Anyone have an Epiphone Dot 335 that they bought new?

[Jerry D]

Looking for opinions on this guitar. I know, of course, they are not $3,500 Gibsons, but I'm not expecting that.

The reviews that I read on Sweetwater were most critical on the fretwork, the pickups, and inconsistent finish quality. For the price, I could live with a not-quite-perfect finish, and could pay for a good setup and better pickups.

What say you?

[blue]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

Looking for opinions on this guitar. I know, of course, they are not $3,500 Gibsons, but I'm not expecting that.

The reviews that I read on Sweetwater were most critical on the fretwork, the pickups, and inconsistent finish quality. For the price, I could live with a not-quite-perfect finish, and could pay for a good setup and better pickups.

What say you?

Theoretically one of the things you buy with a higher price is nicer finish work, like fret ends, etc. so those complaints are to be expected.

I still arrange imports guitar 1. Japan. 2. and depending on the factory they might be tied with Japan, Korea. 3 Indonesia. 4 China. I base that on owning and test driving.

Since you aren't actually buying a Gibson 335, you might as well not buy a 335 at all if you can find a better semi hollow double cut for the same price. And there are lots out there.

[FrankHudson]

I just received a new (made this year) Epiphone ES-335 Pro model which I believe Sweetwater no longer carries.

I found no cosmetic flaws, but then my vision isn't good and I'm not overly concerned with that area anyway. People who care a lot about those kinds of things also worry about the big E on the pickguard and the Epi headstock shape.

I had read reviews about rough frets. Mine are perfect. I did have a little dark residue on my fingers from the fretboard when playing it at first. Action was OK right out of the box with the stock strings. One string needs a bit of intonation adjustment, but there's enough room on the tuneomatic saddle to get that. Sometime this week I'm taking the original strings off, taking the plastic film off, and moving that saddle a bit, because I'm keeping it.

I have a older Aria 339 sized guitar which I bought used 20 years ago from tech who worked at a well known local store. He said he'd installed Gibson pickups. I have a Gibson Les Paul with Gibson 57 Classic pickups. The pickups in the Epi are perhaps just a bit hotter and darker the 57 classics, but pickup height and even strings aren't the same and there's whatever effect the bodies have. They are not bad sounding pickups at all. I tried tweaking the Epi pickups down from the way they were "out of the box" and decided I like them better back up a bit for now. I have the Aria 339 sized guitar's pickups fairly low and there's a Bigsby on it too, and the Epi has more growl and sustain, but the Aria 339 has more jangle/zing. I'm playing into a clean Fender amp in each case here. Older Epi humbuckers had the rep of being dark and uninteresting, these are much better than that.

I didn't go out of my way to get the coil split option that comes with this Pro model, but it turns out to be potentially useful. It's actually a valid sound, particularly with both pickups selected. Since I have single coil guitars I'm not sure I'll use that option much, but it's there.

Controls work smoothly now, and are supposed to be better quality than some in the past. The tone pots have a weird taper (linear taper instead of audio?) in that you don't seem to get any treble roll off until you get to the last 20% of the travel. Not ideal, but nothing I'm going to change. When I want the dark tone I can still get it, I just have to fiddle with less travel. This would bug me on a Telecaster where I can reach the master tone with a pinky for wah wah effects, but Gibson-style controls aren't reachable like that anyway.

I'm quite pleased with mine so far. I don't know what pickups are in the current Dot model off hand, but the Epi 335 Pro model's pickups are worth considering/comparing.

[ADK]

I bought one new a few years ago. The finish is very good and I like the sound. I loved playing it at the store. And the coil split makes for some fun sound options when plugged into my little Fender amp. I've had trouble with the intonation, though, and the frets feel off. My tech said it was in good shape: neck, etc. but I'm not crazy about it anymore. I rarely play it. But it does look nice (red) hanging on the wall.

[Gutch]

Not a Epi Dot (but in the same family), I picked up an Epi Sheraton II Pro at the end of last year. Here are my thoughts...

Finish -- Still poly, but a *LOT THINNER* than the older Epiphones where it seemed like they poured it onto the guitar. I found no flaws in the finish work at all. Very acceptable thickness and it holds up nicely.

Fretwork -- Not bad, but not what you'd probably get on a more expensive guitar. I had a couple sharp ends and a couple frets that weren't fully seated. A half hour with a rubber mallet and a fret finishing file and the guitar was good to go. Other than these minor issues, I love the feel of the neck and the fretboard. Very comfortable and easy to move around. Nut was cut well and strings move easily through it.

Hardware/Pickups -- Tuning machines are Grover 18:1 and operate smoothly. Bridge has plenty of play on the individual saddles and getting it intonated was not a problem at all. The pickups are Burstbucker Pros. I really like the sound of these p'ups! The volume control for each pickup can be used to coil split the individual pickups. A favorite combination I've found is with the neck split and bridge in full Humbucker.

Other Comments -- While complaining about Gibson electrics' quality control seems to be common, IMO Epiphone has really stepped up their game in the past few years. Better hardware, thinner finish, more attention to detail (not perfect but much better than previous years), and solid playability. Are they custom shop quality? No. However, for the price paid ($500 average w/out hardshell case), they are darned good instruments and a solid value. I've bought three over the past couple years -- Joe Pass jazz box, '56 Gold Top LP w/P-90s, and the Sheraton II Pro. I gigged with all of them and they worked and sounded fine.

