into a socket, so if you buy this, look into getting a rechargeable 9V and a charger. Strongly reccomended for that.
And when the sales catalog says green, it's actually SEAFOAM green, which makes a good strat color, but an UGLY UGLY V-shape guitar. My friends and I have nicknamed my Mo' Baby the UGLY STICK

Not really extremely noisy, but the built in speaker is next to the pickup and gives feedback. Also when kicked into overdrive channel, the strings vibrate lightly and you can hear it through the amp without strumming.

Everything's in great shape and this is a burly-ass guitar but the strings included are in horrible shape. Maybe from shipping?

Not so great for live playing in a noisy room, you would REALLY need an external amp for that. But it is great for practicing, no complaints.
The awkward shape makes difficulty holding a comfortable position

Really could use a cord to plug into an electrical outlet. But the price was right for a starter, since the list price IS $400 and I got it new on sale for $110.

This a mini Moderne! It comes with a custom gig bag and an Epiphone strap. It's funky, and you don't need an amp. It's got a little amp built in!

There's the sound through the internal amp, and there's the sound through regular equipment. The internal amp sounds pretty good (for a 2.5" speaker or whatever), especially the drive. The clean channel is OK but I think a better pickup would be better. Plugged in it sounds good, a lot like the Epi LP100 a friend of mine has.

Very nice. Epis can be good or bad but I guess they figured collectors would want this. No complaints.

Seems tough. I had a Jackson V and the point got dinged in about a day. This is a weird shape but has no fragile angles or anything.

This is a mini Moderne! You can't compare it to anything. If you like the Moderne style and want to spend $200 instead of $2000 get this! That's it!

1999-2000 Korea make. A concept-guitar reissue of the Gibson Moderne, second rarest of the 1958 models (V, Explorer, Futura, Moderne). A funky wedge-shaped body, in this case 3/4 size and featuring a built-in two-channel combo amp -- but you can use any regular amp instead. Fullsize Moderne neck with the weird "bumper pool" gear/tree arrangement. Includes custom gig bag, strap, cable, wrenches. A very playable guitar somewhere between a travel size and a full-size. Better execution of the amp-in-guitar than others I've seen. One humbucker, usual Gibson-esque bridge and stop-tail and speed knobs, a Strat-type three-way switch for off-clean channel-drive channel on the internal amp.

Haven't played with my regular equipment yet, only through the built-in amp. Sounds pretty good on both channels, though has no particular personality. The drive is a bluesy-crunch type drive, not metal, and the proximity of the pickup to the speaker (about an inch) makes some very amusing feedback possible. You buy a guitar like this for it's novelty, not it's sound, and I'll probably swap a Super Distortion in for the Epi-crappo 'bucker at some point.

Very nicely done overall. A bit of overspray on the headstock, not a big deal for the price. Good neck (those Korean necks get better all the time).

Seems as durable as any solid-wood bolt-on. Maybe more. The guitar actually looks a bit like a medieval weapon.

I've always liked the Moderne and never got one (of the reissues/copies). I've always wanted a travel-sized electric and never got one. For $119 I got both, and recommend this guitar on that basis to anyone. Original list was something like $399.