Epi-PHONY!

[dunkelfalke]

shovel said:

I have kind of a Cheepo guitar fetish.Most of em just need to be set up rite.I just cant justify paying 1.000 for an axe.When I see a guitar for around $100,I start to get the sweats.I'd rather have 6 cheep guitars than 1 high priced one

hm, i wouldn't go that far. i neither can't justify playing 1k euros for a guitar, but 100 euro guitars are often very bad made so i actually prefer guitars for about €300. they are very playable, well enough made and they also sound okay.

[bam]

agreed.

[dd842]

Hee hee,

Gee, I am only a year late with this comment ... but I didn't even know about this forum a year ago and only picked up my Epiphone Les Paul "Junior" recently.

I just bought it used, and it was made in 2005. I note that the posts that hold the bridge up had already begun to shift - i.e. the strings were starting to tip them back towards the headstock.

My solution was to screw the posts in all the way, making them as stable as possible. Since this created a problem of low action, I removed the bolt on neck and put a 1/40" paper shim between the neck and the very back of the cavity that accepts the neck, and re-attached the neck. This ended up giving just the action I wanted while solving the structural problem with the bridge posts. Quite satisfactory.

As far as the intonation - it's pretty much hopeless. Also, as Unk mentioned initially, the tuners are horrible.

I had what I thought was the worst guitar on the planet (an old "Cruise" single humbucker strat-ish guitar), which I got rid of when I got this one. Only now do I miss it's fully adjustable bridge ... I wish I had kept it and got rid of this one instead.

It is likely that when I replace the tuners thing will get better ... but that's another $30 or $40. For $130 it's not a bad starter guitar, for $100 it's not a good starter guitar.

Nice looking guitar though, I will give it that regardless.

[UnklMickey]

dd842 said:

...As far as the intonation - it's pretty much hopeless. Also, as Unk mentioned initially, the tuners are horrible. ...

i like the idea you had for lowering the bridge and changing the angle of the neck.

unless you are using a wound G, intonation should be adjustable within reason. there are 2 screws that can be tightened to pull the bridge closer to the tail, or loosened to allow it to be closer to the neck. it takes a bit of trial and error, but you should be able to average out any errors in intonation to tolerable levels.

if not, you could always do one of these:
store.guitarfetish.com/chbastinwrbr.html

while the tuners leave something to be desired, i don't think i'd call them horrible. i've seen MUCH worse. mediocre would probably be my choice of words.


cheers

unk

[dd842]

Thanks, Unk

Yeah, I tried tinkering with the intonation as well, but the screw ended up stripping or binding (or someth"ing") so that it became an ineffective exercise. It could be that the slight tipping of the bridge posts was enough that I had to go too far trying to compensate with the screws and ended up damaging them.

Based on what you just said, I may replace those screws with longer ones and try it again.

As for the tuners, I guess I was comparing them to the Cruise guitar I had mentioned. I had assumed that guitar was the bottom of the barrel, and I would equate it's tuners to the Epi's.

But, as you say, there are worse tuners out there. In fact, I had to replace one of the Epi's tuners in a pinch, and the luthier gave me one from the "spare parts" drawer - it is indeed worse than the Epi's stock tuners.

All the best,

Dan

[dd842]

... oh, and thanks for the link ...

That is a nice bridge, and they have some other nice items there as well.

Dan

[Ripper]

Id like to thank Unk for planting an ugly seed in my mind about Epiphones.
I just cant get past that horrid looking headstock!

Id rather have a Kleenex box with a few rubber bands around it.

[UnklMickey]

deepblue said:

...Id rather have a Kleenex box with a few rubber bands around it.

not exactly what you asked for. but, here ya go!

[dd842]

Funny you should post that picture ...

I came across this a few days ago on Craigslist here in T.O.

toronto.craigslist.org/msg/244282078.html

I hope the link works ... anyway, this guy sells cigar box guitars ... MADE BY EPI-PHONY!

Okay, I made that last part up.

Dan

[gfxbss]

Although ill admit the short commings of both epis that i own. i cant help but look to my left and see the hondo LP copy hanging on my wall. I acctually found it in a dumpster. so i guess i cant expect much. but i took out the pups just to see what they were, and they acctually fell apart on me. the tuners on this thing wobble if i look at them the wrong way. the jackplate i believe is stock, but it looks like someone cut it out of a tin can. about the only nice thing i can say about this thing is that i now have an extra LP pickguard, and wirecover.

[ux4484]

Stopped at GC today, and it made me think of this thread....only not a Epi "Junior", but an Epi "Dot Studio"

They only had a couple in stock, all were set up decently (though a bit high). Set neck, red or brown with black hardware. Tuners were a little mushy, but I noticed they were a tad loose which may have been the cause. Pickups were very good for cheapo's, very quiet and responsive (Bridge pup sounded a lot like the Squire '51's original bridge pup). Only one tone and volume, but both had a good span/range. The neck was put together better than many a Gibson I've seen in the past, but is very wide at the body. I've rarely had a hankering for anything Gibson, and never anything Epi....but today...I did. For $200 it's almost worth it just to satisfy my jonz for a more Beatle-istic axe in the stable.

[Teleblooz]

I recently picked up a Squier bullet (essentially a 1-HB hardtail Strat) on eBay for 75 bucks, figuring to have a "project" axe that would also serve as an onstage spare for when I break a string. To my everlasting surprise it's a really sweet little axe. Frets & intonation were set up nicely, and even the bucker is proving to be serviceable - at least for now. I'll drop a split-coil into it at some point I'm sure, but even as-is, it's going to see some face time on my next few gigs.

The point being - there's some nice "budget" guitars out there if you look. The other guitarist in my band plays an Epi 335, and he's pretty happy with it as well.

[pollyshero]

The BEST thing about cheap guitars is your kids can afford to pick one up and give it to you for father's day. Even better - my middle son happens to be a George Lynch fan & he (George) was cool enough to sign the axe at a clinic at our local Sam Ash. BONUS!

Now that the victim.... er, guitar, has fallen into evil hands, it's slated for a pickup replacement and some way of hiding/blending the cheezee truss-rod cover. On the way up side - I can't believe how well set up it is out of the box: the action is smoother and lower than more than a few of my higher$ harem members.

Brownsville IG150 SG wannabe


BE GOOD TO YOUR KIDS

PH




(EDIT: converted web URL to show image directly - sumgai.)