I never really got it about Epiphones, until recently. I remember seeing them in the hands of
some famous players a long time ago, but that was then... and this is now. There was a period ot
time when the name was dragged down by poor decisions on the part of management, and
poor guitars being shipped and sold. But that too was a long time ago. *grins
Then Epiphone moved to Tsingtao and began upping their game IMHO. Their guitars
began getting my attention. I finally saw an Epiphone Wilshire for sale used in my local
Music Go Round. It was hanging on the wall surrounded by guitars that looked like Gibsons
or Fenders but had odd brand names that I didn't recognise. Like a College girl in the drunk
tank on Sunday morning, with a bunch of hookers.
I took the Wilshire down, it felt great in my hands. I plugged it into a used G-DEC amp, and was
amazed. Why did anybody sell this guitar? I must have played it for at least a half hour, probably
more than that. I played it in standard tuning, and it was fine. I retuned it to open D and worked
it through some more songs, and it was stable and steady. How much do they want for this?
$265.00... I'm taking this baby home.
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I recently sold the Wilshire... reluctantly. And I got a decent price for it from a
guy who knows me, and who respects all the excellent parts I put into it.
That's one thing about Epiphones, you can "improve" them, but that doesn't
mean you can get your money back if you sell. So I couldn't get any good
offers except from someone who has seen me play it.
Yes, I replaced all the hardware, but that's because I liked the Wilshire so well.
I had fun doing it, and knew that the value of the guitar would be in the music
that it could play.
So now my only Epi is the ES-339 above... which I like as well as any instrument
I have. I installed pickups made by Ken Rose, and those are a really fine sound.
Ken Rose is the kind of pickup maker who will ask you about your style and what
kind of picks you prefer, and how heavy of strings you tend to use, and then he'll
make something for you.
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My ES-339 is smaller than your Dot, and the P-90s make it a different animal, but what they have in common is
the great feeling about them... As soon as I read your post, I knew what you were talking about.
My ES-339 is not really a hollow body guitar, it has a maple center block, and hollow "wings" above and below.
So IMHO it's just an electric guitar. I don't think the hollow parts contribute much to the perceived tone
of this instrument, but something does. Mine weighs about eight pounds (3.5 Kg) and balances perfectly.
It feels great to play. I gave it a Gotoh bridge and a Tusq nut, these might contribute to the quality of the
tone. The Gotoh bridge cost about $25 US, so I'm not making the expensive mistakes I made when I
modded my Wilshire. And the Gotoh bridge has more room for intonation travel, and seems very well made.
It fit right in the stock stud inserts.
View attachment 29905
No one notices this part but me. I really like the looks of this mahogany neck glued into the
blonde maple body. You have to be crazy about yer guitar, to sit there and admire the back of it too.
I wasn't going to get this model, I actually had not heard of the P-90 version. I was going to get the
Casino Coupe... which is the same size but uses the Casinoi style tail piece, and dog ear P-90s
The small version of the Casino had me gassing for months, as soon as I heard about it.
One day, I couldn't stand it, and I went to Guitar Center to see if they had one.
I walked in and looked around. The sales guys were all standing around behind the counter,
talking and joking and working their phones. I looked at the strats etc for a while, and finally went over to
the counter. I told the guy who finally looked up that I was interested in an Epi Casino Coupe.
He didn't know what I was talking about. He looked at me like I was his senile grandfather,
like maybe I was disoriented, and thought I was in a car showroom.
I said, "Epiphone?... Semi-Hollow body electric guitar? ... P-90 pickups?... Do you sell those?"
He waved vaguely down toward the other end of the counter and said he thought there were
some hollow bodies "over there..."
I snorted and went looking. They didn't have a Casino Coupe. But they did have the ES-339
for a hundred bucks less. *grins I was surprised to see it, but knew what it was and couldn't
wait to plug it in. While I was doing this, there was another player working out on a Strat in
between two of the guitar racks. I'd been listening to him instead of the sales guys. He was
pretty good, and he was playing through an Orange Micro Terror. He put the Strat back, and
went looking at the some other stuff, but left the cord in the little amp.
So I plugged into that and learned another thing. That little Orange amp looks like a toy but it isn't.
It's got teeth. And it's got reach. I plugged the little Micro Terror into a cab with 4 tens in it, and
was delighted at the tone from that. Get back, Jack.
The P-90s sounded great through it. I played the Epiphone for
a good long time, ignoring the "sales" guys, and they ignored me. So finally, having made the
decision all by myself that the ES-339 suited me fine, and so did the Orange Micro Terror,
I went home. Self Serve, eh?
I found that Musician's friend was running a 15% off salle, and saved almost enough that way
to afford a decent hard shell case for my new love. I paid no tax and no shipping...
Guitar Center won't be able to survive if they keep a crew like that around.
My local Music Go Round keeps its guys cleaning and setting
up all the used guitars. That's what they're always doing when I shop there, and they usually
come over without being prodded if I have a question. That's why they sold me the Wilshire
so easily. It was a joy to play. With the ES-339, I had to make my decision based on "potential."
But it's good to play it thoroughly before you buy it.
That's how you know. So my Epiphone was fine stock, and has responded really well to
"upgrades." So it has worked its way into my heart and into my music.
I can tell that your beautiful Dot has done the same. It's not an SG, but that's why we like
to have both.