In my humble opinion, I think you will be happy with the 335 Dot. Have fun!!!

[blue]

Originally Posted by Gutch

Not a Epi Dot (but in the same family), I picked up an Epi Sheraton II Pro at the end of last year. Here are my thoughts...

Not to be a stick in the mud, but you're talking about a guitar that is almost twice as expensive. Graphtec nut, 5 piece maple walnut neck, pro-buckers pups. It's pretty sweet and IMO well worth the $700 street price.

I'm not dumping on Epiphones. I own a ES-175 premium myself. And I think the dot is made in Korea. At least it was. And that's definitely a point in the "yes" column

[Gutch]

The Dot and the Sheraton are both coming out of the same factory and, therefore, are prone to the same issues. Price aside, I was answering the question as to overall quality and fit/finish issues the OP may experience buying an Epiphone.

[Jerry D]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

I just received a new (made this year) Epiphone ES-335 Pro model which I believe Sweetwater no longer carries.

Actually, they do still carry the pro.

Originally Posted by blue

Not to be a stick in the mud, but you're talking about a guitar that is almost twice as expensive.

The pro is only $50.00 more. Thanks, I didn't know there was a "pro" model.

[blue]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

Actually, they do still carry the pro.



The pro is only $50.00 more. Thanks, I didn't know there was a "pro" model.

I was responding to the guy with the Sheraton II pro. It's a lot more expensive.

[blue]

Originally Posted by Gutch

The Dot and the Sheraton are both coming out of the same factory and, therefore, are prone to the same issues. Price aside, I was answering the question as to overall quality and fit/finish issues the OP may experience buying an Epiphone.

Good to hear it's still MIK. As long as they make the "flagship" models in a good factory, it's all good.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Gutch

The Dot and the Sheraton are both coming out of the same factory and, therefore, are prone to the same issues....

Originally Posted by blue

Good to hear it's still MIK. As long as they make the "flagship" models in a good factory, it's all good.

According to the Sweetwater listings, the Sheraton went over from Chinese to Indonesian production sometime in mid/late 2016 (it's pretty easy to decode the serial numbers) while the Dot is still made in China, along with the rest of the low- to midline hollows ($600 and under street) and the entire solidbody line - TMK there is no current Korean production, and the only MIJ models available here are the $2K Elitist Casinos. Given a choice I'd suss out a good used MIK model first, and if not available I'd go for one of the new Indonesian versions; FYI I own a MIC 339 Ultra, had to invest half again what I paid for it to bring it into playable condition (don't get me started on fit/finish QC), and if the pickups didn't sound so good (credit where credit is due - they've really gotten their act together in that department) - and I didn't need at least one guitar with full-size humbuckers - I would've gotten rid of it long ago...

[Steely Glen]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

According to the Sweetwater listings, the Sheraton went over from Chinese to Indonesian production sometime in mid/late 2016 (it's pretty easy to decode the serial numbers) while the Dot is still made in China, along with the rest of the low- to midline hollows ($600 and under street) and the entire solidbody line - TMK there is no current Korean production, and the only MIJ models available here are the $2K Elitist Casinos. Given a choice I'd suss out a good used MIK model first, and if not available I'd go for one of the new Indonesian versions; FYI I own a MIC 339 Ultra, had to invest half again what I paid for it to bring it into playable condition (don't get me started on fit/finish QC), and if the pickups didn't sound so good (credit where credit is due - they've really gotten their act together in that department) - and I didn't need at least one guitar with full-size humbuckers - I would've gotten rid of it long ago...

I'd agree with the statement above. I had a 1998 MIK Epiphone Dot because I heard all this hype about them being as good as Gibsons, etc. Mine wasn't very good (bought it sight unseen on Reverb). The pickups were super muddy and the pots/switch felt completely cheap. There were a few cosmetic blemishes, but not many. It just didn't play well or sound good. I could've made some upgrades, but changing pickups and a wiring harness in a cheap 335-style guitar is not how I'd like to spend my free time.

One thing I couldn't have changed is that canoe oar of a headstock. Blech.

[rockabilly69]

I have a Chinese built Epi Dot that sounds extraordinary. I bought it because I went into a store and was testing a bunch of high end smaller amplifiers and somebody handed me the guitar to try the amps with. Why they handed me an Epiphone I'll never know, but this guitar sounded so good I was floored. I liked it better than all of the high end guitars that were in the store that day! That was many years ago and I still have the guitar. It was odd because that year the spec for the Epi was supposed to be maple neck, but mine had a one-piece mahogany neck.
I think this guitar is a bit of a fluke but coming from someone that owns quite a few wonderful Historic and vintage Gibsons, I think it's a great guitar, and I haven't changed a thing on it because I don't want to mess with the tone. One thing though, when I brought home the guitar from the store every pot and jack was loose on it, and tightening pots on a semi-hollow like that was a ***** because of the limited access to the controls. Also the fret wire seems soft as it seemed to wear a little quicker than normal.

[DukeX]

I have a 3 year old Epi Dot deluxe. They are very nice guits for the money IMO. Mine is gorgeous.

The stock pickups are good, but I upgraded them with Seymour Duncan Antiquities and replaced the wiring with a BCS Vintage Wiring kit. No other mods. I also bought a case.

Total cost < $750. And this guit is a dream to play.

I own five great guitars, and this is the best dollar for dollar.